Shea Charles is looking to join Manchester City’s first team after placing a mark in Northern Ireland’s midfield.
Charles was one of the standout performers as he earned his fifth senior cap in Thursday’s away 2-0 Euro 2024 qualifying win. San Marinoreceived praise from Michael O’Neill for handling the ball safely.
But Charles has yet to City He entered Pep Guardiola’s bench only once as an unused substitute in the first leg of the match, which ended 1-1 before Erling Haaland scored five goals in the Champions League draw with RB Leipzig in February, 7-0. Return to Manchester.
“Right now I’m just going to watch the season and see what happens,” Charles said.
“Hopefully I would like to stay in City. Obviously that’s the main goal, but you never know, so we’ll see.
“(Getting to the side) will be difficult, but I am confident in my own abilities. It’s a great experience to train with them, to learn from them all the time.”
After Thursday’s game, O’Neill said Charles was “at the best club to learn to be a football player” and was working under Guardiola, and the 19-year-old was trying to get as much out of his glorious team as he could. -Friends.
“Before he left, it’s more with players like Fernandinho, now Rodri and now Kalvin Phillips, because they’re playing in my position,” he added.
“Watching them, learning, asking questions, that’s the point. Reading the game – game intelligence and good passing range are really important.”
These were the traits that most impressed O’Neill at San Marino, as Charles did a good job filling in some of the biggest shoes on the Northern Ireland side – occupying the role of Steven Davis as the midfielder.
Charles played a part in the opening as namesake Dion Charles scored his first international goals in both halves to earn the win.
“I really enjoyed the outside,” Shea Charles added. “It’s always good to have a good result, especially away. I hope we can continue on Sunday (against Finland) and get another good result.
It was good to see that we were able to seize one of our early chances. When you’re away from home, some teams are expected to sit back and make it harder for you to score. Michael said that before the game and said, ‘Relax, it’s your turn’.”
Besides the manager, Charles’ performance also impressed Craig CathcartCaptain of the team in the absence of Davis and Jonny Evans.
The 34-year-old Watford defender praised two 19-year-old players, Charles and Conor Bradley, who played all 90 minutes at Serravalle.
“I thought they were great,” Cathcart said. “Shea was controlling the game and Conor was staying behind and putting in the middle. The performance levels from them were top notch. It’s great for them to play and win.
“We wanted to go to San Marino and go pro and finish knowing we had a tough game against San Marino. Finland Sunday. We’re at home, the fans will be right behind us and we’re up front and that’s something to look forward to.”