John O'Shea says 'there's lots of ways to win a game' as he shines a light on Heimir Hallgrimsson's approach
Ireland new manager and management team face into their first game in charge on Saturday when England come to town
Heimir Hallgrimsson has been Ice cool around the Ireland camp this week - but John O’Shea is still struck by his steely demeanour.
All eyes are on the new Ireland manager, with Hallgrimsson up against the clock in his efforts to prepare for England on Saturday.
Of course, this shouldn’t have been his first game in charge of the Boys in Green. By now, he should be four games deep into his Ireland tenure.
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But the FAI’s extraordinary 231-day search for Stephen Kenny’s successor put paid to that and, instead, O’Shea was put in charge for those March and June friendlies.
The Ireland centurion never hid the fact that he wanted the top job himself, but FAI chiefs didn’t deem him suitably experienced at this level of management.
Instead, he is working under ex-Iceland boss Hallgrimsson who made it his business to get O’Shea on board as his assistant within days of his appointment.
It took a month to get over the line but the new-look management pair are finally down to business and O’Shea is happy with how the working relationship is panning out.
Quizzed about Hallgrimsson and his methods, O’Shea said yesterday: “He's a cool character in how he goes about things and how he wants to impress his personality.
“But you can tell there’s a steeliness behind it and how he wants to get his ideas across.
“His messages are very clear and you can see the intensity in his voice when he's on the training pitch.
“If a player is not doing the role, he soon lets them know. You don't qualify for major tournaments and be successful with teams by not having a steeliness about you.”
O’Shea continued: “He's a very good manager and a very good coach with the details he gives the players.
“I know what I’m seeing, but the players will be the most important in that sense. The clarity is there for everyone.
“You’ll have different ideas at clubs, different principles, different philosophies for attacking, defending etc.
“We’re going to keep it as simple and as clear as possible to get the most effective results as quickly as we can.”
While O’Shea didn’t get the top job, he still put Ireland into battle four times against sides that qualified for Euro 2024 while in interim charge.
In March, his team drew with Belgium and went down narrowly to Switzerland. And in June, Ireland beat Hungary before losing to Portugal.
Facing England on Sunday, O’Shea is hoping those experiences will stand to the players and yesterday stressed the importance of being ‘present in games’.
“Being in the game and making sure you’re present in the whole game is important because moments against the top players can change things,” he said.
“As a professional, you're at this level because you have been competitive.
“It’s a ferocious environment to be successful and reach Premier League or international standards.
“You know that you have to be competitive and have that standard. You have to have that winning mentality.
“In each of those games, we had opportunities until the last minute. From the players’ side, it’s full belief that we’ll have moments to hurt England.”
Some of those players have arrived into camp energised on the back of recent club moves, especially so in the attacking ranks.
Sammie Szmodics and Chiedozie Ogbene have just joined Ipswic, Adam Idah made his Celtic loan permanent and Troy Parrott is now at AZ Alkmaar.
Before leaving the Aveiro Municipal Stadium in June, after Portuga’s 3-0 win over Ireland, O’Shea spoke to the players in the dressing room about their club futures.
And to those in limbo, he stressed the importance of sealing quick moves.
Yesterday, O’Shea said: “It was selfish from an Irish point of view, trying to get the minutes on the board as quickly as you could.
“It’s the sharpness - the mental sharpness - and the physical aspect that you need to have ready to go to be able to win matches at this level.”
Under O’Shea, and now Hallgrimsson, the emphasis has been on making Ireland harder to beat than they were under Stephen Kenny.
O’Shea was one of Kenny’s coaches and while the former manager’s approach was worth trying, Ireland won just six competitive games in three years.
Yesterday, O’Shea was asked what Ireland will need to do better under their new Icelandic manager.
“A huge part of it is being defensively solid as a team, keeping clean sheets, giving yourself every chance you can to be in the game,” he said.
“And then it’s having that desire to punish teams and show your attacking threats as often as you can by getting crosses in the box and putting teams under pressure.
“It’s having that whole combination of being a ruthless, efficient, compact unit and that’s not just a defence, a keeper and his back line.
“It’s the whole midfield, attacking unit, being compressed, being tight and forcing teams back, being on the front foot at home and keeping teams locked in in their half.
“You want to make it uncomfortable for them but also give the players the ammunition to mix it up - play short, long, whatever the opposition.”
And O’Shea: “There's a lot of ways to win games.”
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