Ryan named in Australia’s Asian Cup Squad

Brighton and Hove Albion could be without the services of Maty Ryan for up to nine games with the goalkeeper named in Australia’s squad for the Asian Cup of Nations.

The tournament, held in the United Arab Emirates, kicks off on Saturday January 5th with the hosts taking on Bahrain. It will conclude on Friday 1st February with the final at the Zayed Sports City Stadium.

As the reigning champions, Australia will fancy their chances of lasting the duration of the tournament. The bookies have them as fourth favourites behind Japan and joint favourites South Korea and Iran, who have included Alireza Jahanbakhsh in their squad.

While most Brighton fans will be nonplussed about being without the services of the club’s record buy owing to the fact he hasn’t actually done much since arriving from AZ Alkmaar for £16m in the summer, potentially losing Ryan for nearly six weeks could have a devastating impact on the Albion’s ability to pick up points.

The Australia squad are due to meet up on Boxing Day to prepare for the tournament. Should Ryan be expected to join up from the start, then Saturday’s game at Plucky Little Bournemouth will be the last we see of him for some time.

Ryan may have received special dispensation to stay with the Albion for a little longer. As one of only two Premier League players in the squad – Huddersfield Town’s Aaron Mooy is the other, but his participation is in doubt due to a knee injury – Socceroos coach Graham Arnold might consider it more beneficial for Ryan to remain match fit and sharp by playing top class football in the run up to the tournament rather than being in a training camp for 11 days before Australia’s opening fixture against Jordan on January 6th.

If Ryan is expected to meet up with his teammates in the UAE on Boxing Day however, he could miss up to nine games starting with the clash with Arsenal that day. The Albion then play Everton, West Ham United, Liverpool, Manchester United, Fulham and Watford all in the league before February 2nd whilst there is an FA Cup third round tie with Bournemouth and, in the unlikely event we manage to beat a team managed by Eddie Howe, a potential fourth round game as well.

Even if Ryan were in the country for the cup ties, it is unlikely that he would have played with Chris Hughton always preferring to use his backup goalkeepers in knockout competitions. One of them is going to end up playing far more than just in the FA Cup over January though.

The most likely replacement for Ryan will be David Button, signed from Fulham for £4m in the summer. He has made just one appearance so far and it wasn’t exactly a convincing one, a shaky debut coming in the Carabao Cup defeat to Southampton back in August.

Jason Steele was also signed in the summer from Sunderland and he has been on the bench recently with Button out injured. Given that Black Cats blog Roker Report named Steele as the worst goalkeeper in Sunderland’s history as the club were relegated from the Championship last season, throwing him into games against Arsenal and Manchester United would be an interesting move.

One other option which must surely be under consideration would be recalling Christian Walton from his loan spell at Wigan Athletic.

There is no doubt that he is the second best goalkeeper on the Albion’s books. He has recorded more clean sheets this calendar year then anybody else in England, helping the Latics to lift the League One title in May and impressing again this season as they consolidate their place in the Championship.

He was also one of only three goalkeeper not to concede against Manchester City last season when Wigan shocked Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side by winning 1-0 at the DW Stadium to eliminate them from the FA Cup.

When Ryan eventually moves onto bigger and better things, Walton is clearly the successor to the number one shirt so if a recall clause exists in his loan deal, then Hughton really should consider exercising it.

His presence could be the difference between picking up vital points against the likes of Everton, West Ham United, Fulham and Watford and not. Given how tight the Premier League table is, can we really afford to go into this games with a bloke who was a number two in the second tier last year and a guy who got relegated from that same division?

Failing that, then somebody might want to ask Casper Ankergren to lay off the Marlboro Lights for a month.