Jake O’Brien interview: From Crystal Palace reserve to taking on Kylian Mbappe
It is easy to see why Jake O’Brien calls the last year “crazy”. He started the season as a Crystal Palace reserve yet to make his debut, then finished it scoring in a French Cup final, marking Kylian Mbappe and helping Lyon complete the most remarkable comeback to secure European qualification.
The fact that O’Brien, 22, has been at the heart of Lyon’s defence has made the rise from rock bottom of Ligue 1 to the Europa League even more extraordinary. When he arrived from Palace last August, fans had not heard of him and coaches did not know what type of defender he was.
It quickly became apparent in training sessions that O’Brien was a dominant centre-back who could carry the ball forward and pick a pass. After breaking into the team in October, he played a key role in them finishing in the top six and reaching last week’s cup final against.
Paris St-Germain at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
He is also set to make his Republic of Ireland debut next week, with his numbers among the best in Ligue 1 after his first season in the country.
“A surprise? It is and it isn’t,” says O’Brien. “It’s been crazy on the one hand but it took time when I first arrived but then I broke into the team. For the club it’s been up and down but there was a change in atmosphere and players leaving and a new manager.”
After Laurent Blanc and Fabio Grosso were sacked, Pierre Sage came in and guided Lyon to sixth.
O’Brien’s move came about as Palace co-owner John Textor also owns Lyon and had been tracking the progress of the young centre-back who came to Selhurst Park somewhat under the radar during the Covid pandemic when most of football was just looking to get back playing.
“I made 11 first-team starts for Cork and there were many clubs watching but Palace had Stephen Rice at the club watching our games and there was a connection and I went on trial there,” he said. “Maybe it went a bit under the radar because it was Covid but for me and others it is a dream to move across the water to an academy, and that is what it was. Within three weeks they loaned me with an option to buy me.”
O’Brien followed a path of progression at Palace that saw him loaned to Swindon in League Two and another Textor club in Belgian side RWD Molenbeek. It was against the senior pros in the EFL where he grew up, using his background in hurling and boxing to look after himself.
“For hurling it is about the enjoyment of the sport and playing for your area where you live. It’s a great sport, very physical and you train like a professional athlete even though it isn’t a professional sport,” he said. “You can see it as a hobby but you’re playing for the glory. With boxing, I was about half the weight I am now in kilos when I was 14!
“I’d played first-team in Ireland but the physical strength was different, I was getting smashed two or three times a day. It was a very physical league and very different to academy football in that and winning games. You’re playing against grown men and they can get away with a lot. You learnt a lot quickly.”
Roy Hodgson had included him in pre-season matches last summer but O’Brien had not played a competitive first-team game before the move to Lyon came about, which made him the first Irishman since Tony Cascarino to play in France.
O’Brien has been used to new environments, with his move to Palace coming during lockdown when he could not socialise with his new team-mates. In France, he moved across with his girlfriend and they have a dog with a French name: Rue.
While it has been a season of upheaval and recovery for Lyon, O’Brien has played under two World Cup-winning defenders in Blanc and Grosso. “With Laurent, we had some discussions about the position. He gave me feedback on what he saw, what I could improve, what I was doing well... It was interesting for me to learn from him,” he said.
His emergence in Lyon’s comeback in the second half of the season has seen Premier League clubs look at O’Brien, possibly thinking how they allowed one to slip through the net. He did not play for Ireland until under-21 level and is still not capped at senior level. Having scored in the Cup final last week, despite losing in Mbappe’s last PSG game, that recognition will surely come soon to mark an incredible year for the Premier League’s most unlikely successful export this season.
