Just before Euro 2016, UEFA unveiled their new-fangled analysis tool and the official UEFA Player Barometer doesn't give Ireland much hope. According to the ratings - all ten French outfielders are among the top performers in the tournament but only two Irishmen - Robbie Brady and Wes Hoolahan - make the grade.
Dimitri Payet has been ranked the best player in the tournament and he's joined by N'Golo Kante, Laurent Koscielny, Paul Pogba and Patrice Evra in the top 35.
Unsurprisingly Robbie Brady is Ireland's top rated player at 35, but while the rankings say he's Ireland's best player - they also say he is only the sixth best player on the pitch. Hoolahan, ranked 67, is rated as only the eleventh best player on the pitch.
The UEFA Player Barometer is a sort of Moneyball-sabermetrics tool where players are judged according to the relevant statistics for players in their position. So a defensive midfielder is judged on tackles, interceptions and passing accuracy whereas a striker is adjudicated on chances created, shots on target and assists.
Then all of those statistics are fed into the UEFA algorithm and it ranks the best performances in the competition.
You might remember the headlines from before the tournament when it somehow ranked James Milner as the fifth-best player in the tournament, so maybe we don't have too much to be worried about.
Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
