James McCarthy seems to have dropped a hint to Martin O'Neill about his attacking ability ahead of June's crunch Euro qualifier with Scotland.
The Ireland international was a deserved man of the match in Everton's 3-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday, and the Glasgow-born midfielder credited Toffees boss Roberto Martinez for allowing him to excel in a more attacking role in recent games. Speaking to The Guardian, McCarthy said:
We have been working in training on a different style of play. The manager is letting me push on.
Gareth Barry is sitting in there and I have to try to get back and help defensively but the manager wants to try to get more goals in my game. He is letting me off the leash a little.
McCarthy has scored two goals in his last four games for Everton - including the opener against United - having scored just once in his first 18 months in blue. The box-to-box midfielder last month became the 1,436,857th person on Earth to draw strong criticism from Eamon Dunphy following his lethargic display in Ireland's 1-1 draw with Poland in Dublin.
It has often been hypothesised that McCarthy feels restricted by Ireland's recent gameplans, with Martin O'Neill's slightly reserved approach to recent games - at least early on - seemingly failing to get the best out of the dynamic midfielder, considered by many to be Ireland's most talented player.
It remains to be seen if the Ireland manager follows suit and lets the Scottish-born 24 year old 'off the leash' in June's crunch clash with his country of birth.
Meanwhile, with his Everton future in a constant state of flux, McCarthy dispelled the nigh on immortal rumours linking him to both Manchester United and Chelsea.
It is new to me if a club is going to come in and buy me in the summer. I have not spoken to anyone. I have not heard anything. The media has done a few stories but I am delighted to be here and I have many years still to come.
All in all, we'll look forward to a resurgent McCarthy in June then.
[Guardian]
