O'Neill Full Of Praise For Ireland Debutantes

Martin O' Neill was more than happy with the Republic of Ireland's fantastic 4-1 win over the United States on Tuesday night in Dublin, complementing the team's increased attitude and work ethic, but he saved much of his flattery for the new faces, whom he described as “excellent.”

Spreading the praise around, he wasn't short on kind words for the overall team display, as they took the game by the scruff of the neck, particularly following the restart where three goals in the space of just over half an hour saw them storm past Jurgen Klinsmann's outfit to seal a comprehensive friendly victory.

Nonetheless, O'Neill spent extra time singling out both of Ireland's debutantes, David McGoldrick and Cyrus Christie for their magnificent displays in the green shirt.

When asked whether he thought the Ipswich Town forward had had a good game, the Ireland manager wasted little time in building his reputation up, praising his vast improvement fitness-wise in particular.

“Yeah, he did. And I think he's missed all pre-season because of injury. I think sometimes that the games that I see him playing for Ipswich – I might be totally wrong with this – but I thought that he is getting fitter, and tonight I thought he was getting a bit tired in the game.” O' Neill said

“But he made a contribution which was important.” he added

Indeed McGoldrick's contribution of a pair of assists was just reward for a fantastic individual performance and underlined exactly the type of creative threat Ireland have been missing in matches of late.

Perhaps most of his feel-good comments were lavished on fellow debutante Christie, who had an absolute stormer on the right flank, showcasing his deft touches and brilliant movement more than once when hugging the touchline under pressure.

“And of course his fellow debutante Cyrus Christie was really outstanding going forward for us.” the Ireland gaffer beamed.

Pleased with the extra options he's unearthed across a wide variety of positions, fans can expect O' Neill to gain a lot more confidence from their improved strength-in-depth, something that could see them adopt a more offensive mentality in the big games to come.

“I think the positive aspect for me is obviously a number of decent performances. But to add a wee bit of extra quality to the squad, during the course of time.

“And I think that Cyrus Christie, and I think that David McGoldrick – two excellent debuts for us – I think that epitomises what we're attempting to do;, at least trying to have a squad of decent calibre and decent quality, and that players are not found wanting at this level.

“It might not happen for everyone, but that is important for us to know that. For instance, Seamus Coleman getting an injury and didn't play the games and we, essentially, had to fill in with a midfield player at full-back. And now Cyrus Christie has come on tonight, and if that is anything to go by, which it should be because he plays like that for Derby County, that's a nice option to have at this stage.”