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标题：Football: O'SHEA IS A SHOO-IN
作者：MARK McGUINNESS
期刊名称：Sunday Mirror
印刷版ISSN：0956-8077
出版年度：2002
卷号：Sep 29, 2002
出版社：Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd.

Football: O'SHEA IS A SHOO-IN

MARK McGUINNESS

SIR ALEX FERGUSON has promised John O'Shea he will be an automatic choice for his first team next season.

The Manchester United boss has been hugely impressed by the displays of the young Republic of Ireland international so far this campaign.

O'Shea was thrown into action as an emergency central defender at the start of the season because of an injury crisis. But he has shown maturity well beyond his 21 years and Ferguson says his performances have caused him to rethink his plans.

O'Shea is likely to start Tuesday night's game with Olympiakos at right back following a string of excellent displays, but it is in the centre where his future lies.

Former French international Laurent Blanc is currently partnering Rio Ferdinand at the heart of the United defence. But the veteran has let it be known that this will definitely be his final season in the game.

It has long been assumed that England man Wes Brown would succeed Blanc as soon as he hung up his boots, but Ferguson admits circumstances have changed.

Brown damaged his ankle in a Champions League qualifier in early August and is not expected back for another couple of months. But when he returns he will find O'Shea is now firmly ahead of him in the defensive pecking order.

Ferguson said: "John has done fantastically well. I look at him and Rio, think of next season and think to myself - there's your partnership.

"I remember saying it right from the first time I saw him, he could read the game superbly. But now he has size, now he has the shoulders. He looks like a centre half now. Last year he was a big beanpole."

O'Shea's current good fortune is further bad news for Brown, who looked a world-class player in the making when he burst onto the scene four years back. The Manchester-born 22-year-old has suffered a series of crippling ankle injuries, but has not helped his cause with a number of disastrous displays in high-profile matches.