O’Neill is given some food for thought
AFTER THE disappointment of the defeat in Glasgow, plenty of positives from the friendly with the United States. We wanted to see some of the new lads, and Martin O’Neill didn’t disappoint. David McGoldrick and Cyrus Christie both had terrific debuts and should be a part of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign now.
And who knew that we, and Hull City, had two fullbacks in David Meyler and Robbie Brady?
After his heroics covering for Seamus Coleman in Germany, I was delighted Meyler not only got to play in his favoured position in midfield, but had the honour of wearing the captain’s armband, as well.
We all know Meyler had a tough time with injuries for a couple of years at Sunderland.
Many other players would have folded after serious blows like he had, and certainly not got back to playing at the very top.
But he is a very determined individual and Tuesday will have gone some way to burying the memory of the dark days of rehab he’s been through.
He needs games now, but it won’t be easy making the breakthrough into Steve Bruce’s starting XI, although his performance the other night won’t have done any harm.
His Hull teammate Robbie Brady has had his fair share of injuries in the last year, too, and is also in need of a good run of games. Alex Ferguson may have regarded him as a potential left-back, but I hadn’t really seen it in him.
Bruce knows he is an option there as cover for the excellent Andrew Robertson, who really impressed last week.
He does need to work on the defensive side of the game, but he has incredible ability to manipulate the ball, create chances and, as he showed against the Americans, can score, too.