HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON’S BEST hopes of upsetting Lee Carsley’s England on Saturday were discussed by Shane Keegan, David Sneyd and Gavin Cooney on the latest episode of the Football Family, the podcast for subscribers to The 42.
“I think that a 0-0 draw would be an outstanding sign of progress,” Keegan said.
“I think if he can set us up in a way that makes it extremely difficult for England to break us down, if England struggle to create chances and we show a bit of a threat from set pieces, I think there would be a lot to be happy about in terms of our chances of improving results.
“I don’t think there’s a lot to be happy about potentially in terms of how much of an enjoyable watch we’re going to see, but maybe we need to sacrifice one for the other at the moment.
“I would find it hard to believe that we are going to have too much of a semblance of nice, intricate football or much of a threat from open play in this one.”
Keegan added: “But, like I say, if we can limit them to a few chances and potentially even stop them from scoring, I think if we stop them from scoring on Saturday night with the amount of riches they have at their hands, that would be a sign that we’ve got an extremely organised manager with an ability to make better teams struggle.”
The Irish boss will not be the only manager under the spotlight on Saturday, as Lee Carsley aims to make a positive start to his term as interim England manager.
Speaking on Carsley’s chances of being named as the permanent Three Lions’ manager should his side perform well in these Nations League fixtures, The 42’s Cooney said: “England are playing what? Ireland, Greece and Finland, I mean there’s no set of results, really, that can make the case for him because such is the gap in quality that they should be winning all six games comfortably enough.
“But I guess it will come down to their style of play, how many goals they rack up, how free flowing and committed to attack they are.
“Basically, how different are you to the last guy?
“He’s in a sweet spot where there’s that element of continuity, just because of his background and the fact that he’s come through the FA.
“If he can kind of say to people that they will be a little bit more committed to attack then that’s probably enough for him.
“It depends on who else is available but he’s in the job now and the last interim manager they had appointed from the U21s became the manager.
“I think he’s got a great, great crack at it.”
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