Christie was a midfielder under O’Neill but is thriving as a right back RYAN BYRNE/INPHOLeft backs and centre forwards are in short supply to Mick McCarthy but the Ireland manager has a problem of a different kind trying to accommodate an abundance of right backs. If two into one does not go, three certainly does not, and as it stands the double-header of Euro 2020 qualifiers in March will provide an insight as to where McCarthy ranks his trio of Premier League right backs. Séamus Coleman, team captain and ‘world-class’ according to previous manager Martin O’Neill, has ownership of the berth. Still, his struggles at Everton, allied to the surge of Matt Doherty and Cyrus Christie for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham respectively, raise a valid question as to whether he should start. In Coleman’s ideal world, there would be…

Source: The Times January 04, 2019 00:01 UTC