‘Shocking’ – National media unimpressed by 3/10 Everton player whose performance ‘deteriorated’ last night
Everton defender Jake O’Brien was part of the Republic of Ireland’s dismal 2026 World Cup qualifying defeat by Armenia.
The Republic of Ireland’s hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup took a hammer blow as they suffered a defeat to Armenia.
The Boys in Green lost 2-1 to a country ranked 105th and some 45 places below them in the world. The Republic had displayed resilience to battle from two goals behind to earn a 2-2 draw in Dublin last weekend. However, they were deservedly beaten by Armenia and have only one point in Group F.
Everton defender Jake O’Brien once again started for Eire. Deployed in a right-back role – the position he occupies for the Toffees – he was excellent against Hungary as he whipped in several dangerous crosses.
However, O’Brien did not have the same impact against Armenia. According to those closest to the game, the former Lyon man had a difficult evening like many of his team-mates, and is was agreed that he was partly to blame when Grant-Leon Ranos doubled the home side’s lead in the second half.
The Irish Times gave O’Brien a player rating of just 3/10 and commented: “Whipped in a nice ball from the right just after the half-hour mark but was caught badly in behind for the home side’s second goal. Ireland’s defence looked in disarray for much of the second half.”
SportsJoe also felt that O’Brien struggled in the game and dished out a mark of 3.5. It said: “After a fine game on Saturday, he did not have close to the same impact down the wing this evening. Was shocking for Armenia’s second when he completely tuned off to his surroundings, allowing the home side to get in behind him.”
The Irish Independent were slightly more lenient and handed the 24-year-old a score of 4/10. It said: “Several long throws from the Everton man failed to threaten the Armenian box and some of his clearances could have been better too. Crucially though, he lost Tigran Tiknizyan far too easily for the second goal.”
Balls.ie agreed and felt that after a decent first half, O’Brien did not recover from his error early in the second period. The outlet commented: “The Cork native looked solid enough at the back in the first 45 minutes, with his long throw-ins seemingly the only plan of attack for Ireland. However, he was badly caught out for Armenia’s second of the night and his performance deteriorated from there.”
