THERE’S A PART in the acclaimed documentary ‘The Charlton Years’ where Ray Houghton recalls being approached by veteran star Liam Brady after he had only won a few caps for Ireland.
Houghton remembered: “Brady said it’s about time you started to do a little bit more in the game when you’re out there. I thought: ‘what’s this all about?’
“But he was right. I was now an international player and I had to prove it. And it was one of the best lessons I ever had.”
You often wish someone would say the same to James McCarthy, and if they have, it seemingly hasn’t registered.
McCarthy is clearly a talented player. In September 2013, he made a £13million move to Everton from Wigan, becoming the second most expensive player in the Merseyside club’s history in the process. He has impressed since then for the Toffees, with his displays in midfield prompting the Scottish-born player to be linked with a big-money move to Man United among others.
Yet for Ireland, too often, the player struggles to fulfill the heady expectations with which he’s associated. Now 24, McCarthy has earned 26 caps for the Boys in Green, but rarely if ever has he delivered the type of commanding display that so many believe the player to be capable of.
Against Scotland at the weekend, McCarthy’s performance prompted criticism from Liam Brady and Eamon Dunphy in particular.
Dunphy said: “James McCarthy is a talking horse… Horses that produce the goods on the Gallops in the morning, but never do it on the racecourse.”
Consequently, we’ve decided to take a detailed look at McCarthy’s performance and assess whether Dunphy’s criticism was merited or over the top…
Hampered by tactics
The first point to make is a partial defence of McCarthy’s display.
Both sides had clearly set out their stall before the game. It was obvious owing to Martin O’Neill’s preference for the power of Daryl Murphy rather than the finesse of Shane Long in the starting lineup that Ireland would be relying on route-one football more often than not, and so it proved.
Although there were sporadic instances of neat passing by the Irish side, for the most part, throughout the 90 minutes, the tactics were simply to get the ball up to Daryl Murphy and Jon Walters as quickly and as often as possible.
(McCarthy plays a conservative sideways pass to the full-back)
While this philosophy may be sneered at by footballing purists, it was undeniably effective to a degree in the first half at least, as the Scots struggled to deal with the intensity of the Irish play.
But this strategy also meant midfield was often by-passed, hence McCarthy, Whelan, Hendrick and even Hoolahan to a degree were all on the periphery of the game at times.
When the defensive midfielders did get the ball, perhaps under instructions, they invariably either passed it back to the defender or sideways to the onrushing full-back, either of whom would then usually attempt to pick out the target man up front.
So to some extent, it wouldn’t have mattered if Xavi or Andrés Iniesta were in the Irish midfield on Saturday. It was a stop-start game in which the ball spent an exorbitant amount of time in the air. Essentially, the conditions were far from ideal for ball-playing midfielders.
‘Personality’
Former Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni more than once suggested McCarthy needed to show more “personality” in his game. The criticism would have been valid on Saturday too.
While the long-ball straight from defence to attack was frequently utilised, that is not to say McCarthy didn’t have any opportunities to get on the ball and dictate the play.
An interesting comparison is with Wes Hoolahan. While the Norwich man wasn’t exceptional by any means, you could see he was always alert, demanding the ball be passed to him whenever he was in its vicinity. Unlike some of his teammates, Hoolahan was also willing to play a pass that would advance the play and even open up the defence at times.
One particularly incisive pass from Hoolahan almost resulted in Ireland’s second goal early in the second half, but Daryl Murphy’s finish was deflected away for a corner via the goalkeeper’s outstretched leg.
By contrast, there were no such instances of progressive play from McCarthy. Too often, he chose to pick out the conservative pass and take the easy option.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with playing the ball sideways or backwards in certain circumstances. Therefore on occasion, McCarthy was right to take the sensible option — but it should be a last resort rather than an innate reflex, as it appears to be with the Everton man.
Indeed, watching the game back, it is difficult to find even one example of McCarthy playing a meaningful pass or taking a shot on.
Away from the play
If you watch all the top central midfielders today — players such as Iniesta, Luka Modric and Xabi Alonso — you can see they are constantly trying to figure out ways of receiving the ball. Yet this instinct was not apparent in McCarthy’s play on Saturday.
It did not help that, as Glenn Whelan was seemingly the designated sitting midfielder, McCarthy and Jeff Hendrick appeared to be asked to occupy more advanced roles. Of course, Whelan invariably lacks the ability to link up the play, so McCarthy and Hendrick were often isolated in these areas.
(McCarthy’s advanced midfield position often meant he was isolated from the play)
Hoolahan reacted to this awkward situation by dropping deeper in search of possession, whereas McCarthy was invariably seen either with his back to play, several yards down the field, or instructing the defender to pass the ball to the full-back rather than him.
Time and again, McCarthy was in decent positions to receive the ball, and time and again, he chose to let the play go on without him. Granted, he may have been acting under instructions, but he certainly wasn’t doing much to help Ireland’s cause in this ineffectual role.
Ultimately therefore, it was a rather passive display from a man who was been very highly-rated by regular Premier League watchers.
Bystander
Although he didn’t do much that was blatantly wrong on Saturday, in general, it looked as if McCarthy was happy to be a relative bystander, making the odd pass and committing the occasional tackle (indeed, he was lucky not be sent off following a stray elbow and a mistimed tackle early on), but effectively hoping someone else would take the responsibility to make things happen.
(Another sideways pass from McCarthy)
And all too often, when the opportunity was there to make himself available to receive the ball, he neglected to do so.
Must do better
What makes the display so frustrating for Ireland fans is that McCarthy clearly is capable of more. Jamie Carragher, earlier this season, said he was the Everton player he’d most like to see at Liverpool.
He was man-of-the-match in the Toffees’ 3-0 win over Man United, and his goal in that game is exactly the type of moment people want to see more of from the 24-year-old. At this stage of the player’s development, given his ability, he should be starting to get eight-to-ten goals a season, rather than the one or two that is customary for him.
Not taking responsibility
The screengrab below shows Wes Hoolahan in possession. Clearly, the Norwich man needs help. But instead of offering himself to receive the ball, McCarthy is resting on his laurels. Inexperience is no longer an excuse for someone who has played six seasons of regular football in the Premier League. Consequently, if he hasn’t learned these good habits by now, he may never do so.
At times, it seems as if he is hoping not to get the ball. At one point in the game, he was clearly telling James McClean to pass it back to the centre-back when in a much better position to receive the ball himself. This lack of confidence was rife in Ireland’s game at the weekend and epitomised by McCarthy’s lacklustre performance.
In the instance below, McCarthy doesn’t exactly seem desperate to receive the ball and thus, Robbie Brady is obliged to play a much more difficult and risky long pass across the pitch.
Too conservative
Furthermore, he plays the most conservative pass habitually, almost without even thinking or assessing his options. In the pic below, he has some very decent-looking options in front of him, but immediately elects to pass the ball out wide to Seamus Coleman without even putting his head up.
McCarthy is almost the anti-Steven Gerrard in this sense. Instead of always trying to play the killer pass, he never tries to play it, even when it is on. The former Hamilton trainee rarely loses possession as a result, of course, but at the same time, seldom influences the play in a positive manner.
Moreover, this ostensible abdication of responsibility is not as uncommon as people might think in football. There is currently a growing phenomenon of midfielders who are either unwilling or unable to play adventurous balls forward to put the opposition defence under pressure and to help dictate the play.
This cultural shift was nicely summed up by John Giles and Ronnie Whelan in their analysis of last summer’s World Cup final, and the stark contrast in style between Javier Mascherano and Bastian Schweinsteiger (see below).
At the moment, Ireland have two Mascherano-like players in Whelan and McCarthy, and precious few Schweinsteiger-esque individuals — players who are willing to take a risk and drive forward from midfield in order to advance the play.
What McCarthy should aspire to?
It is no accident that Ireland’s last truly significant qualifying win on home soil came 14 years ago against Holland at Lansdowne Road. That game also happened to coincide with probably the last great performance from a central midfielder wearing the green shirt — delivered by current assistant boss Roy Keane.
Keane was responsible for one of the greatest performances ever produced by an Irish player that day. Check out the winning goal below, or the clips of Keane carrying the ball all of 30 yards before playing an intelligent pass to a teammate.
It is virtually impossible to imagine McCarthy or any other Irish player having the confidence and the composure to do likewise nowadays, and it’s therefore perhaps no wonder the team haven’t achieved a similarly spectacular result since.
Conclusion
Although the ineptitude of McCarthy’s performance on Saturday has surely been exaggerated by Dunphy among others, it remains fair to say the Everton midfielder’s international career has yet to get out of second gear.
Whether McCarthy will ever come anywhere near close to emulating his current international assistant boss in terms of influence on the field appears increasingly unlikely, however currently, he at least needs to show Ireland fans why Roberto Martinez thinks so highly of him at Everton.
Therefore, in order to even come close to satisfying the considerable expectations with which he’s associated, the Everton man’s tendency to disappear from games on occasion (he barely touched the ball at all in the final 15 minutes of the match on Saturday) needs to be eradicated, as does his penchant to consistently take the easy option and neglect to pass the ball forward.
