16 hours Ago
Heimir Hallgrimsson feels playing with two strikers can give his Ireland team a fresh dimension, but admits work is needed to find the right combination. The Icelander started with two front men in the defeat in Greece last month, with Evan Ferguson and Troy Parrott selected in a pair, but the latter had to be dropped back to a more withdrawn role when the opponents began to dominate. Hallgrimsson has indicated he would like to operate with a front pair on a more regular basis, although he stopped short of committing to doing so in Thursday night’s (7.
45) meeting with Finland in Dublin. He feels Ferguson is in better shape now than he was for the last window, suggesting a partnership between the Brighton forward and a quicker option would be ideal. “It will depend on who we are playing and what are our attacking options, if can we create more with two strikers in the centre.
That is something we need to be flexible on – what kind of defence they have and will they have possession like Greece did,” said Hallgrimsson. “It’s something that I like. Playing two strikers gives you options that you don’t see much in the game today.
But we have other ways of hurting teams by playing with one striker. It’s how you see the game in your head and decide to go with this. “We can see that in the [Ferguson] numbers from Brighton, how much he is doing,” he continued, with reference to the 20-year-old.
“We know that he is progressing, But if you’re talking about the [Irish] past it was usually a big one and a quick one. They’re kind of a combination of those. Troy [Parrott] and Tom Cannon run in to space.
Finn [Azaz] and Sammie [Szmodics] too find spaces. Evan is really good in front of goal.” Hallgrimsson will be forced into changes for the Finnish encounter, the first game of a week that concludes with a clash with Lee Carsley’s England on Sunday.
Robbie Brady and Chiedozie Ogbene have been ever-present so far in his reign but injuries have ruled them out. Doubts hang over Dara O’Shea and Ogbene’s likely replacement Festy Ebosele. The 57-year-old says he will be concentrating on the ‘basics’ in the narrow window for preparation, indicating simplicity is the key to ensuring that a turnover of players doesn’t cause any problems.
He acknowledges that Ogbene’s pace will be hard to replace. “There’s always a preference to have all of your players fit and ready,” he said. “I think we’ve counted 10 players that we have already selected or would have selected if not injured but that’s just how it is at international football.
"You never know what team you will have available. We need to keep it simple and be consistent in what we’re saying. "So when the player comes in, even though he wasn’t in the last camp, he will know more or less what we want.
If we continue that we will improve as a unit and more players will be in the know of what we want when they come in here. That’s our job, to have consistency in the national team.”.
