Good old Joey O’Brien! A lot of us may have been forgiven for actually forgetting he was still around during all this Bilic induced bonanza of euphoria, salvitating football and challenging the top four of the Premier League. After a long injury absence, only recently interrupted for the odd appearance in the development squad, he was called into action for the first team again rather unexpectedly when Tomkins suffered a cut above the eye that every UFC fighter would have been proud to sport after a Championship winning fight.
Some fans were probably slightly worried at the sight of O’Brien coming onto the pitch. After all, isn’t he one of the few remaining mainstays of the Big Sam era ?
Doesn’t he very much represent the times when West Ham were playing dull, defensive minded football, respecting the point, playing the percentages and all that ?
Haven’t we as a club in double quick time not bypassed players like O’Brien when we will soon be able to recruit our defenders from all corners of the world, not having to rely on solid no-nonsense performers from Dublin ?
I’m not gonna lie to you: I was worried initially, but blown away by the contribution of Joey O’Brien against Liverpool. He slotted in like he had never been away.
I seem to remember that he usually had to play at LB for us when this is actually not really his natural position, RB is probably where he feels and performs better while holding midfielder is by all accounts his most natural position, but with the likes of Song, Kouyate, Noble and Obiang at the club he’s unlikely to get a shot in that position anytime soon..
He even showed some nice touches and trickery, holding onto the ball in pressure situations, he was reliable, solid, calm, dependable.
And that’s all that Joseph Martin O’Brien has ever been for us, a grafter, a proper professional, always with a ready smile in training or during games, limited in his skills (the bold Maldini comparison in the title being obviously very much tongue in cheek), yet always giving his all for the cause while never being likely to throw any toys out of the proverbial pram if things didn’t go his way or he wasn’t being played as often as he’d like to or where on the pitch he’d ideally like to be.
I remember being extremly annoyed once with O’Brien five years ago when he managed to get himself sent off against Reading after coming off the bench and stupidly collecting two bookings in the space of five minutes. At that point I was so riled up that I wouldn’t have minded never seeing O’Brien in a West Ham shirt again. But incidents like this have been few and far between and Joey doesn’t seem to have the nutter genes in him to make him a perennial risk in that respect.
He has only ever scored five league goals in his career, but that’s not what his game is about. It’s more about blocking shots, making vital interceptions and then getting the ball who a teammate who can then initiate another attacking move. So basically doing what James Collins does whenever he plays Centre Half.
Which brings me to the thought if O’Brien might actually still have a future at West Ham. Remember, Collins was pretty much nailed on to leave the club in this window in search for regular football in order to boost his chances of featuring for the Waöes national team. Injury issues forced him to play some games, he shone in those, impressed Bilic and earned himself a contract extension as a very reliable squad member in an ever up and coming side.
We are hearing eerily similar noises from O’Brien, he apparently was (or is) keen to move elsewhere in order to get gametime so he can play himself into contention to be on the same pitch during the Euros as his West Ham teammate Randolph. Let us not forget that O’Brien isn’t that old really (despite his ever receding hairline), he’s celebrating his 30th birthday in two weeks time and has another few good years in him surely.
He’s had a history of some nasty injuries and only our medical team will be able to ascertain whether he’s likely to get more of those. In the meantime though it all depends on Bilic’s opinion and judgement of course.
Jenkinson (unfortunately) is history at West Ham, he’s Arsenal’s responsibility, young Sam Byram is being touted as the next big thing at RB and Tomkins has been quite a revelation playing there this season too. But as insurance you couldn’t ask for a more professional, likeable and reliable alternative than Joey O’Brien.
His versatility makes him a great option to have on the bench too (both B positions, defensive midfield). And while it is nice to see players from Argentina, France, Colombia and Spain wear the famous claret and blue, isn’t it also paramount to have “local” guys from England, Wales or Ireland in the squad with English as their first language? (Presuming O’Brien wasn’t raised with Gaelic Irish ringing in his ears when he was a toddler…)
I know Bilic isn’t afraid to keep players at the club he is happy with (like with Collins), even if they are not glamourous, flashy or the second coming of Beckenbauer. So why not offer O’Brien another short term deal to make him part of our first season in the OS ? Injury permitting he won’t let us down and his wages would be modest enough surely to spend some more money on our attacking department. Which will likely be the focus of our attention when the summer transfer window opens. COYI!