Hallgrímsson sees Collins midfield experiment continuing
Ireland's Dara O'Shea, Josh Cullen, Nathan Collins and Finn Azaz. Pic: Ryan Byrne.Inpho
Heimir Hallgrímsson admits the Nathan Collins midfield conversion could be here to stay for Ireland.
He’s only 23 but Collins will captain Ireland again for the Uefa Nations League promotion/relegation playoff against Bulgaria, starting with Thursday’s first leg in Plovdiv.
His leadership skills were called upon when the Brentford centre-back was requested to anchor midfield against Euro finalists England last November.
Everything was going fine until the 53rd minute when Ireland lost Liam Scales to a red card and the stalemate to Harry Kane’s converted penalty. Collins reverted to the defensive berth of Scales but Ireland seeped another four goals in a nightmare second half.
Those 40 minutes won’t deter Hallgrímsson with the tweak. Particularly so given the depth of options at the back deepened by a recall for Jake O’Brien and the promotion of Watford’s James Abankwah from the last U21 grouping.
“Yes, I can see that,” said the Icelander.
“I think he did really well in the first half. Of course, it was new for him and we could definitely try in the future.
“I think we have a lot of centre backs playing at a high level, so it’s also good to have the best players on the pitch to try something different.
“It’s a good option - gives us another dimension.” In total, Hallgrímsson has made 11 changes from his last squad four months ago, several influenced by injury.
Balancing experimentation with the need to avoid slipping into League C is the task against the Bulgarians in a tie that concludes in Dublin on Sunday week but he’ll have another two friendlies in June, home and away apiece.
Then the real business of World Cup qualification begins in September. Hungary and Armenia are confirmed but the victor from next week’s Nations League A playoff between Portugal and Denmark will complete the four-team group.
Rocco Vata is the newcomer aiming to embed himself in the team by that point. The son of Albanian-born former Celtic defender Rudi has been vindicated in departing Paradise for the Championship by exposure under Tom Cleverley with the Hornets.
Hallgrímsson lauds him as a match-winner.
“We are experts now in short FIFA windows,” he explained about juggling the demands of two games 72 hours apart.
“This is the third camp in a row we play Thursday-Sunday, meaning we have five players playing late Sunday and Monday is off training for them.
“Tuesday it is difficult to train. We fly to Bulgaria that day and have a session in the stadium where we can't do anything tactical. So we really only have one session.
“When myself and John O’Shea go to matches in England, we try to arrange a 10-minute chat with players afterwards.
“It’s the body language; how they act and react to things. We are getting to know them as characters and people.”
Regarding Bulgaria, currently in turmoil over Ilian Iliev’s resignation letter to quit as manager being rejected, he said: “They have been impressive. In 12 games since Illiev was hired as coach, they have only lost one, and that was a real outlier away to Northern Ireland where they were missing four or five starters.
“It’s going to be a physical battle. They are compact and hard to break down, so that will be a test for us.
“If we exclude that outlier, I think they are 0.6 goals per game conceded so it shows how difficult it is to score against them.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
