And we thought Roberto Martinez’s relationship with the Republic of Ireland was a bit fraught.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman held nothing back in his criticism of Martin O’Neill’s decision to play midfielder James McCarthy for the full 90 minutes against Georgia last week, before he was called upon to play 80 minutes against Moldova just three days later.
McCarthy hasn’t lined out for his club since late August but O’Neill deemed the 25-year-old fit enough to feature last week and the fact that he played almost every minute of Ireland’s most recent pair of games is not sitting well with Koeman, who is preparing his Toffees side for this weekend’s trip to Manchester City.
“When James came back from Ireland the message from Everton’s medical staff was that he was massively overloaded. Now we have to handle a player who is massively overloaded,” the Dutchman said of McCarthy. “I would like to have more commitment from a player of Everton because we pay the player but he was in a very difficult situation and it is ridiculous that he has surgery, five to six weeks out, three training sessions, plays 90 minutes and then, after three days, plays another 80 minutes.
“Of course he is massively overloaded. I don’t do this to my players at Everton because you get injuries again.
“If you leave it up to the player to decide then he is in a difficult situation because he’s between the Everton and Irish teams. The players are really committed to the Ireland national team but there was contact between the medical teams of Everton and Ireland and he plays 90 minutes after five to six weeks out.”
Everton and the FAI have been at odds in recent years on the subject of managing players’ fitness for club and country, with Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane and former Toffees boss Roberto Martinez engaging in a war of words stemming from Keane’s claims that certain players were showing up to the Ireland camp with injuries.
Roberto Martinez dismisses Roy Keane injury comments as 'nonsense'http://t.co/LL0KJbt3Mp pic.twitter.com/NtN1RUXtOv
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) November 20, 2014
With Martinez gone, it appears as though a fresh feud is set to get underway after Koeman questioned the Irish international set-up, suggesting that McCarthy felt pressured into representing his country.
“You hope something like this would be solved by the understanding of the doctor of the Ireland team or the manager of the Ireland team,” Koeman continued. “They asked him if he was ready to play. It is very difficult for a player to say no because he is in Ireland.
“I like to have a lot of international players because it is a very good experience for every player. But sometimes, in several cases in fact, you like to have a little bit more understanding for a player who has been out injured for five to six weeks. Play him for 45 minutes, 60 minutes, but not 95 minutes after five to six weeks out, the second time 80 minutes! You are killing the player.”
On the latest episode of the GAA Hour, Wooly chats to new Meath boss Andy McEntee about the flawed Dublin Championship and catches up with new Clare joint manager Donal Moloney. Listen below or subscribe on iTunes.
