As Ireland did not unfortunately qualify for World Cup 2014, we’ve all had to indulge in following our favourite “second” teams this time around - Italy, Spain, Portugal spring to mind. As they are all heading home now, we have really had to stretch ourselves, so we have decided to go back to dreaming about Ireland again and to figure out what lineups we would have played if we had qualified.
Beat Your Manager! Fantasy Football is an app similar to “Football Manager for live football”, where you manage your favourite Club and pick lineups, bench, formations and substitutions, all in real-time. When fans play the game, the Beat Your Manager team can get a picture of the popularity of different players, by looking at how frequently they are selected for the lineup.
We looked at Beat Your Manager! data for 68 Irish players that play for English Premier League teams to identify the ratings they get from fans of their respective clubs and see who would most likely make it into our starting 11 and there are a few surprises.
Keiren Westwood just makes the cut for Goalkeeper:
Keiren Westwood (Sunderland) was the most popular Irish goalkeeper, with 28 per cent of fans including him in their lineups, at least before he was injured. Despite hanging up his international boots, Shay Given (Aston Villa) is not far behind, with 24 per cent approval:
Three clear choices in defence: Coleman, Delaney and O’Shea
Seamus Coleman (Everton) is the most popular Irish defender with EPL fans, with an overall 85 per cent rating and is closely followed by Damien Delaney (Crystal Palace; 79 per cent) and John O’Shea (Sunderland; 70 per cent). After O’Shea, Aston Villa’s Ciaran Clark just makes the cut with 56 per cent approval.
Unconvincing midfield choices: Brady, Whelan, McCarthy, Ireland
If Stephen Ireland was to declare for international duty again, he would just about squeeze into our first-choice lineup, with a 34 per cent overall rating.
Hull’s Robbie Brady (66 per cent) was the most popular Irish midfielder with EPL fans, followed by Glenn Whelan (Stoke City; 57 per cent) and James McCarthy (Everton; 44 per cent).Overall, Ireland’s midfield choices rate rather poorly with their respective club fans.
Shane Long is our favourite striker, but Walters not too shabby:
Ireland is not swamped with Premier League strikers, so it comes as no surprise that Hull City’s Shane Long is our most popular forward, at 78 per cent popularity. Jonathan Walters (Stoke City) also rates quite highly with his fanbase, at 63 per cent.
Most popular Irish Lineup among EPL Teams:
