O'Brien: 'I am playing consistently in one of Europe’s top leagues so why shouldn’t I be considered?'

REPRESENTING IRELAND IN FRANCE: Lyon's Irish centre-half Jake O'Brien making his mark in France. Pic credit: Lyon.

Boxing and the rush of a ringwalk occupied Jake O’Brien’s early sporting ambition but the stages he’s gracing in football more than match up for prestige.

The Youghal native is Ireland’s sole representative in France, the first to feature in Ligue One for 23 years since Tony Cascarino.

At Lyon, he’s surrounded by royalty in the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Nemanja Matić and Corentin Tolisso but the most important relevance to stardom is that he’s keeping Dejan Lovren out of the team.

A combination of steely defending and stylish passing has established the Corkman into the realm of first-choice.

Recently, it was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Marseille and Jonathan David at Lille he was shackling.

Tonight (Friday) at the 59,000-seater Groupama Stadium it’ll be Chelsea target Terem Moffi in the colours of Nice he’s pitted against.

Eighteen appearances by this stage of the season wasn’t in the script, for Laurent Blanc signed the centre-back from Crystal Palace as a project player.

A different view was taken by his successor Fabio Grosso; his stance replicated by O’Brien’s third manager of the season, Pierre Sage, and the €1m fee been branded around the league circuit as the bargain of the season.

Sitting in an upstairs room of the club’s plush training ground, adjacent to their stadium, the 22-year-old last week reviewed his surge with trademark modesty.

A character unprepared for the upgrade would’ve been exposed by now.

As a self-proclaimed late bloomer, he doesn’t have time to overthink the swiftness with which he’s become one of this country’s standouts around Europe.

That’s not his bag and nor will he flinch should the ascent accelerate.

There’s a clash with Kylian Mbappé and PSG in April to ponder and then potentially Cristiano Ronaldo in June.

The latter requires a call-up from the incoming Ireland manager for the Portugal friendly, a prospect he doesn’t dismiss as aspirational.

Centre-back is widely regarded as the most difficult area to break into, owing to the abundance of options within a squad bereft in other departments.

“I am playing consistently in one of Europe’s top leagues so why shouldn’t I be considered?,” he muses with quiet confidence.

“After going overage with the U21s following the playoff defeat to Israel, I didn’t expect a senior call-up.

“I was playing in the Belgian second division for RWD Molenbeek last season and was competing for places against defenders of higher standard.

“This is different. France is one the best leagues around Europe. I’m playing for a strong team against top-quality strikers every week, gaining experience all the time.

“In the back of my head has been an Ireland call-up and doing so against Ronaldo and Portugal would be brilliant.” 

So flush in central-defensive options are Ireland that the notion of replicating Manchester City’s ploy of pushing John Stones into a holding midfielder has been floated.

How would that suit O’Brien?

“I’d play anywhere for Ireland but have you seen our midfielders at Lyon?” he replies with a giggle.

Theory debunked.

Harnessing the engine-room in front of O’Brien and his companion Duje Ćaleta-Car are Maxence Caqueret, Matić and Tolisso.

Orel Mangala, signed from Nottingham Forest last month along with another Premier League loanee Saïd Benrahma, is their back-up holder on the bench.

Not that O’Brien was pigeon-holed in his formative years.

It was only when he started catching the eye of FAI scouts that the Leesider was shifted towards his position he’s excelled in.

Unfortunately, in a lazy generalisation Roy Keane can associate with from almost 40 years ago, the decision-makers were appraising using warped criteria.

“I was a midfielder or striker growing up,” he explained about his days with his local club and the Cork schoolboys’ squad.

“For the Ireland U15 trials in Dublin, I played right-back and came home feeling I did well.

“When the call came, the feedback was I wasn’t physically capable of playing international football. That really upset me at the time.

“I stuck at it and looked after myself, going to the gym with my friends after school and watching my diet.

“Eventually, it came together and things took off after joining Cork City’s U17s.” 

Eventually being the salient word.

Guided by his Dad, O’Brien was a keen boxer in his early teens, toughening up from sparring against rivals three years his senior.

Weight training at a gym run by his friend Mark Hennessy complemented that regime, only the bodily benefits weren’t apparent.

“When I started losing, rather than gaining, pounds, I knew something was up.

“One day at 16 I came home after school and my parents said I looked pale and skinny.

“I needed to visit the doctor and it turned out my blood sugars were through the roof.

“I wasn’t brought in by ambulance but the medics said if I didn’t go to hospital that night it would get a lot worse.

“I was in kept in for a week and got diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

“I could’ve feared the worst but didn’t allow it to stop me. I’ve been on insulin since. Sometimes in matches I could feel flat but I know how to deal with it.” 

His career hasn’t stayed linear for a long time.

Despite realising he was better off away from Palace last summer, O’Brien remained in the gene pool of owner John Textor.

City Group, another multi-club conglomerate with Manchester City at the Apex, saw their bid to swoop and hothouse him in Girona rebuffed.

“I have a great relationship with John and he came to watch me in Belgium last season,” O’Brien said about another of the American’s clubs.

“We don’t just talk about football - he’s interested in everything about the individual. Even though I didn’t know anyone at Lyon, I knew they’d look after me.

“My girlfriend (Sophie) and I have really settled in here over the six months.

“We’ve our own apartment near the city and there’s a lovely culture to the place.

“I was always open-minded. Because I wanted to reach the top, I wasn’t set on going from Ireland to England and trying to move up the divisions.

“Moving to Belgium was a risk – there’s no point saying it wasn’t – but I knew within two months it was worth it.

“It’s the type of league, and being in central Europe, that gets lot of attention from scouts. Interest came from here towards the end of the season.

“France is a step-up in standard but I’ve been able for it.

“The more under pressure I am, the better I play. I prefer not having to think too much about what I’m facing in advance.” 

He’s certainly rolled with the punches and has a few more knockouts of his own left.