Ronald Koeman has launched a stinging attack on James McCarthy and the Republic of Ireland over the Everton midfielder’s latest injury.
McCarthy aggravated a hamstring injury in the warm-up of his country’s World Cup qualifier with Wales last Friday which has now sidelined him for the Blues.
Everton also lost Seamus Coleman to a season-ending leg break in the same game but Koeman’s ire was aimed more towards the handling of the 26-year-old.
In a pre-prepared statement, the Dutchman lamented McCarthy for declaring himself fit for the Dublin encounter despite medical evidence proving to the contrary.
“James had an injury when he reported for Ireland duty last week,” said Koeman.
“Our medical team made the Ireland medical team aware of this, of course.
“Everton’s medical team advised extreme caution not only due to the current injury but due to previous injuries too.
“The assessment by the Ireland medical team was that it would be a high risk for James to play against Wales.
“But of course James has a strong desire to play for his country, so when asked if he was fit to play, he said he felt he was fit.
“And he was selected to start the game by the Ireland manager who, in my opinion, in this instance was not protecting the player.
“Clearly James was not fit to play. He had trained only for two days with Ireland and broke down during the warming up.
“All these circumstances, he played only one game from the start in 2017. He did not play for three weeks before the Wales game.
“In my opinion, he will need at least one full week of training sessions with the team to be declared fit.
“James, and I spoke to James, needs to take responsiblity of this. But this is not the first time [it has happened].”