O’Shea in no hurry to leave
Old Trafford
 By David Thorpe
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson’s public pursuit of the
Bayern Mun-ich midfielder Owen Hargreaves since the start of the season
seems to indicate the end of Republic of Ireland international John O’Shea’s
time at Old Trafford.
But the Waterford man, who recently made his 225th first-team appearance
for the Premiership leaders is adamant that he won’t be leaving
Manchester United this season.
He has been linked with a move to Premiership clubs such as Newcastle
and Aston Villa as well as SPL leaders Celtic.
But John said: “Why would I want to leave United at this time? I
am at a club which is top of the Premiership and in with a major chance
in the Champions League.
“Ever since I made my debut people have been saying that my days
were numbered but football teams thrive on competition. It can only improve
me as a player and improve the club at the same time.”
Having spent much of last season as a first-choice central midfielder
for the Red Devils O’Shea had to watch as Micheal Carrick was signed
from Tottenham but the 25-year-old has still managed to appear more than
20 times for the Old Trafford side this season despite not being a first
choice.
He said: “Of course I would like to be getting more game time. No
player wants to sit on the bench but as long as I am involved I am quite
happy to stay at United.”
John has two-and-a-half years left on his contract and intends to prove
he is worth another contract when that deal expires.
Having played most of his underage football at centre-half John broke
into the United first-team at left-back and has played in all of the defensive
positions although he has been used predominately as a central midfielder
in recent years.
He believes that he is best deployed in a central position and says that
when playing for the Republic of Ireland he prefers to be used as a centre-half.
He said: “Some people have mentioned in the past that they feel
I have not lived up to my early potential but I have over 30 caps for
my country and play for the best team in England. What more could I want?”
This year could be a defining one in the career of John O’Shea with
Manchester United closing in on what would be the second Premiership title
of the Irishman’s career and the Republic of Ireland looking to
restore some national pride in their bid to qualify for the European Championships.
When discussing his international career O’Shea becomes noticeably
more reticent.
He says that the players were stung by the criticism they have received
in recent months.
He said: “Every time any of us pull on an Ireland shirt the lads
would go to the ends of the earth to win.
“So while criticism of the performances was in many ways justified
to imply that the players aren’t putting the effort in is appalling.
“We don’t like losing and while qualifying for Euro 2008 looks
a tall order we will be giving it our everything to do just that.”
Whatever the future holds for John O’Shea the big Waterford man
can already reflect on a career which has included amazing successes.
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