Heimir Hallgrimsson does not anticipate major changes to his style or philosophy when international football resumes in the New Year.
The Ireland manager has four months to lick his wounds after the humiliating 5-0 defeat to Wembley on Sunday, with the next international window in March 2025.
The national team will be thrown straight into a Nations League two-legged play-off as they attempt to maintain their second-tier status in the competition.
After that, the World Cup qualifying campaign will dominate the rest of the footballing year, while a September start would, at least, offer a chance to prepare throughout the June schedule with a training camp and a couple of friendly matches.
Following such a disastrous result, there will surely be calls for the manager to revisit his tactics in the quest to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in USA, Mexico and Canada, however, Hallgrimsson felt that the tactics worked to a certain extent.
The plan was to control the game out of possession, by guiding England into areas where the Ireland set-up could limit their expansive game and frustrate their attacking play.
Aside from the shaky start at Wembley, Ireland did manage to employ what looked like a formidable formula, as England huffed and puffed throughout the opening 45 minutes, and looking a side frustrated by half-time.
The second half began as the first ended, and while England were on the front foot, they were not getting much joy in the Ireland final third.
Until, of course, Evan Ferguson’s sloppy pass proved the catalyst for an English explosion in attack, as Jude Bellingham made the run before Harry Kane even looked at the space behind the out-of-position Ireland back-line.
But the quality followed, first from the Kane delivery, and then the Bellingham touch and composure to conjure a penalty and in the process see Ireland reduced to 10 men.
This change of possession, or the transition, as it is now known in football parlance, is where it all went wrong according to Hallgrimsson, who felt that his side’s use of the ball ultimately led to their downfall.
“No,” said Hallgrimsson, when asked after the game if he needs to revisit his thinking behind the out-of-possession tactics.
“I think 11 v 11, we played really well, out of possession. I think we played really well until the first goal.
“It was in possession when we had our most dangerous moments, when we won it, and then lost it again. That was when England had their chances. So we need to grow from in possession rather than out of possession.”
The irony of the answer surely won’t be lost on former manager Stephen Kenny whose modus operandi was all about becoming a possession-based unit.
Kenny’s inability to secure the required results was what cost him his job, as opposed to his philosophy of choice, and the same rules apply, no doubt, for Hallgrimsson, who will be judged on his side’s form throughout 2025.
Hallgrimsson felt that the team should have taken heart from the first-half performance when they went one goal down instead of “losing their heads” and unable to find their rhythm before goals number two and three arrived in close proximity to the opener.
“You need to be smart after conceding a shock like this, a goal and losing a player,” said Hallgrimsson. “You need to be smart to play the first minutes compact, not concede another one, growing again into the match.
“I think we did in first half. First 10 minutes were a bit shaky, but then we found our rhythm in our block, we kind of controlled where they wanted to go.
“So we controlled the way the game was played even with the (low) amount of possession. That’s what should have happened (at 1-0).”
“[But] it’s easy to be outside and criticise,” he added.
Reflecting on the six-game block of Nations League action since taking over for his first competitive fixture in September, Hallgrimsson believes that progress has been made since the disappointing opening encounter against England.
“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “If we look back when we played them at home and this, I know the goal-scoring was different, this was a different game.
“We could have, and maybe should have, taken the lead in the game. It would have changed the whole lot if we’d taken the lead.
“But then, this last 30-35 minutes, it’s difficult to criticise. But again, it’s still embarrassing to lose five-zero.”
Since starting in the role, Hallgrimsson has rarely been seen without his little green notebook, in which he has been busy keeping notes of how things have progressed.
The manager is happy that he has been getting answers throughout the Nations League campaign, and while the answers have not always been to his liking, he feels that he sees things clearer heading into the new calendar year.
“It has been good time for me,” he said. “Now I’ve seen them. It was necessary for me to give them a chance to show what they can do. Andy Moran came into a terrible position. He showed he was confident to play at this level.
“You always get answers. Answers are not always how you want them to be, but all answers are good because it moves you forward.
“It moves you to take decisions going forward…I needed to see all these players going into the World Cup.”
“Yes, I think,” he answered when asked asked if he can turn things around after the demoralising defeat.
“This is a game that probably our odds were not high, so losing it is not a shocker. But the kind of way the second half is a bit of a shock.
“I don’t think the odds were in our favour in this game. But we show how to play, how we can against teams like England.”
As the curtain comes down on the international calendar, Hallgrimsson will not get to work with his players until that March window, and he admitted, after losing in the manner they did, that it was perhaps best to say less in the dressing room.
“It’s tough to say something, to motivate players after this,” he said, when asked what was said in the dressing room after the game. “It’s probably better to say less than more.
“I urged them to look at this game again, look at the positives, look at the negatives and we go from there.”