"Four points is good, six is better" is Heimir Hallgrimsson's response when asked about what would signify a decent start to the UEFA Nations League.
An opening encounter with England on Saturday followed by another home game against Greece on Tuesday night is in store for the new Republic of Ireland head coach, and Hallgrimsson offered an air of confidence at the pre-match press conference as he spoke about a template for beating England.
Only a week into the job, and while the Iceland native spoke about keeping things simple, it would appear that he is more than happy with how much they have achieved throughout the opening days of the new regime.
Players have spoken about meetings and cramming, and the manager admitted that there were some things he felt necessary to implement within the squad in order to put an immediate imprint on the team.
"Coming in at such short notice, I think it goes without saying that you don't like to do a lot of changes from the past, so with the staff and routines and what they do on the pitch, we haven't done a lot of changes," said Hallgrimsson.
"But some things I think are necessary to try and force in from the beginning, we have been working on those.
"I think the players have been really receptive. We tried to explain in a simple manner why we want to do it and then just showing them both in meetings and on the pitch. I think they have been really receptive, but in the end, we'll see that tomorrow.
"I think I have learned a lot this week. Meeting the players for the first time, I wish I would have had more time just interacting with them, but we have to prioritise our time.
"After this camp, I have a lot more knowledge on everything than before they came. It's going to be a good camp for me whether it's good results or not and going forward it's a really good camp."
Hallgrimsson spoke about the players being quite similar ahead of this training camp, and that was re-emphasised on the eve of the England game as the new manager offered a bit more insight into what he is looking to develop within the team.
The former Iceland manager wants a core of players to create consistency and continuity within the starting XI, and while he would like to see more players playing at a higher level in club football, he intends to build a strong spine in the team to take into the remainder of the campaign and on into next year’s World Cup qualification group.
"I think we can really build a strong squad going forward, for sure," said Hallgrimsson.
"Like I said, a lot of the players are of a similar level. Playing Champions League, we have Caoimhín at Liverpool and the Celtic players.
"We need to push players to a higher level.
"It is an equal squad, so to pick a starting eleven and to pick a 23-man squad is not easy.
"It would be nice to have more players like Séamus (Coleman) who have been doing it at a high level for a very long time.
"It would be nice to have - what's the word in English - a spine in the team that is always there and you pick players to support that.
"When you look at it, there are a lot of players staking a claim [saying] 'I can be there', but I would like it to be: this is the starting 11."
.@CorkTOD heard from the Republic of Ireland and England camps ahead of the renewal of a historic rivalry in Dublin #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/E4x8X0IFKD
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 6, 2024
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
