McGrath thinks Collins and O’Shea could make midfield switch for Ireland
It was a move he made to considerable effect during the Jack Charlton era and Republic of Ireland legend Paul McGrath believes either Dara O’Shea or Nathan Collins are more than capable of following in his footsteps by transitioning from defence to midfield at international level.
While centre-half was his most natural position, McGrath often found himself operating in the middle of the park for the Irish team – most notably in the 1988 European Championships and the 1990 World Cup. Given that central midfield is viewed as a current problem area for Ireland, it has been suggested that someone like O’Shea or Collins could be utilised in a similar role to the one McGrath played in a bid to bolster the side’s international prospects.
McGrath feels both of these players could seamlessly adapt to life in the Irish engine room, but also stated that such a move might require someone of similar quality assuming the spots they would vacate in defence.
“Dara in there would not be a bad idea to soften up the midfield a bit. You could move either centre-half in. I think Nathan is probably a better all round footballer, but Dara I think would do what I was trying to do, which was just soften up [the midfield] and trying to put a tackle or two in,” McGrath explained.
“I think then you’d need the other centre-halves, or the lads in waiting, to come in and do as good a job as Dara or Nathan would be able to do. I don’t know does he have those players. It’d be nice to think we do, but until you’re tested, in international football in particular, you honestly don’t know. You’d like to think he has a few in waiting though.”
The ‘he’ that McGrath refers to is, of course, Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson – who took charge of the Boys In Green for the first time in last month’s UEFA Nations League B games against England and Greece.
Following 2-0 defeats in both of those encounters, there will be pressure on Hallgrímsson to pick up positive results in tonight’s Group 2 showdown away to Finland and the return fixture with the Greeks in Piraeus on Sunday evening.
Reversing the fortunes of a side that have won just two of their last 10 competitive games – both of which came against the lowly-ranked Gibraltar – will be no easy task, but McGrath feels Hallgrímsson needs to develop a style with Ireland that suits the players at his disposal.
“He has put a team out to try and win games, but I think we need to stop leaking goals. I think the lads are trying their best, some I would think are not maybe good enough.
“Maybe we have to change the pattern of play to suit the players we have, which is what we did [under Jack]. Some of us were not the greatest of players, but we could put ourselves about a bit and that seemed to soften one or two of the teams.”
McGrath was speaking yesterday in the offices of Wilson Hartnell on Dublin’s Ely Place in his capacity as an ambassador for Pringles. The 64-year-old is teaming up with the brand for their Movember campaign, which is encouraging men to talk about their mental health.
As someone who has struggled with his mental health in both the distant and recent past, McGrath didn’t hesitate when he was asked to get involved for this important initiative.
“I feel like I’ve been through quite a bit in the last couple of years and especially in the last year. I’m coming out of it now and trying to start just getting back out into the public and doing one or two things, so it’s good,” McGrath added.
“I think it’s a very important charity. Men’s mental health, it’s something as fellas, you should know we don’t talk about how we’re feeling too much. Or I don’t anyway. I thought this would be a good thing to get involved with.”