Robbie Brady is a player who really emerged as an important figure through Ireland's Euro 2016 qualification campaign, with his versatility getting us out of a jam on more than one occasion, and ability to deliver from the wing providing a threat we had otherwise been lacking from left-back since a certain Zinedine Kilbane hung up his international boots back in 2012.
But easily the most important thing that Brady brings to the table is his delivery from set-pieces, which, while it can certainly be inconsistent and has become something that many fans are quick to criticise, is hugely beneficial when it is done right, eg. Jon Walters' second goal against Bosnia.
Kilbane was asked to interview Robbie Brady for Setanta Sports ahead of last night's match with Slovakia, and bring a former pro himself he suggested Brady play him in a game of pool to offer the Norwich City player a break from the mundanity of standard interviews. It worked, and we got an enjoyable clip of two men who transitioned from flying wingers to full-backs casually talking about football over a game of pool.
One compliment that Kilbane made to Brady, however, took us by surprise:
The way you're playing, particularly with Ireland, your set-pieces have become such a threat for us now - and I don't want to blow your trumpet too much here - you've become one of the best in world football now.
I watch a lot of football now around the world, and see you with your deliveries, do you think they could be key? How do you think about that yourself, from a personal point of view?
One of the best in World football? That is quite a compliment.
Here at Balls.ie we've discussed Robbie Brady's deliveries before, and we find them similar to the shooting of Fulton Reed from The Mighty Ducks. For those unfamiliar with that film, Reed was a player who would show wild inconsistency with his shot, but one out of five of them would be a guaranteed goal.
Now, wildly inconsistent would certainly be a harsh way to describe Brady's set-pieces, and that's not what we're saying, but the 'one out of five' aspect is something we believe in. When Brady gets it right, it's either a goal or a sitter being missed.
But is he really up there with the likes of Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Christian Eriksen, Miralem Pjanic as the best set-piece takers in world football?
We've noticed from our readers before that there are some, like those who think Glenn Whelan is useless, who claim Brady's deliveries are crap when one or two doesn't beat the first man, so Kilbane's statement would certainly evoke a chuckle from those corners. Brady knows this himself:
I'm just as quick to get slated if I do over or under-hit one, but it's always good to see them go into the right areas and there's people to get on the end of them.
You can check out the interview in full below courtesy of Setanta Sports on YouTube:
