The recurrent message from the Ireland camp this week is that nobody is throwing in the towel on World Cup qualification. In Jake O’Brien, the team might just have an old-school weapon capable of handing them a lifeline in Lisbon.
O’Brien has become something of a long-throw specialist since joining Everton and he could prove an influential presence against Portugal on Saturday. The Cork man is a throwback, of sorts.
“It has become a lot more common and not just with us (Ireland), but in the Premier League too,” says the 24-year-old defender on using long throws. “I think against teams like Portugal you’ve got to pick your moments.”
Everton have been utilising O’Brien’s specialist quality as a launchpad to create panic in front of opposition goalkeepers. The Ireland management team can see merit in such a strategy too.
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It might not be the most elegant tactic but the long throw, it seems, is back in fashion.
According to Opta stats, there have already been 262 long throws into the opposition penalty area in the Premier League this season. That is almost half of the previous season’s total of 578. Opta deem long throws as those that travel at least 20 metres and end in the opposition box.
Indeed, the stats indicate that a rate of 3.44 long throws per game this season is running higher than at any stage over the last decade – with 1.67 long throws per game in 2018/19 the closest in terms of frequency during that period.
There were 20 goals from throw-ins across the 2024/25 season, which was up from an average of eight or nine on previous years. Already this season, eight goals have been scored from throw-ins.
Former Ireland international Rory Delap became a cult hero for his long throws and no conversation on the skill goes by without the ex-Stoke City player getting namechecked.
Ireland assistant manager John O’Shea acknowledged that O’Brien offers a different attacking option.
“We spoke to Jake [during the week] and naturally, the conversation goes to long throws,” said O’Shea. “You see the long throws all over European football now. What a weapon it is for teams. The idea is to give us an attacking threat in terms of aerial ability; the distance they can throw it is obviously key to that.”
The trajectory of O’Brien’s throws doesn’t match the scud-like balls Delap could fizz towards goalmouths, but the Everton man is capable of getting huge distance on his efforts.
“I won’t sit here and say I have a Rory Delap throw-in because I don’t, but you can definitely get something from throw-ins,” he said.
“I think you’re seeing in the Premier League now, if you win the first flick-on then it could bobble in the box and you can get something from it. So, I think against teams like Portugal it’s important that we use this to our advantage and set up right and hopefully something comes from it.”
It is not a skill he used as a kid growing up – and O’Brien doesn’t put his strong arms down to his boxing background or his road bowling prowess, though surely neither hurt.
“I think it could be a lot of things, just flexibility, strength and hoping I can serve a ridiculously long throw.
“I think it was just at Everton when I came into the team, it was something that we added to our game. We have some big players at Everton and we have big players here with Ireland too.
“And I know even playing against teams with long throws, it can be a difficult thing to defend if you don’t win that first contact.”
One of the obvious flaws with O’Brien launching the long throws is that at 6ft 6in, he is exactly the towering physical player you would like to have on the end of such a ball.
Still, Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson believes O’Brien can help wreak havoc by sending in long throws.
“Set-pieces, we had a lot of them against Hungary. We didn’t utilise them but we got a lot of second chances, crosses,” said the Ireland boss.
“We used the throw-ins in that game to recycle the ball, get players higher up the pitch and in the box. Against Portugal, that would be important, to get the team higher up the pitch. Set-pieces are important for an underdog team in games like this.”
[ 25 years on: The night Matt Holland earned Ireland a vital point away to PortugalOpens in new window ]
O’Brien joined Everton from Lyon in July, 2024. He has started all seven of their Premier League games this season and is clearly seen by David Moyes as a key link in his defensive chain.
The former Cork City player made his first starting senior appearance for Ireland in a 3-0 friendly defeat away to Portugal in June, 2024. He played in both recent qualifiers against Hungary and Armenia.
“Portugal are a top team so we’re not expecting to get on the ball and have 60-70 per cent possession. We know that’s their game,” added O’Brien. “We’ve got to dig in, be defensively compact and we’ll have moments during the game to break through.
“I think we’re good enough to get a performance out there and get a good result. There are four games to put it right (in the group) and it starts this weekend.”
Ireland have little option other than to throw everything at it in Lisbon.
