U21 Absentees

Two recent defeats for Ireland's U21 - losing 4-1 to Italy and 3-1 to Slovenia - saw some predictable media hand wringing about the make-up of the team. One of the more commonly raised points was that only four of the starting XI against Italy were born in Ireland. While this is true (and slightly debatable since goalkeeper Daniel Rogers was born in America but raised in Ireland), we think the media, instead of criticising those who did take part, should have been asking if the best players available had been selected to begin with - after all, this is a favourite topic of journalists when the senior squad is announced by Martin O'Neill, or any of  his predecessor.

First, the unavailable players, Preston's combative Cork-born midfielder Alan Browne was named in the original squad, but had to withdraw due to injury, and Dubliner Sam Byrne of Everton recently broke his leg in training. Full back Sean Kavanagh was suspended after being sent off in the meeting between Ireland and Lithuania in October. All are regulars in the underage setup, and there can't be any complaints about their omission - that's just football. Also unavailable due to injury was Liverpool's Daniel Cleary, who was included on the bench by Brendan Rogers in a Europa League game earlier this season, but strangely hasn't featured for any underage side since May 2014.

We've looked through the squads in the Professional U21 League Divisions 1 and 2 in England, and noticed the following

The strange absence of Liverpool's academy and reserve players at underage level has been discussed on the site before. Alex O'Hanlon was training with Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool senior team (or at least their squad members who were not in international duty) in Spain during the U21 games, and came off the bench for an assist on the opening goal in a reserve game against Reading the weekend after the qualifiers.

Reading FC have quite a few Irish players in their U21 side at the moment - Pierce Sweeney, Sean Long, Shane Griffin, Niall Keown, Liam Kelly and Conor Shaughnessy. Kelly and Long are currently out on loan - Kelly is at Bath City, finding the back of the net four times from midfield, while Long is with Braintree in the Nation League. Joshua Barrett who was called into the Ireland U21 squad despite being only 17! Clearly the Irish management team are monitoring the Reading side, so why were Kelly and Shaughnessy omitted?

Aston Villa's 19 year old centre half Kevin Toner made his first appearance in the Villains senior matchday squad as an unused substitute against Bournemouth earlier this month. After serving a suspension from the under 19's elite qualifiers in late 2015, he was available again but not included in the squad

Ryan Rainey of Wolves recently signed a one year extension to his current deal, but hasn't been involved with the national side since an U18 friendly with the Czech Republic in 2014

Stoke City reserves Ryan O'Reilly and Bobby Moseley are both out on loan at the moment, at Wrexham and in the States with San Antonio FC. O'Reilly hasn't been in an Ireland squad since 2013, but Moseley is a regular in underage sides, last appearing for the under 19's in the elite qualifying stage a year a go. Their fellow Potter, Bedford-born Mason Watkins-Clark is playing and scoring in the reserves, a recent finish sent their U21 side to the Final Development League Cup North Final.

In the league of Ireland, Celtic defender Eoghan O'Connell is currently on loan at Cork City, playing alongside U21 squad member Kevin O'Connor, while Shamrock Rovers striker Michael Drennan is still eligible for these qualifiers.

So, while the two losses and the statistic about the lineup were disappointing to say the least, should there be more asked of the manager about the players listed above?

Young Irish players of the future.

Guest blog by Kyle Cotter

 There has been a lot of talk lately about the lack of talent coming through in Irish sport but people seem to just look at the senior team and when they don’t see any players under the age of 23, such as they have in the English and Belgian set-ups with players like Luke Shaw, Ross Barkley and Thibaut Courtois, the immediate reaction is that we are very far behind in the world of football.

Not many people consider the U21 players in the same category as those players I have named and when you look at the results they have had over the last few years you could argue that they are correct but this team plays a very attractive style of football with some top quality players in the side in every position.

Goalkeepers:

The goalkeepers of the U21 side have the very same problem of the senior team, not getting game time, Aaron McCarey has only played ten league games all season, five for York and five for Wolves. He came into the side in January after Carl Ikeme picked up a knock, which kept him out for five games in which McCarey kept three clean sheets in but it wasn’t enough to nail down a regular place in the side.

Sean McDermott plays in the Norwegian Tippeligaen for Sandnes ULF. He, like McCarey, has struggled to nail down a starting place lately after getting dropped for the final three league games of the season last term. The future for McDermott and Sandnes doesn’t look bright either after they signed Icelandic goalkeeper Hannes Halldórsson.

Both of these goalkeepers have been highly tipped to step up to senior level very soon but the same old story is that they both need to nail down starting positions at a club before they can be taken seriously by Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane.

Defenders:

A lot of the hopes of Irish fans for the next Richard Dunne or Paul McGrath have been pinned on the Derry man Shane Duffy. Currently on loan at Yeovil Town from Everton the central defender has been one of the few Yeovil players who has had his reputation enhanced after a very difficult season for the Glovers. He's been massively impressive this season and has done well to get his career back on track after suffering a life threatening injury in a match between Giovanni Trapattoni’s Republic Of Ireland development squad and the Ireland amateur side.

Matt Doherty: the young full back has had an impressive season for League One winners Wolves, battling out with a number of full backs for the same position with nobody really nailing it down.

Carl McHugh's fairy-tale season last year was always going to be very hard to live up to after he scored a brilliant header in the Capital One Cup semi-final against Aston Villa to send them through to the final at Wembley, not only did he reach the Capital One Cup final with League Two side Bradford he also gained promotion to League One via the play offs which also brought another visit to Wembley upon McHugh. After losing his first team spot early on in the season he has since regained it and Bradford City have consolidated their League One status with a 13th place finish.

Midfielders:

We’re seeing some great talent in this area of the pitch with the likes of Sean Murray, Jeff Hendrick, Jack Grealish, Kenneth McEvoy, Samir Carruthers and some League of Ireland talent there as well with Daryl Horgan and Chris Forrester coming through for their clubs.

Sean Murray was outstanding after breaking onto the scene a few years back under Malky Mackay but went off the boil somewhat when Sean Dyche came in and Murray's first team minutes were limited but he’s proved his doubters wrong after getting a shock starting spot against Spurs in the FA Cup during the 2012-2013 season. He managed to steal a starting position for the rest of that season and was named young player of the year too. This season has been nothing to shout about but next year could be a big one with a chance for a senior international call-up on the cards and a promotion push with Watford he's one to watch out for.

Jeff Hendrick - after being injured for the squad against Latvia and Poland, which was picked by Noel King, it was decided that playing in the U21 qualifier against Montenegro was more beneficial to Hendrick than a spot in the senior squad vs Serbia. Since coming back from injury, he has certainly shown that he'll be ready come the Euro qualifiers in September. With a great run in the team under Steve McClaren, Hendrick has shown what he's made off playing a massive role in the run in which has left Derby in third place and in pole position to go up to the Premier League via the play-offs. He has sometimes been over-shadowed by the English teenager Will Hughes, but with signs that Hughes might be on his way out of the club, Jeff could be a star man in that Premier League midfield.

Jack Grealish - I just have to talk about this young man. He has been one of the best players in League One this season and has been very unlucky not to make the team of the year. Had he not been in a relegation battle with Notts County, he definitely would have made the cut. Scoring five goals so far this term has helped make the teenager be the star of the show at Meadow Lane this season. His charisma has taken League One by storm and judging by the 135 fouls inflicted on him this season it seems as if there is only one way to stop him. With Jack also being eligible to play for England I think he should get a competitive debut for Ireland very soon as he could be up there with the best of his generation in a couple of years.

I must make a small mention to Daryl Horgan and Chris Forrester who have both represented Ireland at U21 level and may continue to do so. They are players who are currently playing in League of Ireland for Dundalk and St. Pats respectively and could shortly make the step up to senior level.

Strikers:

Ireland have had some fantastic strikers over the years but with Robbie Keane not getting any younger there doesn’t seem to be anybody who can step up and take his place as number one striker for Ireland. Here’s hoping that maybe Michael Drennan, Graham Burke (both of Aston Villa) or Aiden O'Brien fill his boots and take over.

With Michael Drennan only having one U21 cap he might have another campaign at that level left in him, meaning that the Euro 2016 campaign might just come too soon for the 20 year-old from Kilkenny. However, he looks a good prospect for the World Cup 2018 campaign with a very impressive goal scoring record for his country at youth level, scoring 10 goals in 10 games together in all levels has played at.

Graham Burke is another one of the huge Irish contingent at Aston Villa, which includes Shay Given, Ciaran Clark, Enda Stevens, Samir Carruthers, Jack Grealish, Michael Drennan and Graham. Graham was the top scorer for the u19 Next-Gen series in which Aston Villa won.

The final of our future hopefuls is Aiden O'Brien, who hasn't had a brilliant club career so far playing mostly non-league football, but when he puts on the green jersey he becomes a new man scoring goals for fun and is only two goals away from Robbie Brady's U21 goal scoring record.

All in all I think the future is very bright for Irish football and I am predicting every single one of these players to make the step up in both Club and International level.