Living in Lyon distinguishes Jake O’Brien, making him atypical. Hypothetically, the 22-year-old trailblazes a pathway that future Irish football aspirants could pursue. Unwillingly, he bears these hallmark due to harsh circumstances in the Premier League that led to his departure from Crystal Palace in 2022. Courageously, O’Brien shifted to the Belgian second division; a gamble that bore fruit when he was honoured as RWD Molenbeek’s top player of the season. Already holding his own as Republic of Ireland’s under-21 international, his towering presence in the Challenger Pro League caught the glimpse of Olympique Lyonnais, landing him into another coveted transfer.
Upon his arrival at Olympique Lyonnais, he acclaimed, “It’s an historically prominent, large French club,”. He elaborated on the outstanding fans, superior facilities, and the incomparable level of training alongside the world’s elite players. It was a perfect environment for him to advance.
His unlikely path to stardom proves fetching. He was often undersized during his youth in Ireland, compelling him to take up boxing as a means to toughen his physique. He is also a professional footballer managing type one diabetes. He had an incredible growth spurt to 6ft 6in before finally making it into John O’Shea’s squad for the March friendly matches against Belgium and Switzerland.
He recalled his early years, stating, “I always held the conviction that I could represent Ireland since I was young. It was more about waiting for the right moment and seizing the opportunity when it arose. Development occurs at different paces and I developed physically later than most, but I never doubted my capabilities. I was not physically mature enough to compete with my peers.”
Those peers being Nathan Collins and Jason Knight, two seasoned squad members who shared their youth experience with O’Brien.
“At age 16 or 17, that’s when I began to physically develop. When I was at Cork City, it was about bringing all the elements together, physically, before moving to England,” he reminisces.
Hoping to earn his first cap against Belgium this Saturday or the Swiss on Tuesday, he finally joined the senior team this week. Both Collins and Andrew Omobamidele, who are in the same age bracket as O’Brien, need not make drastic career changes in Brussels or Lyon to be in Premier League’s center back.
Dara O’Shea, Collins, and Omobamidele are demonstrating their worth in the English premier league playing for teams such as Burnley, Brentford and Nottingham Forrest, respectively. This could potentially keep O’Brien sidelined; moreover, the return of injured players John Egan, Shane Duffy, and Liam Scales remains uncertain.
Meanwhile, O’Brien has come under the mentorship of the Waterford man he admired growing up. He expressed his gratitude, saying, “It is quite something to play under the management of John, the central defender I always admired.”
Discussing O’Shea and his role as interim coach, O’Brien praised his skills, stating, “His wealth of experience and coaching ability is highly valued. He deals with the team very well, knows what it takes to compete at this level, and his advice and coaching proven effective.”
O’Brien’s academy coach at Palace, Paddy McCarthy, offers a cautionary tale. McCarthy missed out on a cap, being a reserve against South Africa in 2009. O’Brien said about him, “Paddy and I understand each other quite well. He’s a great person to depend on and get advice from.”
Looking ahead, if O’Shea selects O’Brien for the Saturday game, at least he won’t have to contend with Romelu Lukaku from Roma, who’s sidelined with a groin injury. However, this wouldn’t be much of a relief as Loïs Openda is proving to be quite a player having scored 23 goals for RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga and Champions League.
Well, Ireland has one less concern as they will not have to deal with Kevin De Bruyne’s creativity or Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois who’s unbeatable at times. Belgium, facing internal issues following their 2022 World Cup failure in Qatar, finds its manager replacement – Domenico Tedesco, further exacerbating the situation. Belgians are concerned that Courtois may decline to represent them under Tedesco’s rule in the upcoming match in Germany.
On his fallout with Courtois, Tedesco said, “I have tried everything, absolutely everything.” In return, Courtois responded by posting three Pinocchio emojis on platform X after his expected knee surgery comeback in April.
Ideally, O’Shea’s Ireland should stand to benefit from this. However, the practical impact might be negligible.