Can Ireland move on from the Israel experience?
Heimir Hallgrímsson has said his submission of feedback to the FAI on the previous international camp has given him closure. The Republic of Ireland manager has made it clear that he doesn’t want this international window to be a continuation of the last one. For Hallgrímsson and some of his players, parts of the ordeal that stretched from late September into early October are still raw.
It was hard to divorce the erection of a giant tarpaulin screen along the training pitch on Wednesday from the manager’s comments last month railing against information leaks from the squad. Relations with many elements of the press have, meanwhile, frosted over.
We must acknowledge self-interest here and say that this is not, in itself, an issue. They are not the first Irish group to fall out with journalists and won’t be the last, but spending too long lingering on events from the past can become a counterproductive use of time, energy and emotion. The squad fostered a very useful siege mentality against the media in the last camp and perhaps they will seek to maintain it. They must balance the benefits of this mindset, however, with those of Hallgrimsson’s self-proclaimed desire of moving on.
RM Block
How good is this Irish team really?
After the wild emotional lurches of Budapest and Prague, this Nations League campaign should have been an opportunity to assess exactly where this Irish teams stands. The berserk context of the previous window, however, makes it unfair to draw any firm conclusions from those four matches.
The Israel games were abnormal affairs, while Hallgrímsson has said a focus on Israel afflicted the performance in Kosovo. Similarly, he believes the second-half collapse at home to Austria was precipitated by post-Israel fatigue.
The upcoming two games should, therefore, give us a chance to assess where Ireland stand. A draw in Austria and victory at home to Kosovo would guarantee second place and verify progress under Hallgrímsson, given Ireland have finished third in all of their Nations League campaigns to date.
Will Séamus Coleman’s influence still be felt to the same extent?
Séamus Coleman missed the previous window as he and Hallgrimsson agreed his inclusion in the squad would have been unfair on another player, given he was without a club. While that is still the case, Coleman is present this week in a “hybrid” role. He is not listed as a squad member, but has been taking part in training. Neither Hallgrímsson nor John O’Shea have ruled out Coleman potentially featuring against Austria or Kosovo.
Coleman would have retired by now had Hallgrimsson not made it clear to him he wants to keep him around through to Euro 2028, and so this move puts the former Everton player in the shop window while retaining his influence on the training ground.
In praising Coleman’s obvious impact behind the scenes, however, we often downplay his effect on the main stage. His individual performances against Portugal and Hungary last November were outstanding, and his leadership involves constant communication with the players around him. While Ireland will get a benefit from his daily presence on the training ground, they still need his qualities on the pitch.
Can Troy Parrott keep on scoring?
Troy Parrott is in the middle of an outrageous run of scoring form for Ireland, with 10 goals across his last seven competitive games. The rest of his team-mates have combined for just three goals across that run. This dependence on Parrott is fine as long as he is still scoring, but it will take only a small dip in performance for the striker to cool off in front of goal. He is currently converting more than half of his shots on target for Ireland, an outstanding scoring rate that may be unsustainable.
He is also coming into this camp off the back of eight goalless appearances for Real Betis, though there is mitigation here in how his club team set up: wingers such as Antony prefer to cut inside and shoot rather than serve Parrott.
But even if his conversion rate dips, Parrott will continue to score if Ireland give him enough chances to do so. His sole competitive game without a goal in the last year was the defeat in Kosovo, when he cut an isolated figure at the top of a team that featured five centre-backs and two holding midfielders. Hallgrímsson has since experimented with more attacking selections, and they are worth persisting with, if for no other reason than to provide support for Parrott.
Selecting Finn Azaz in a deeper midfield position – as Hallgrimsson did in the Austria home game – allows Ireland retain the Southampton midfielder’s creativity while also selecting Adam Idah to dovetail with Parrott in attack. Another opportunity beckons at wing-back: Jack Moylan is undroppable, but Chiedozie Ogbene could be accommodated a little further back.
