UEFA Nations League Group B2
Republic of Ireland v Greece, Aviva Stadium, 7.45pm
TV / Player
Watch live build-up and coverage of the match on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player from 7.20pm.
Radio
Listen to live commentary on an extended Game On with 2fm
Online
There will be a live blog on rte.ie/sport, the RTÉ News app, as well as updates and goals on RTÉ Sport on X and RTÉ Sport Facebook.
Weather
A dry evening in Dublin with temperatures about 11 degrees. The grand stretch is long gone now, but hopefully under the lights at Lansdowne Road will be to Ireland’s advantage.
It should get easier tomorrow
Heimir Hallgrimsson may have looked forward to such a big occasion for his first match in charge of the Republic of Ireland with England the opposition.
He did warn that more focus should be on the Greece game before a ball was kicked.
How right that was.
It was a hard watch to see the Boys in Green totally outclassed and everyone was thankful that the visitors took the foot off the gas for the most comfortable 2-0 victory you’ll see.
At points of the first half it looked like Ireland could be humiliated and the break came as a relief.
There was a minor improvement and Lee Carsley’s side played with less tempo in the second period.
By the final whistle, 2-0 was a good scoreline to move on from.
Were there any positives?
In truth, none of major note. Caoimhín Kelleher produced a great display and is now established number one with Gavin Bazunu’s injury. Sammie Smozdics showed he is a good asset to Ireland with his energy and workrate while Chiedozie Ogbene was a threat.
All three will be crucial for Ireland against Greece. There are real limitations facing the Ireland manager. The blooding of young players has refreshed the squad from when Stephen Kenny took the job and has certainly made the job easier for the new boss.
The issue for Ireland is finding quality. Midfield continues to be a problem with Jayson Molumby and Will Smallbone simply asked to do an impossible job last week.
The debate over if Hallgrimsson got it wrong tactically can go on, yet feels largely unimportant in the circumstances.
Much more will be gained in knowledge for the new manager. Whether he opts for a change in formation tomorrow remains to be seen.
Every manager must grow into a job and he comes into difficult circumstances.
For decades it seems as if Irish football has needed an overhaul, yet no result can lead to it, only ever a change of head coach.
The path he is facing is likely to be determined by early results and this is crucial.
The team will change
There will be one guaranteed alteration for Ireland.
Seamus Coleman was forced off with injury in the 57th minute of the defeat to England.
Festy Ebosele has been called into the squad.
Hallgrimsson selected Matt Doherty on the wing and it remains to be seen if he rejigs his formation later on.
Doherty is the obvious replacement at right-back and there could be a combination with Ebosele.
He may opt to switch to a four-man midfield and drop Adam Idah or Smozdics. The Celtic striker Idah would be more likely to be benched based on last Saturday.
Evan Ferguson played his first minutes of the season as a substitute against England. It would be a big ask to throw him into this game.
Expect minimal changes, but they could have a big say in how Ireland play.
Last Saturday’s game soon became a damage limitation exercise. The Ireland midfield couldn’t get to within two yards of the opposition.
That has to change and the tactics will be all-important. Undoubtedly it’s a drop in class from playing one of the best teams in the world so that will work in Ireland’s favour.
Who’s the gaffer?
The other bad issue at the start of the Hallgrimsson era has been confusion over who looks to be in charge.
The new man admitted to leaning heavily on John O’Shea and Paddy McCarthy and while one quote may have been lost in translation where Hallgrimsson looked forward to having “more authority” in time, it wasn’t helped that O’Shea was put up for the pre-match press conference yesterday.
That was pre-planned according to O’Shea and he batted away a number of questions about why he was setting out the agenda in the press before a big match, a role which would traditionally be taken by the manager.
“The boss is the boss,” O’Shea said as he was adamant his was a backseat role.
“It’s not a leading role, I’m the assistant,” said O’Shea. “The leader is the boss and that is clear.”
It’s a fair response from O’Shea, yet it is a sign of initial weakness if looking at it in depth.
It’s far from ideal. Certainly a good result against Greece would make it irrelevant.
Get Heim’ to the Greeks
The Ireland players will be familiar with their opponents from the two defeats in Euro 2024.
Having been expected to be at a similar level in that competition, Greece emerged with six points and ended the Kenny era.
The 2-1 away defeat was a real sobering night for Ireland with the home side much sharper and robust over the 90 minutes.
By the time they came to Dublin, the writing was on the wall for Kenny.
H/T: 🇮🇪 0-2 🇬🇷
GOAL GREECE – Masouras doubles the Greek lead in first-half injury-time with Ireland claiming handball in the build-up
📺 Live on @rte2 and @rteplayer 👉 https://t.co/1ncBhUXJWF
📱 Updates on @RTEsport 👉 https://t.co/RNvl9Ic1Ex pic.twitter.com/wZPu7Ngk84— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) October 13, 2023
Georgios Giakoumakis and Georgios Masouras found the net in the first half.
They reached the play-off final for the Euros, only to suffer a surprise loss to Georgia on penalties.
That ended the Gustavo Poyet era with Serbian Ivan Jovanovic taking over.
He was most recently at Panathinaikos, with his only previous international role with UAE.
Jovanovic started in excellent fashion with a 3-0 victory over Finland last Saturday.
It means they can come to Dublin with some pressure off.
Fotis Ioannidis scored twice to emerge as the big dangerman. He worked under the new manager and still remains with Panathinaikos.
Reminder of the importance of the competition
This will be the fourth edition of the UEFA Nations League
Second place in League B offers a play-off against the third-placed team from the tier above. Third place will mean a relegation play-off against the second-place finisher from the tier below. The draw for those play-offs will take place on 22 November.
The fear for Ireland is a loss tomorrow it will make it difficult to finish in second place and more realistically be a shootout to avoid the relegation play-off.
Watch Republic of Ireland v Greece in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday from 7.20pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on 2fm’s Game On