{"id":377769,"date":"2026-04-02T05:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T05:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377769\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T05:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T05:44:10","slug":"heimir-hallgrimsson-gives-media-peek-behind-ireland-curtain-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/377769\/","title":{"rendered":"Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson gives media peek behind Ireland curtain \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is late Tuesday night and Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson<\/a> is giving football correspondents a presentation on a mounted screen inside the changing room at the Aviva Stadium. <\/p>\n

The Republic of Ireland<\/a> manager shows a sequence from the Portugal game in November. There are 80 minutes on the clock and Ireland lead 2-0 as Vitinha, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, sprays the ball from left to right and back again from right to left. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to go somewhere, but can\u2019t,\u201d Hallgr\u00edmsson says. \u201cThat\u2019s controlling the game without having possession.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, Rafael Le\u00e3o errs under pressure from Chiedozie Ogbene and concedes an Irish throw-in. <\/p>\n

Repetition is key to everything Hallgr\u00edmsson intends to achieve between now and Euro 2028<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know what we are trying to do then all your criticisms are welcome,\u201d he says, clearly in no hurry to depart, an hour after the 0-0 draw with North Macedonia<\/a>. \u201cBecause we will learn from your criticism … So now you know how we want to play and what we are trying to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Icelandic coach gave a similar presentation in late August, before the World Cup<\/a> qualifying campaign began with a 2-2 draw against Hungary in Dublin, when Adam Idah\u2019s<\/a> late equaliser salvaged a point before the 2-1 loss away to Armenia<\/a> three days later.<\/p>\n

\"NathanNathan Collins, right, after Ireland’s defeat to Armenia last September. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/INPHO <\/p>\n

Hallgr\u00edmsson put the defeat in Yerevan down to the players struggling to cope with altitude<\/a>. The situation seemed far worse than his summation. Then again, victories over Portugal<\/a> and over Hungary<\/a> in November made Ireland contenders to reach the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be the best organised and the best defensive team, and that\u2019s what we work on every time we come and meet,\u201d he says, noting the first of his five principles. <\/p>\n

Number two: \u201cWe want to improve set-plays in every camp that we come together as a team.\u201d <\/p>\n

Number three: \u201cThe focus on discipline is so important at this level. We conceded too many yellow cards in this campaign that led to, for example, Liam Scales being unable to play against the Czechs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be the hardest-working team. We have talked about duels and that is something that we have been improving a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Principle number four is represented by a picture of Sammie Szmodics: \u201cWe would like to be a forward-thinking and fast-attacking team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fifth principle \u2013 leadership \u2013 comes with an image of S\u00e9amus Coleman<\/a>, who will either continue playing up to Euro 2028 or retire this summer, potentially to transition into a coaching role at Everton. <\/p>\n

\"SéamusS\u00e9amus Coleman battles for the ball with North Macedonia’s Isnik Alimi and Imran Fetai on Tuesday at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Niall Carson\/PA <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to have him as a player [for Euro 2028]. S\u00e9amus is just one-of-a-kind as a person, as a leader and as a footballer. There aren\u2019t many who could do what he is doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there are so many players now we can call leaders. \u2018Batteries\u2019 I call them. We need as many of them as possible, with good characters.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Hallgr\u00edmsson delivers his lecture to attentive journalists, his assistant coach John O\u2019Shea<\/a> audibly exhales at the back of the room. The Czech Republic<\/a> have just beaten Denmark<\/a> in another penalty shoot-out in Prague to secure the last spot at this summer\u2019s World Cup<\/a> in North America. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have different opinions [within] the coaching staff,\u201d Hallgr\u00edmsson says. \u201cI really think it\u2019s good that the Czechs won. It shows us how close we are to this.\u201d <\/p>\n

Turning to O\u2019Shea, he says: \u201cI know it\u2019s a dagger in the back.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea: \u201cThe dagger has gone through my back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the miracle of Budapest is as good a foundation as Hallgr\u00edmsson could have wished for after the miserable night in Yerevan last September. <\/p>\n

There is time either to replace Coleman or to keep him on ice before the Euro 2028 campaign commences next March. And with 10 more internationals this year, the management has scope to settle on a midfielder who can bring the control that Ireland have lacked since Roy Keane\u2019s retirement. <\/p>\n

\"StokeStoke City’s Bosun Lawal in action for Ireland against North Macedonia. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/INPHO <\/p>\n

Josh Cullen<\/a> will return from knee surgery. Twenty-two-year-old Bosun Lawal possesses the attributes to develop into a Premier League<\/a> regular. <\/p>\n

The search for talent, on and off the island of Ireland, is a priority for the FAI, with 17-year-old Chris Atherton at Chelsea making his debut for the under-19s against Poland last month, having recently switched from Northern Ireland. <\/p>\n

\u201cJohn would probably know more about him,\u201d Hallgr\u00edmsson says. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a bit of work to do,\u201d O\u2019Shea says. <\/p>\n

The three friendlies that were meant to be World Cup warm-ups will be a tough sell for the FAI as Hallgr\u00edmsson gathers his players from English Championship clubs in Murcia, Spain, to face Grenada on May 16th before Qatar<\/a> at home and Canada<\/a> in Montreal. <\/p>\n

There follows a tumultuous four-game Nations League<\/a> schedule in late September\/early October that includes two fixtures against Israel<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the turning point was Portugal away,\u201d Hallgr\u00edmsson says of the 1-0 loss in October<\/a>. \u201cWe played one of the best attacking teams in the world at their home. And after the game we were obviously disappointed, but the players looked at each other and said, \u2018We can play any team in the world and they will not score\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we can win against whatever team. If only that game would have come one camp earlier, then we would have had automatic qualification.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hallgr\u00edmsson slams his notepad shut. \u201cNow we close this book and go on for the next one,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is late Tuesday night and Heimir Hallgr\u00edmsson is giving football correspondents a presentation on a mounted screen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10745,56982,45072,4700,1840,61,60,46617,59269,43,2888,1842,48229,4018],"class_list":["post-377769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-armenia","tag-czech-republic","tag-euro-2028","tag-heimir-hallgrimsson","tag-hungary","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-john-o-shea","tag-nations-league","tag-news","tag-portugal","tag-republic-of-ireland-mnt","tag-seamus-coleman","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}