Hallgrimsson focusing on positives despite second-half drubbing to England

Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson has claimed that his Irish players need to use their first-half display as a positive rather than look at the 5-0 loss to England as an overall negative.

The Boys in Green took on England at Wembley in London in their final game of the Nations League and, for 51 minutes, frustrated the hosts. However, Liam Scales' red card made life even harder for the unfancied visitors.

A quickfire treble from Harry Kane, Conor Gallagher, and Anthony Gordon meant the tie was over soon after. Goals from Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jarred Bowen ensured that a positive start from Ireland ultimately turned into a disaster.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Hallgrimsson mentioned the term "give up," but it appeared that he meant another term. When pressed about the phrase "give up," the Ireland boss admitted that it was too harsh to use and that limiting the damage became more important.

"No, I mean, we kind of lost what we were doing in the first half. Maybe it’s too harsh to say 'gave up,' but, as I said, it’s easy to criticise when you’re not playing the game.

"We had a game plan that was working perfectly, and all of a sudden, in six minutes, there’s no way out. It’s 3-0, one man down, against a good team like England. It was kind of a shock, and I didn’t feel like we had any way out from there. From then on, it was just about limiting the damage as much as we could."

Hallgrimsson was asked how serious the confidence issues were in the Ireland team and if he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to shake off their mental woes in games.

Heimir Hallgrimsson Head Coach / Manager of Republic of Ireland (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

The Icelander said it was important to look at the positives from the first half rather than reflect on the negative aspects of the game.

"Well, if we can play like this for 50 minutes, let’s hope that in the next game, we can do it longer. With a little luck, if we’d gotten the penalty and scored a goal, it’s a totally different game—a psychological advantage instead of the scenario we had today.

"I believe in these guys, but the past has been tough. We just need to use this to our advantage and focus on the positives we can take from this game. While there was a lot of negativity, for me, it’s important to start looking at the positives a bit more."

Ireland lost Scales to a red card 10 minutes into the second half, and the game changed from a hopeful show to a horror show. 1-0 quickly became 2-0, and then it was 3-0. Hallgrimsson explained that there was little time to change things because of how fast the goals came.

"It happened really quickly. The first goal came in the 52nd minute, and we switched to a 4-4-1. Then, two minutes later, the second goal happened, followed by the third in the 58th minute.

"There was little time to change tactics or bring on players. After that, it became physically and mentally tough for everyone. That’s why we made a triple substitution—to bring on fresh heads and legs to fight for the rest of the game. It was a shock for everyone, and we tried to manage as best we could from there."

Nathan Collins was used to occupy the pockets of space that Harry Kane often finds himself in during the first half. It worked a treat because Kane had little or no joy against Ireland. Hallgrimsson explained that it was indeed a planned tactic to stifle Kane. Hallgrimsson, it may be something to look at and build on going forward.

"Yeah, I thought that worked. The tactics we used in the first half against a good team like England suited the profile of our players and their style of play. It fits the way England plays, especially with players dropping into certain zones.

"For instance, Harry Kane dragged centre-backs away, and having a centre-back in that space worked well. England couldn’t play through our block in the first half and had to play outside it. I think it was worth trying, and we’ll see if we can build on it moving forward."

Ireland will now wait until Friday, November 22, to discover their opponent for the UEFA Nations League play-off.