Nations League Group B2: Republic of Ireland v England, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, 5pm – Live on RTÉ2
Heimir Hallgrímsson did not move to Dublin, as the new Republic of Ireland manager, to make friends.
The former Iceland and Jamaica coach wasted no time shelving his Mr Nice Guy persona in advance of facing an England team under interim boss Lee Carsley.
It is known that the FAI approached Carsley to replace Stephen Kenny before recruiting the 57-year-old from Heimaey, a volcanic rock off the coast of Iceland.
“It’s basically none of your business when I talk to the players and show them the line-up but usually I’ve done it match day minus one, in the afternoon, so the players can sleep on the starting 11‚” Hallgrímsson told RTÉ’s Tony O’Donoghue on Friday morning, when asked to replicate Giovanni Trapattoni and hand over the Irish team.
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On the obvious follow-up question, about Ireland’s formation, which could resemble a parked double-decker-bus to repel an England side offering a blend of Gareth Southgate’s team that reached this summer’s Euro 2024 final and Carsley’s successful under-21 panels, Hallgrímsson added: “You will see when we kick off. We’re not going to talk about how we play or our tactics”.
The dentist sounded more like another former Ireland manager, Martin O’Neill, than Trapattoni but he did hint at Adam Idah starting up front in advance of an undercooked Evan Ferguson by noting the exposure of the “Celtic players” to Champions League football.
That suggests a start for Liam Scales on the left of three centre halves, presumably beside Nathan Collins and Dara O’Shea, with veteran wing backs Robbie Brady and skipper Séamus Coleman completing a back five tasked with stymieing the fourth-ranked nation in the world.
Speaking of Irish managers past, if Steve Staunton was burdened with the “I’m the gaffer” catchphrase, Hallgrímsson will be keen to move past his “sometimes you need a bastard in your team” comment that was made in conversation with Irish fans last month. At the same gathering in the Aviva Stadium, he also noted that the current Irish crop are “maybe a little too nice”.
Interestingly, Coleman did not completely disagree.
“There is nothing wrong with being ‘too nice’ around the place but you don’t get to this level without having a little bit of bite,” said the 35-year-old Everton captain.
“I’ve said it to the younger lads, our goals are qualifying for tournaments. I think what the manager said was meant in that context. To get to that level you need something else in your locker.”
Come the 2026 World Cup in North America, Ireland will have gone 10 years without major tournament football.
“We do need to understand why we are here,” Coleman continued. “It is not just about picking up caps, it is about making the country proud. The fans are crying out for [major tournaments]. The fans deserve to be there. We have to toughen up our mindset to qualify.”
No better place to start than against England, with their former Irish players Jack Grealish and Declan Rice, quickly followed by a Greece team on Tuesday that beat Ireland twice last year during the failed Euros qualification campaign.
“I think we can build a strong squad going forward, for sure,” said Hallgrímsson. “Like I said, a lot of the players are of a similar level, not playing Champions League. We only have Caoimhín [Kelleher] at Liverpool and the Celtic players.
“It would be nice to have more players like Séamus who have been doing it at a high level for a very long time. It would be nice to have – what’s the word in English? – a spine in the team that is always there and you pick players to support that.
“When you look at it, there are a lot of players staking a claim – ‘I can be there’ – but I would like it to be: this is the starting 11.”
Hallgrímsson could become the coach Ireland need, having engineered memorable victories over Canada in November 2023 as Jamaica coach, and over England at Euro 2016 while in charge of Iceland.
But nothing compares to Ireland versus England in Dublin as a first outing for any manager.
“I don’t have experience of a rivalry as big as this one,” he admitted. “But listen, [for the coaches] it’s about the football, it’s not about politics and all the other things. We need to focus on what happens on the pitch. It’s probably a different game for the media people, or marketing people or security.”
Kenny’s Ireland never managed a significant result at the Lansdowne Road venue, with the last monumental Aviva experience being the 1-0 defeat of Germany in October 2015.
England have recorded two previous wins in Dublin, albeit at Dalymount Park in 1946 and 1964, but the history between these countries holds little weight this evening.
For Carsley’s men, the 17th meeting between the neighbours should present an ideal opportunity to leave the Southgate era behind them, by instantly returning to an elite plane of international performance, a place Irish fans can barely remember.
Ireland (possible): Kelleher (Liverpool); Coleman (Everton), O’Shea (Ipswich Town), Collins (Brentford), Scales (Celtic), Brady (Prestin North End); Smallbone (Southampton), Browne (Sunderland); Szmodics (Ipswich Town), Idah (Celtic), Ogbene (Ipswich Town).
England (possible): Pickford (Everton); Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Maguire (Manchester United), Colwill (Chelsea); Gomes (Lille), Rice (Arsenal), Mainoo (Manchester United); Saka (Arsenal), Kane (Bayern Munich), Grealish (Manchester City).
Referee: José María Sánchez (Spain).
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