It's hard to miss the uproar surrounding this film, recalling the difficulties faced by the Irish national team ahead of their 2002 World Cup campaign. Anyone who wasn’t aware that Roy Keane was a player with strong opinions—someone even Alex Ferguson struggled to manage—or that Mick McCarthy (Steve Coogan) had the challenge of leading a national side with fewer resources than many English second-tier clubs must have been completely out of touch. Upon arriving in Saipan, they found a pitch more appropriate for sheep grazing, an aging hotel, and unbelievably, no footballs! What follows won me over to Keane’s (Éanna Hardwicke) perspective. The portrayal clearly presents him as the only one taking things seriously amidst players focused on drinking, golfing, and leisure activities. I imagine that McAteer, Quinn, and others might disagree with their portrayals here, but it's difficult to dismiss how unprofessional everything seemed. Having already criticized the FAI’s lavish spending habits, the film then aims to reveal the volatile and sometimes illogical clashes between the team captain and the coach—and this is where I felt it fell short. Hardwicke delivers a solid performance, but Coogan doesn’t quite convince. If the real McCarthy had been that ineffective, I doubt he would have even boarded the plane from Dublin initially. There wasn't enough attention paid to creating his character, particularly for those unfamiliar with soccer, resulting in what feels like a pale imitation of the man. The production occasionally felt disjointed, with actual footage awkwardly blended into the dramatic scenes, making it hard to distinguish between reality and fabrication. Many of the key conflicts seemed artificially staged as this overly-scripted story reached what I considered a surprisingly superficial assessment of some very well-compensated, pampered players. I did appreciate the detail of his paper boy wearing a Beckham shirt, though.

Source on TMDB