JAKE O’BRIEN has been compared to Denis Irwin and Steve Finnan amid his revival at Everton.
The Republic of Ireland defender is enjoying a renaissance at Goodison Park under David Moyes.
He has made ten league appearances since the Scot’s return, starting nine of them, and has score two goals.
O’Brien has done so in a new position of right-back, having been signed from Lyon as centre-back but marginalised by Sean Dyche.
And speaking to NetBet Online Casino, former Ireland star Kevin Kilbane revealed that the Cork-native reminded him of fellow Rebel Denis Irwin.
Irwin played 56 times for the Boys in Green, as well as over 350 times for Manchester United.
In that time, he won seven Premier League titles, two FA Cups, and the Champions League – including the 1999 Treble.
And Kilbane argued: “I think Jake O’Brien has been immaculate in everything he’s done since he got into the Everton team.
“He’s not the kind of player you’re going to notice doing extremely special things, especially as he’s been playing at right back, which isn’t a natural position for him.
“However, everything he has been doing has just been consistently good.
“I’ve made comparisons with him and the likes of Denis Irwin and Steve Finnan before.
“They were just so consistent and did everything to such a good standard, they rarely made any mistakes.
“O’Brien reminds me of them in that respect – he’s very level-headed and so calm on the ball, he never seems to get flustered in his actions.
“I honestly can’t believe he’d not had more game time at Everton since David Moyes came in.
“He’s the kind of player you need in high pressure games to remain calm and keep things measured.”
While O’Brien is thriving at Everton, the same cannot be said for Evan Ferguson at West Ham.
The 20-year-old signed for the Hammers on loan from Brighton in January, reuniting with Graham Potter who gave him his first team debut with the Seagulls.
But he has featured sporadically off the bench for the Londoners, and played just one minute at the weekend in a 1-1 draw with Everton, during which O’Brien scored.
WORTH A TROY
Kilbane believes this will affect whether he will start for Ireland in their Nations League relegation play-off against Bulgaria on Thursday.
And the 48-year-old believes Heimir Hallgrimsson will opt for Troy Parrott, who has scored 17 goals in all competitions for Dutch side AZ Alkmaar this season.
Kilbane added: “I think Evan Ferguson’s lack of game time puts Troy Parrott in pole position to start for Ireland at the moment.
“He’s scored some big goals at AZ Alkmaar this season and has been playing and scoring consistently in the Europa League this season.
“In my opinion, I think it’s difficult to overlook him, and I would probably start him over Ferguson for these set of fixtures because of what he’s done over the course of the season.
“Part of me expected this with Evan Ferguson to be honest.
“I’m sure he was given guarantees that he was going to start when he spoke with Graham Potter before signing for West Ham, but he hasn’t played enough at Brighton over the past 18 months prior to the move, so it was always going to be difficult for him to be a certain starter for the club.”
