Ronald Koeman has advised James McCarthy to put club before country and withdraw from the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Austria.
The Everton midfielder has been included in the provisional squad for Ireland’s qualifier in Vienna next Saturday despite being sidelined with a hamstring injury.
McCarthy’s selection has reignited the feud between Koeman and Martin O’Neill over the player’s fitness, with the Ireland manager accusing the Dutch coach of talking “nonsense” with the assertion that the midfielder was overloaded during the previous international break.
McCarthy played all but nine minutes of Ireland’s World Cup qualifying double-header against Georgia and Moldova last month despite missing the preceding six weeks as he recovered from groin surgery. Koeman claimed Ireland were “killing” the midfielder, who then appeared as a 57th‑minute substitute in Everton’s next outing at Manchester City before sustaining a hamstring injury in training the following week.
The Everton manager has rejected O’Neill’s suggestions that the hamstring problem and his Ireland exertions are not connected. “I think his latest injury is about being overloaded when he came back from Ireland, yes,” Koeman said. “My medical staff think that as well, yes.”
And Koeman has urged McCarthy to work on his fitness at Everton during the next international break rather than travel to Austria, although Fifa rules state the player must be assessed by Ireland’s medical staff before a final decision is reached.
“The player is not fit and not involved in team sessions,” the Everton manager said. “To have a call-up he needs to be close to being fit but it’s a bit of the same story as to what happened last time. We spoke to James and my advice to him is to stay here, train and get fit as soon as possible. But the final decision is down to the player.
“We spoke about what I want. It starts from playing for Everton. The player has learned from last time when he was overloaded and got another injury. First be fit, train with your club then you are ready for the national team. Not vice-versa.
“It’s difficult for him because he is between Everton and Ireland but first you must do what is best for your club. If you are ready then you can play for your national team but he needs to be fit first. In this situation he needs to be fit again.”
Koeman has not voiced his concerns directly to O’Neill and insisted he wanted to draw a line under the dispute. He said: “I haven’t spoken to him because it’s not necessary. We have the contact between the medical staff.
“If the manager doesn’t make the right decision than maybe he [McCarthy] can take the decision of the medical staff. But I’ve spoken about this. Let’s stop talking about this – I spoke about him, he speaks about me, let’s stop.”
McCarthy’s latest injury has cost him the chance to force his way back into Koeman’s team with Idrissa Gueye suspended for the Premier League game at Chelsea on Saturday. The Ireland international would have been the leading candidate to replace Gueye if fit but, in their absence, Tom Cleverley and Tom Davies are vying for inclusion alongside Gareth Barry in central midfield.
