Heimir Hallgrímsson: 'I don’t think Nathan will play in midfield tomorrow'

Manager Heimir Hallgrímsson and Nathan Collins laugh together at the press conference. Pic: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

Ireland are facing an Italian manager but it will be the home team channelling Giovanni Trapattoni’s template for this opening World Cup qualifier.

Under the legendary boss, Ireland effectively fielded a defensive six, four defenders shielded two holding midfielders, mirroring the famous Catenaccio format perfected in Italy.

Whereas Hungary chief Marco Rossi is wedded to three central defenders, Heimir Hallgrímsson is a purveyor of the flat back-four structure.

That differed from what came before with Stephen Kenny and caretaker boss John O’Shea but nobody is expecting a deviation for this crunch encounter.

Positioning the midfield partnership so close to the defensive unit should succeed in closing the space that a freewheeling midfielder like Dominik Szoboszlai gorges on.

While his toolbox of traits is diverse, when the Liverpool midfielder raids into enemy territory to set up a striker or unleash a shot from distance, defences can be paralysed.

Hallgrímsson has tinkered with various options in that area; positing Josh Cullen as a plank of the duo without establishing a regular partner.

Nathan Collins filled the role once, pushed up from centre-back at Wembley last November with the clear instruction of stymieing Jude Bellingham’s surges from deep.

It was classified as an undoubted success — in the first half anyway — but once the stalemate was broken by England eight minutes into the second half and Liam Scales was sent off, the experiment was ditched and Ireland shipped five goals.

Paddy McCarthy’s comments in midweek emphasising how a disciplined duo is essential to screen in front of the defences resurrected the Collins conundrum.

He began his career as a midfielder, operating under his managerial father David at Cherry Orchard, and on several occasions, Kenny resisted the temptation of deploying his skills in that area.

Hungary's danger man Dominik Szoboszlai. Pic: Ryan Byrne/Inpho

That Ireland have an abundance of deputies readymade to deputise for the Ireland captain at the back bolsters the argument to maximise the personnel strengths but Hallgrímsson confirmed he wouldn’t task the man-marking burden on Szoboszlai to Collins.

“I think we’ve been improving the two No 6s,” said Hallgrímsson about solidifying the area between the lines.

“We’ve been repeating the same messages and it’s improving all the time. But it’s always, like I said before, it is always good to have players like Nathan who can play more than one position “I’m not going to say I’ve stopped thinking about it because it’s always there but I don’t think he’ll play in midfield tomorrow.” 

Bosun Lawal was namechecked in the course of that answer. Collins made his name at Stoke City and Lawal is following, beginning the Championship season as a mainstay under Mark Robins.

Similarities continue with his versatility to function as a defender and midfielder but the factor going against the 22-year-old is his lack of international experience.

Only for a stress fracture injury that delayed his elevation at Stoke following their purchase from Celtic, he’d be a full international but remains uncapped.

Killian Phillips was selected ahead of him for the last outing, a scoreless friendly in Luxembourg, while Jack Taylor’s impact from the bench, by smacking a late shot off the underside of the crossbar, puts him also ahead in the hierarchy.

Most likely, however, is Jason Knight slotting in as Cullen’s companion for his 40th cap. He’s another of the leaders spoken of in the lead-up, captaining Bristol City at the age of 24-year-old, and has demonstrated his endurance on the big occasions.

Hallgrímsson is bound to favour experience on a night for cool heads. Collins highlighted the growing maturity of the group by avoiding the levels of panic that seemed to previously cripple them.

“I think Finland away is a good example of being able to bounce back from a setback of going behind,” noted the skipper.

“Bulgaria away was the same. It is just something you feel in training and in camp and you see people come in and how they settle around the camp.

“The biggest learning from our previous campaign is this is a sprint but a long sprint. A lot can change so if we get a setback, it’s not fully over.

“If something doesn’t go your way, you can still get yourself back into the race. We don’t want to kill ourselves off from the start.

“That’s why it’s important to get a good start. We have experienced setbacks before that we weren’t happy with. We want to learn from that and put it right. Getting off to a good start helps everything.”