HEIMIR HALLGRÍMSSON reckons Ireland’s new recruits have ‘rocked the boat’.
Hallgrímsson is planning a transatlantic crossing next summer for the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
It would be Ireland’s first appearance at a World Cup in 24 years.
In their five attempts since 2002, Ireland’s qualification campaigns sunk without a trace, running aground at the group stage three times and twice being capsized in play-offs.
There will be choppy waters in the autumn when his side must finish top of a group containing Portugal, Hungary and Armenia.
But the performance in Friday’s friendly against Senegal has raised hopes with the draw making it three games without defeat, their longest unbeaten run for more than three years.
Kasey McAteer and Jack Taylor both made their first start, with the Leicester City winger scoring, whilst Killian Phillips made his debut off the bench.
Will Smallbone and Ryan Manning were also given opportunities to shine with Hallgrímsson believing some of their performances mean Ireland regulars can no longer take their places for granted.
Hallgrímsson said: “When you do friendlies and give players a chance you will get answers.
“Not all of them will be positive answers but you need to have answers and the players who came in now did a good job.
“They have rocked the boat a bit, so the players watching will think ‘oh, this one is coming’. So that is healthy competition.
“Everybody should come in with the thought ‘I’m going to use this opportunity to my benefit and cement my name in the starting line-up or squad from now on.”
And the Icelander stressed that strength in depth was more important than ever because all of Ireland’s six group games will take place in the space of just 61 days.
He said: “We need to have more than one option, because if you are injured in September you might miss out for the whole tournament and we need to be prepared for that as well.”
Largely overlooked by his predecessors, Ryan Manning has now started two out of the last three games, on the left side of midfield ahead of Robbie Brady.
And, despite suffering relegation with Southampton, Hallgrímsson suggested he could have a big role to play.
He said: “He is growing in this role that we have given him, he is getting to start game after game now so you can see his understanding of the tactics.
“He is a player who can create and is quick.
“For me also when Robbie is higher he can drop in and be the left back so that is really a good positive thing, their cooperation has been really good.
“He is a genuine good player but the best thing for me is that he can play more than one position. That helps us a lot in how we want to play.
“We want players to take action and then for others to fill up and react to that position. Him and Robbie have done a good job playing together.”
Manning’s Southampton team-mate Will Smallbone had begun to emerge in the latter stages of Stephen Kenny’s reign but injuries have hampered his progress.
Despite describing him as more of an offensive player before the game, it was he who was deployed in a holding role alongside Jason Knight with Taylor pushed further forward to support Adam Idah.
Hallgrímsson said:l“We haven’t had a chance to work with Will a lot, so he was one we wanted to see in action. That is the purpose of giving players a chance.”
And, aside from injuries, Ireland are also likely to need to rotate with all six of their qualifiers taking place in double-headers with just 72 or fewer hours in between.
He said: “It depends on the situation. So if a player has been tired or is carrying an injury, you probably cannot play him twice in three days. It’s different from individual to individual.”
As well as more intense competition in the squad – with Premier League regular Jake O’Brien named only as a substitute – there also appeared to be an increased competitiveness.
That was evidenced by Matt Doherty and Dara O’Shea each taking the other to task when they competed for the same ball – both missing – in the build-up to Kasey McAteer’s opener.
Then, Adam Idah gave McAteer a piece of his mind when the winger was unable to beat his man with a cross to pick him out in a good position.
For a team that has been criticised at various times for not caring enough or not having an edge, it was no bad thing as far as the manager was concerned.
He said: “We want to be in sync when we take decisions, there always needs to be a reaction. It was just a misunderstanding. And that is a healthy thing.
“Everybody likes to play the game and do well, if they have a chance to do so and the ball doesn’t come because somebody makes a mistake then they are unhappy with it, they should be unhappy with it.
“I cannot disagree with players saying this is how it should be done. It is OK.”
KERR’S QUESTION
There was still one dissenting voice, however, with former boss Brian Kerr questioning the wisdom of playing African opposition in preparation for competitive games against European sides.
In his three-year spell in charge – in an era when there were far more friendlies played – Ireland played opposition from Africa, Asia, Central America, North America and South America.
And Hallgrímsson shrugged off the criticism and said: “It’s a really easy answer. First of all, it was difficult to find an opponent in this window because a lot of the teams are playing World Cup.
“And others already decided who they would play in friendlies so there was not a lot of options. Senegal was playing England.
“That is a world-class opponent and we wanted a strong opponent and that was probably the strongest we could get.
“It wouldn’t have been the correct way to do it, to play maybe two teams below us in the Fifa rankings. It wouldn’t be the same.
“To play different opponents is healthy and challenging for the players, with different kinds of threats and we can develop our game playing against opponents like these.
“And if we qualify for the World Cup, we need to play teams from Africa, Asia etc so it’s a good preparation. There is not a lot of games we can have if we qualify to play these opponents.”
