As England cruised to a comfortable Nations League victory in the Dublin sunshine, thanks to goals from the evening’s two pantomime villains, it was hard not to assume that this was exactly what Heimir Hallgrimsson needed to watch.
In the lead-up to Saturday, the new Republic of Ireland manager, tasked with reviving an Irish side that had lost its way under his predecessor Stephen Kenny, said he was still getting to know his players.
He’ll get to know them better now. More importantly, he will now understand the amount of work required to repeat his feat of taking his native Iceland to the World Cup final.
In his pre-match news conference on Friday, Hallgrimsson stated that in order to defeat England for only the third time in history, the Republic of Ireland needed to seize their chances at one end while remaining ultra-tight at the other.
They did neither. Not only did they pass up a number of promising opportunities, but the ease with which England cut through them for the two goals will have opened Hallgrimsson’s eyes to what he inherited from Kenny.
In the hour before kickoff, Hallgrimsson cut a calm figure, all grins and arms folded, watching his players go through pre-game routines.
The Aviva Stadium hasn’t always had the most raucous atmosphere in recent years, but there was excitement in the air as the first competitive encounter between these sides in Dublin since 1990 got underway.
During the early going, the Republic of Ireland appeared to be fueled by the excitement inside the stadium, which increased dramatically whenever Jack Grealish and Declan Rice touched the ball.
The spectacle was worthy of a new chapter, but the hosts’ early evening euphoria dissipated quickly. Against far stronger competition, they exposed the problems that have held this squad back: wasted chances, disorganized patterns of play, and an unsettling fragility when defending counter-attacks.
England’s first goal summed up this Irish team’s problems. A quarter of an hour in, the hosts pressed, turned England over, and produced an opportunity for Sammie Szmodics, one of the squad’s younger members.
Chiedozie Ogbene could not handle the follow-up after Jordan Pickford saved his shot. Before the hosts could react, Trent Alexander-Arnold had split the green defence apart with a superb pass to Anthony Gordon.
The difference was that, while Gordon was also denied by Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, England’s attack lasted long enough for Rice to score the opener.
With Rice, who was outstanding on the night, providing for Grealish, Irish fans’ nightmare scenario was complete, with their chances of witnessing a famous win all but over after 26 minutes.
Hallgrimsson, who made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction with his team’s two goals in 15 minutes, said: “The first goal is just a pass through the heart of the team.”
“It should never happen at any level of football, so you’re upset; nevertheless, if you were playing youth football, you’d still be upset with a goal like this.
“The second goal was a give-and-go, with four, five, and six give-and-gos between us. Again, it shouldn’t happen at this level.”
While plainly dissatisfied, Hallgrimsson has been eager to reframe his views about this match as realistic. For good reason. He will not be criticized for losing to England, who were last seen in a European Championship final on Saturday, just as Kenny was not chastised for losing to countries like France.
The issue under the previous government was, of course, slipping up in the more winnable games. In addition to disappointing defeats by Luxembourg and Armenia, the Irish lost both at home and away to Finland and Greece, the other two members of this Nations League group.
The Republic of Ireland’s 2-0 home defeat by Greece in Euro 2024 qualification was completely disappointing, and Hallgrimsson will have his work cut out to avoid a repetition.
The Republic of Ireland (58th) is sandwiched between Greece (54th) and Finland (63rd) in the world rankings, and they need at least two home victories to keep the mood from turning nasty again.
Even thus early in Hallgrimsson’s rule, Greece’s visit to Dublin on Tuesday has significance.
“They’re the ones we want to be battling against in this table,” added Ogbene, who started Ireland’s defeat to Greece in Dublin last year.
“Without disrespect, we want to pick up points against them, and we want to pick up points when we play England away.
“We want to pick up points regardless of who we play, but if we want to be anywhere near the top of this division, we need to be picking up points against those around us.”
