Everton’s James McCarthy slammed by outspoken pundit

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Eamon Dunphy has slammed Everton midfielder James McCarthy in the wake of Saturday’s Euro 2016 qualifier with Scotland.

Everton midfielder James McCarthy was at the centre of a bizarre TV rant, as reported by sportsjoe.ie, which left former Manchester United midfielder Eamon Dunphy labelling him a ‘talking horse’.

The 24-year-old didn’t enjoy his best game of football against Scotland as the Republic of Ireland through away a 1-0 lead in the second-half to send both teams away with a point.

The draw damaged Ireland more than it did the Scots as now Martin O’Neill’s side sit two points behind third placed Scotland and four behind second placed Germany with four games remaining.

After the match, with tensions clearly running high, the 69-year-old lay into the central midfield pairing of Glenn Whelan and James McCarthy, with the Everton man coming off worse.

‘’We can’t go on with Glenn Whelan and James McCarthy,’’ said Dunphy. ‘’They’re paper players.

‘’McCarthy is just a talking horse. Horses who are supposed to do great things on the gallops every morning but never produce it on the racecourse.

‘’This guy never produces a real performance for Ireland and he rarely produces it for Everton. He’s just no good.

‘’He wasn’t in the game at all today. Look at the work and the ground Wes Hoolahan covered. There’s nothing from McCarthy. You just don’t see him. You don’t see Whelan. You can’t go into a game like this minus two players.’’

Does McCarthy show up on the big occasions?

The criticism of McCarthy is a little too far for a player who was outstanding and key to a FA Cup win when he was just 22.

Although he may not have had his best game for Ireland, he continues to be the stand out player on paper and looking at the options from the squad, it could be argued that the competition don’t come close.

He and Whelan are the only two central midfielders in the squad that have established themselves in the Premier League recently, with McCarthy being linked with Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United by the Daily Mail.

It may have been a bad performance for the youngster, but the rant after the match was clearly unwarranted as his ability makes him one of the best, if not the best, player in the Ireland team.