Koeman unhappy with O'Neill over McCarthy

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has reignited his war of words with Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill by claiming he selected James McCarthy for the World Cup qualifier against Wales against medical advice.

Koeman previously accused O'Neill of 'killing the player' after her was selected for both qualifiers against Georgia and Moldova last October, despite missing Everton's previous six games due to a groin injury.

McCarthy had not played since March 5 due to a hamstring injury but he joined up with the Ireland squad ahead of last weekend's game and was named in the starting line-up, only to be replaced by David Meyler after aggravating a hamstring injury in the warm-up.

The injury means McCarthy will miss Saturday's Merseyside derby at Anfield and Koeman is furious that he will be without the midfielder, claiming both O'Neill and McCarthy went against medical advice.

"It was a final decision against the medical staff of Ireland and also against the medical staff of Everton," the Dutchman said.

"And there are two people responsible for that. One is the player by himself. Finally, if he says, yes I'm fit, OK, but even the player needs protection from the manager and, once again, they didn't give that protection to the player."

Koeman has compared the treatment of McCarthy to that of striker Romelu Lukaku, who was rested for most of Belgium's friendly with Russia after playing the qualifier against Greece.

“I was pleased by (Roberto) Martinez that, one, Kevin Mirallas was starting (against Russia) and, second, that Romelu was not starting," he said.

“That’s good for us, because he played for 95 minutes in the qualification game against Greece.

“You like people to understand... not like Ireland.”

Speaking before Koeman's comments, O'Neill defended the decision to name McCarthy in his starting line-up, insisting the 26-year-old was anxious to play for his country.

“James wanted to play and he was fit to play,” said O’Neill.

“Let’s put a couple of things to bed. He didn't train the first day, which was nearly understandable. He trained the last couple of days, but he over-stretched in the warm up, felt something, and I didn’t want to take the risk. We were guided by James.

“If you look, he wasn't been with us now for a long, long time. What he does at club level is something that's outside our jurisdiction and outside our control.

“I think that's something he would have to look at, if it is a hamstring problem that he's continually having, that's got to be addressed by him and his club more than anything else. We're trying to pick up the bits of this here, but it's not a fight.”

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