John O Shea Not Distracted By Declan Rice And Jack Grealish Return To England Team
John O Shea declared that he is not concerned about the distraction of sideshows in the game ahead amidst the return of Declan Rice and Jack Grealish. He is more focused on the opening of the UEFA Nations League clash with England on Saturday evening.
Jack Grealish was one of the former players in the Under-21 Irish team. Declan Rice played for the seniors in the Irish team thrice. Therefore, an obvious interest in the assistant manager’s thoughts needed to be recorded by the media when they asked him about the players’ return.
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When asked about the stay of Declan Rice and whether O Shea or his team should be concerned, he said, “No, not at all”.
“It’s one of them, it’s a focus on us and the players that are here and the players who want to be here. It’s as simple as that.”
When further inquired about Rice’s game quality, he again emphasised, “He’s in England so we can’t keep talking about it.”
John O Shea was also asked about stopping Rice from making an influence on the proceedings, he replied, “You have to curb a lot of England players’ impact on the game”.
He responded with an explanation that there is always a risk against the team playing in the Euros final. According to him, there are various threats and options. However, he was confident that whichever 11 players they chose, they know how to stop the players of the opponent team “to bring on and change the game”. He stressed that they are more focused on how to stop them and “cause them problems”.
John O Shea’s views about former Irish midfielder
The former Ireland midfielder Lee Carsley would be on the opposite side in the upcoming clash. He just had an elevation from the Under-21 squad to senior players, still on an interim basis only for the Nations League campaign.
When questions regarding Carsley came to John O Shea, he again showed a “no concern” attitude as he shifted his focus to Ireland and how they would be approaching the upcoming matches under the new head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.
He clearly stated that they are under no stress as they are fully prepared as a team and with the new head coach coming in, they would reach the Nations League qualifying round with ease. He pointed out that the head coach has full support and the team would start off really well.
However, he did mention that people who gave Carsley a chance as a senior player want to see him in this role, and would expect him to perform that way. He was sure that there would be a shoutout for other names from the team of England when the match would begin.
The clash at Aviva Stadium is in the highlights and the Ireland team is seen with a confidence boost with all the players in a fit condition. With Greece, it would be their next match on Tuesday.
Some concerns came regarding the fitness of Seamus Coleman and Andrew Omobamidele as these defenders sat the whole Tuesday during an ongoing training session.
John O Shea assured that both the players are perfectly fit to be participating in their next match as they are fully trained with the squad on Wednesday morning.
O Shea clarified that there is knowledge of the game instilled into the players and “good information getting through to the players”. He was hopeful that it would help in bringing the team together for the next game on Saturday.
