Ireland on the fringes

Today Stuart Brennan, over at the MEN, has written an article about the future of young Stephen Ireland:

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_city/s/1200585_ireland_at_crossroads

The piece, entitled 'Ireland at crossroads', picks out many reasons for why Ireland is struggling this season, but completely avoiding putting blame on the player himself.

Fairly typically, a good part of blame is apportioned to Mancini - "maybe Stevie Ireland and Mancini are not a good fit." Whilst crooning to the 'foamers' on that site's forums, it seems to completely forget that Ireland was just as out of sorts under Hughes this season. To suggest, as he does, that Ireland is too attacking a player for Mancini's vision of a midfielder is ludicrous. As I have said on many occasions, Mancini's Inter thrived on the deployment of flair players with creative leanings. For me, Mancini has inherited an Ireland who is out of form and is well within his rights not to select him - just as Hughes had begun to do towards the end of his time at City. For a player who looked completely out of sorts straight from the off against Blackburn this season (despite his well-taken goal), speculators must stop laying the blame on his managers and start looking at the player himself.

I am by no means an anti-Stephen Ireland, and in previous campaigns against him (previous to last season's exploits), I have always stood by him as one of the most talented players in the squad - capable of almost any pass, with sensational vision - and I still believe that capability is there now, and this makes it all the more frustrating.

I tend to think he has blown himself out over the past two years by not taking what is considered a necessary break over the summer. The tail end of years after World Cups are always rife with commentators blaming underperformance on the lack of a restful summer the year before - yet these players (especially the English internationals it is normally directed at) do have a substantial break after the premature closing of their tournament. The dizziness and heart scares of Ireland after the Fulham game do suggest he has overreached himself.

Then there is his own mindset. Ireland is young still and when one bursts onto the scene at an early age, like Micah Richards, it is sometimes hard to deal with it all. Ireland has had many documented problems with football in the past - the numerous grandmas, the "I hate football" Bebo account - and it is not unfeasible to think that those problems have not been left entirely behind. After a season of being lauded as one of the country's top performers - cruelly missing out on the Young Player of the Year award - he returned to club football this season with a lot of expectation on his head. Always trying the outlandish pass and neglecting the battling attitude of last year, his dips in performance must be put down to more than management and being played out of position.

Ireland needs to settle again before he is ready for regular selection and to have him as an option on the fringes is a luxury any team would like to have.