A tribute to the great John O’Shea, Man Utd’s court jester

John O’Shea’s best moments for Manchester United were often as funny as they were impressive. Can that be considered a good thing?

It’s hard to imagine life as a professional footballer. Among other things, it’s hard to imagine the immense pressure on match day – fans singing your name when you play well but jeering when you struggle, muttering threats as you shin the ball out of play for the second time that afternoon.

It’s equally hard to imagine the intense public scrutiny, where even a walk to the supermarket can be made troublesome by autograph hunters and paparazzi.

And then there’s the money – the huge wealth accrued by even the most ordinary-seeming players. What would you even do with it?

But imagine being a professional footballer like John O’Shea. Imagine, after years of hard work, thousands of hours on the training pitch, sweating buckets to reach your potential, finally forcing your way into an early-2000s Manchester United team, a team full of genuine superstars.

Imagine the thrill of making your first overlapping run beyond Ryan Giggs or David Beckham. Imagine living the dream like John O’Shea did.

And then imagine, in a fiercely fought match against Arsenal, scoring a goal of sublime beauty – a delicate chip that Eric Cantona would have been proud of.

Imagine scoring that kind of goal, a goal of the season contender in a tightly contested grudge match and, instead of being lauded for your genius, having the goal sort of laughed at.

It’s hard to imagine life as John O’Shea.

Greatness from mediocrity

O’Shea’s unexpected wonder goal against Arsenal, which dropped into the corner of Manuel Almunia’s net on the evening of February 1, 2005, has become the Irishman’s defining moment.

Never mind his five Premier League winners medals, Champions League victory or 118 caps for his country. O’Shea’s audacious chip – and subsequent look of genuine surprise – will be etched upon his gravestone. It’s barely relevant that United won nothing that season.

But it’s also important to recognise that O’Shea’s wonder goal isn’t remembered solely because of its technical brilliance or even its timing.

Confusingly, for both O’Shea and everyone else, the goal has become iconic because the Irish defender was mostly a bit rubbish.

Not a liability, not a bottler, certainly not an under-performer, but just a bit rubbish. A player with a very limited skill set, especially for someone at an elite club. A…