With the Merseyside derby taking place tonight and both sides in flying form, JOE decided to select a combined Irish XI who have distinguished themselves with Liverpool and Everton over the years.
Today is an important day in the calendar for fans of both Merseyside clubs, and having already played out an amazing 3-3 game in November this year, we’re expecting an equally open and exciting game tonight between the two huge rivals.
However, one thing that they have in common apart from their city of residence is a longstanding relationship with Irish players and some greats of the game have played for both clubs over the years. With that in mind, and having re-watched the Keane & Vieira documentary recently, we had a stab at putting our best Irish XI together from the players who have played for either club or even both of them.
Here’s how our side lines up:
Goalkeeper: Jimmy O’Neill
With over 200 appearances for Everton in his career, as well as 17 caps for the Irish national side, Jimmy O’Neill was head and shoulders above the rest for the number one shirt. Seamus Martin “Jim” McDonagh was a possible choice between the sticks, and as current Ireland goalkeeping coach, he most certainly deserves a mention.
Right Back: Seamus Coleman
Although he’s the only player currently playing at either club and still has a little something to prove to be up amongst the legends, he has been absolutely outstanding in particular this season, scoring goals for fun and rampaging up and down the wing. Honorable mention again must go to Steve Finnan, who has a Champions League medal of course. How fickle we are.
Centre Back: Richard Dunne
Another recent Everton and Ireland great gets the nod at centre back, mainly because we love the Dunney monster, and his performance in Moscow against Russia in qualifying for Euro 2012 was the stuff of legend. Honorable mention goes to Phil Babb, who put his balls on the line against Chelsea. This will never stop making us flinch.
Centre Back: Mark Lawrenson
One of the best moustaches in football punditry, he backs up his qualifications for his place in the team with a ridiculous haul of medals including a European Cup and a few league winners’ medals in there too for good measure. Honorable mention goes to Jim Beglin, who, we’re going to squeeze in here as a left-sided centre back, although we know that’s not his registered position. The man won a European Cup for Pete’s sake.
Left Back: Steve Staunton
Stan, the gaffer, has to get the nomination for this position for his two spells at Liverpool, where he claimed both league and cup glory. Honorable mention goes to Terry ‘Can I Borrow A’ Phelan, who once again we would squeeze in if Staunton was unavailable. However, one man who could have filled in at left back, left mid, centre mid, centre back, goalkeeper, striker and generally all round the pitch is of course Zinedine Skill-bane or Kevin Kilbane as his family know him.
Central Midfield: Lee Carsley
No stranger to a hefty challenge, Carsely worked as a brilliant shield in front of the defence, and happened to score in a Merseyside derby too, so with the day that’s in it we had to put him in. Also we’re showing our serious tactical nous by playing with a deep-lying holding player.
Central Midfield: Ronnie Whelan
Long before he was a character open for parody on Après Match, Whelan was a decent aul footballer whose list of honours in a red shirt is as long as your arm. He switched to the middle of midfield when John Barnes rose to prominence, so that’s where we’ll stick him too. Honorable mention to Jason ‘Trigger’ McAteer, who was one of the infamous Spice Boys and sometimes operated in the middle as well on the right of midfield.
Attacking Midfield: Ray Houghton
Apart from sticking the ball in the English net in a green shirt, Houghton was a vital player in the Liverpool teams of the late 1980s and early ’90s, and has two league titles to show for his contributions from the right side of midfield. We’re playing him at 10 because he fits in that way, and also he lobbed Pagliuca from that general area during the 1994 World Cup… Anyone else want to clutch at these straws with us?
Left Wing: Kevin Sheedy
A haul of 77 goals and over 300 appearances in an Everton shirt (as well as a few appearances for Liverpool) means that Sheedy really must be included down the left side. Honorable mention to Mark Kennedy too, who was at Liverpool during the era of ridiculous collars on their jerseys, which we fondly remember.
Right Wing: Steve Heighway
With the left side already taken care of, and in the name of balance, we’ve decided to go all new-school and put a left-footed player on the right, cutting in and drilling a few shots at the ‘keeper. He also won a few medals here and there along the way, but nothing too outstanding, just three European cups, five league titles, a UEFA cup…
Striker: John Aldridge
330 league goals in his career, with 63 in a Liverpool shirt, means that he is another automatic inclusion in the squad up front as a target man to stick the ball in the back of the net. He also wasn’t adverse to letting the linesman know his feelings, so when you need someone to plead your case to the ref, we’re looking at Aldo. Honorable mention goes to Robbie Keane, and while he didn’t show his best form at Liverpool, he’s still a natural goalscorer.
Other honorable mentions:
A whole crop of Irish talent are currently on the books at Everton too, and while they haven’t quite reached ‘legend’ status yet, there’s plenty of potential there for greatness amongst Aiden McGeady, Darron Gibson and James McCarthy, who would be on the bench we suppose and might be in with a shout of a starting spot when we inevitably revisit this feature a few years down the road.
