Denis Irwin says Seamus Coleman needs move to top four
“He might be, he might be,” Irwin responds with a grin, before making a serious point about what he believes the incumbent in the Irish defence needs to do to fully realise his huge potential.
“I think for him to be potentially world-class – and this is no disrespect to Everton – he probably has to move to a club that plays regularly in Europe,” he says.
“That’s no disrespect to him either. That’s the next stage of his progression. He’s gone across from Sligo, went on loan to Blackpool, he’s got better with Everton – it’s been progression all the way.
“They play a very attacking style at Everton – sometimes too attacking — which suits him because he is fantastic going forward.
“We’ve even seen him play on the right wing at times. If he keeps going like that, he’s going to be linked with teams in the top echelons of football.”
Irwin’s alma mater Manchester United is already one of those clubs, and the Cork native reckons Coleman would be a good fit at Old Trafford.
“He’s got a bit of experience under his belt now, he’s at a good age – 26 – and he’s at a good club for learning. 25/26 is when you start to get comfortable as a footballer. Most things have happened to you on a football field and you can deal with them. They’re probably the best years of your life because you’ve still got your fitness as well. ”
Capped 56 times for his country, Irwin expects Germany to come good again in the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign and sees Scotland, not Poland, as Ireland’s main rivals for the second automatic qualifying berth.
“Martin has huge experience in management, Roy’s experienced as well and it’s good that he’s a number two,” he says. “It’s hard to be critical as you are given the players you’re given, you can’t go out and purchase players. That’s no disrespect to the players but where they’re playing (compared to) when I played, we had players in the top league, and a lot of our players are in the Championship now.
“The spirit’s still there and they will battle away, there’s never a want for that. We have the toughest group of them all, the type of group where when you drop points it feels like an uphill battle.
“We need to keep going. Scotland will be the tougher of the two games but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it and just hope that, first, we beat Poland in March.”
Similarly, Irwin feels Manchester United are locked in a battle – this time for one of the Premier League’s top four places after missing out on the Champions League last year.
“After 26 years of a hugely successful period under Sir Alex, I think it was always going to be a tough time for the club,” says Irwin, a regular contributor to MUTV.
“The Champions League is the priority this year. At the moment they are in a battle with Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and Southampton and maybe even with City to get those Champions League spots.
“I think it’s fair to say now that Chelsea, with 14 games left and eight of them at home, it will be tough for anyone to catch them.
“(Qualifying for the Champions League) is huge. It’s the first time in a long time this year that it’s been missed and it’s not nice when you’re looking in from the outside. The top teams in Europe are battling away and you’re used to that. It’s hard because you have a lot of free mid-weeks. So it’s the priority this year to finish in the top four and it will be disappointing if we don’t.”
