IF YOU HEAR anyone this weekend singing about 800 years, it’s not, just to clarify, about the length of time it took the FAI to appoint Heimir Hallgrimsson.
But the Iceman has now cometh and far from promising us the world he is instead preaching old fashioned common sense.
“I think England will have more ball possession than us and if we are defending 60 per cent of the time, then we need to be prepared for that”, Hallgrimsson told his pre-match press conference. “But that is how I see the game. Probably we will be defending more than attacking. But when we get it, we have our solutions going forward.
“Hopefully we will score some goals. Whether we will have more possession than them is irrelevant if we score goals from our chances.”
Hope indeed. Ireland have only lost two competitive games against England but that stat is falsely burnished by the fact we’ve hardly played them since the night of the Lansdowne riots in 1995. This will be only the fourth meeting of the teams since then, and while there were draws in the 2013 and 2015 fixtures, 2020 brought a chastening 3-0 loss for Stephen Kenny at Wembley.
That was of course preceded by the infamous motivational video and was followed by its ludicrously over blown fallout, and while Kenny would go on to sign a new contract, he never fully escaped the sense of feeling under siege that began around that event.
That Wembley friendly was a game in which Ireland were lucky to get nil, and it was what prompted Kenny to swap to a back three in the ambition Ireland would never be so overwhelmed again. And while they never again lost that heavily, nor did they do enough to earn Kenny a crack at qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. Hence Ireland are now coached by the man who made his name in knocking England out of Euro 2016 with his native Iceland.
Asked yesterday for his thoughts on their evolution since that infamous night, Hallgrimsson said, “the individual skills are higher than the last England team I faced.”
Such has been the conveyor belt’s pace, England’s talent is greater now than even it was in the Wembley friendly almost four years ago. Michael Keane, Tyrone Mings, Harry Winks, Mason Mount, Jadon Sancho, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin all started that night: none are anywhere near the England squad now. Jude Bellingham made his debut in that game, but is absent today through injury, as are Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, and Ollie Watkins.
This obviously weakens England’s squad, but it need not weaken their team. They were unimpressive for vast chunks of Euro 2024 as Gareth Southgate tried to squeeze Foden, Bellingham into a forward line that already featured Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka. Though it would be wise not to look to the Euros for too many clues as to how England will play today, given Southgate has fallen on his sword and cleared a path for Lee Carsley to showcase his talents.
Carsley plainly wants the job, and is using this window as an audition tape for how his England team would play. To that end, he has promoted several of the players with whom he won the U21 Euros, including Lille’s Angel Gomes, Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, and Newcastle’s Tino Livramento.
Also earning a recall is one Jack Grealish, who returns to Dublin along with three-time senior Irish international Declan Rice, who we hope won’t go to the wrong dressing room through sheer force of habit.
“He’ll be getting ready for a bit of abuse”, said Callum Robinson this week of his good pal Grealish. At least any jeering of the defecting duo won’t need any explanation to puzzled outsiders, as did the booing of Raheem Sterling during a sleepy goalless friendly in 2015 for the audacity of seeking a move from Liverpool to Manchester City.
What of Ireland, then? Hallgrimsson was giving nothing away in his pre-game presser as to his envisaged tactics and selection, and will be influenced if not totally swayed by the input of John O’Shea and Paddy McCarthy. Given Ireland’s surfeit of centre-halves, it makes sense on one level to play a back three, though it didn’t really achieve anything of note in its years of use since Wembley.
Hallgrimsson has generally played a compact back four and, interestingly, swung a crucial Concacaf Nations League game against Canada in Jamaica’s favour by moving one of his centre-backs to midfield. Asked whether one of the Irish players could do so today, he replied, “A lot of them can play midfield, yes. If we were considering it, I would probably not tell you.” He didn’t tell us, so perhaps that means it’s under consideration. If so, Dara O’Shea would be the best bet, given he played there in his younger days.
And while it’s a wildly difficult task for anyone to shift into midfield at this level, this evening, in many ways, everyone in an Irish jersey is a defender.
John O’Shea says Evan Ferguson is sharp and ready to go, although he hasn’t played a game since 31 March. Adam Idah’s pace and ability to run the channels may be preferred, though Ireland have often squandered Ferguson’s link-up quality by not getting bodies close to him. Sammie Szmodics’ energy should alleviate some of those issues.
The September window after a major tournament is usually that gauzy, hazy period in which giants can be upset, and this along with whatever impetus Hallgrimsson will bring in his debut game will fuel hope of a memorable Irish day. But alas, given the chasm in quality between both sets of players, these factors may not be enough to level the playing field for a day.
Irish football has been cursed by looking too closely to England, and this evening their best and brightest will be much too close for comfort.
Ireland (Possible XI): Kelleher; Coleman, Collins, Scales, Doherty; Ogbene, Smallbone, Molumby, Brady; Szmodics, Idah
England (Possible XI): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Maguire, Guehi, Colwill; Rice, Mainoo, Gallagher; Saka, Kane, Grealish
