Oct 10,2024
Heimir Hallgrimsson was in positive form on the eve of Ireland's UEFA Nations League encounter with Finland and believes that his team are in a position to halt the "downward spiral" and play without fear in Helsinki.
Coming off the back of a double defeat in September, coupled with the fact that his squad lost a valuable day’s preparation taking the long hike north, the manager might be forgiven for feeling frustrated ahead of his third game in charge of the national side.
But there was certainly a pep in his step as he arrived to the pre-match press conference in the bowels of the famous Olympic Stadium in the heart of the Finnish capital.
The squad had only managed one active session ahead of their visit to the stadium this morning to train on the playing surface, however, Hallgrimsson has been working with his players on other aspects of their match preparation, in the meeting room.
They have had five meetings already since the squad gathered in Dublin earlier this week, and it appears to have had the desired effect heading into tomorrow night’s game.
"Honestly, I really feel much better in this camp, both on meetings, on the sessions," said Hallgrimsson.
"There's a higher tempo in what we are doing, that would tell me that they are getting it better than last time and maybe understanding a new coach, new things, et cetera.
"I feel better this camp but that's mainly what we have been doing, we had maybe five meetings, we are doing more talking than training."
Hallgrimsson reemphasised what he is attempting to do with the squad, and it is a building process, which he hopes will lead to more consistency leading to more positive results.
And the manager has taken whatever positives he could salvage from the disappointing defeats to both England and Greece in September, laying the foundations ahead of this week’s double header.
"We have just been continuing trying to implement the principles we'd like to have in play, showing them the good stuff from our last camp and the bad things as well, just trying to learn from the last camp and then on to this one," said Hallgrimsson.
Hallgrimsson has been here before, of course, during his time working with the Iceland national side, which led to the team becoming an impressive and effective unit, qualifying for Euro 2016 and going on to reach quarter-finals, getting out of their group before shocking England in the round of 16.
And the manager sees similarities with the task in hand as he attempts to create a winning mentality within the squad who have been on a poor run of results for the last four years.
"It's a lot of similarities, starting from a low point," said the manager.
"I’d say, in both projects, trying to build a structure which is really important in an international team, not taking it game by game but building something together from one game to another, trying to build on what we did last time, that's really important.
"I have said so many times, it's so different to be a national team coach. It's tough to be a coach and only have one training session.
"We need to have everything ready on what we did last time and try to build on that as the players will go to their clubs and do something totally different for a month, and then next time they come will have one training session so we need to be clear and ready with what we want, don't overload the players with information, keep on building and slowly, camp by camp, improve on what we are doing."
Hallgrimsson was also taking the positives of playing away from home and taking the squad on a road trip, which he feels can aid team bonding and squad development.
"I think, I wouldn’t say a losing streak, but if you are in a downward spiral it’s good to do something different in a different country, a different environment, shake things up," said Hallgrimsson.
"The players are staying together much more and are closer, that’s a good team-building thing, to travel and stay somewhere else."
Looking ahead to the game, the manager has a full squad to choose from with all 23 players taking to the playing surface for the pre-match session inside the stadium, and Hallgrimsson is confident that the players’ growing understanding of what is being asked of them will allow his squad to play without fear on Thursday night.
"Without fear goes in line with confidence of knowing what you should do," said Hallgrimsson. "Then you start to play without fear, when everybody is going in the same direction, knowing what is going to happen.
"I said before this camp and after the last camp, I felt it looks like players are not confident when there is a run and not a pass, or a pass and not a run.
"The decision making is slow because you are hesitant of going, so I think confidence comes with knowing what you are doing and slowly you build upon that."
