IRELAND BOSS Heimir Hallgrímsson believes Evan Ferguson and Troy Parrott can be accommodated in the same starting XI.
Ferguson has been widely perceived as Ireland’s first-choice striker in recent times.
However, the Roma star’s recent injury paved the way for the AZ Alkmaar forward to get a chance, and the latter delivered with five goals in two matches against Portugal and Hungary.
For the entirety of the World Cup qualifying campaign so far, Hallgrímsson has started games with only one out-and-out striker.
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In Ireland’s six matches, Ferguson and Parrott have been on the pitch at the same time just once — for 16 minutes during the 1-0 home defeat of Armenia.
It likely would have been more, but the Dubliner missed the September window through injury, and the Meath native was ruled out of the most recent two qualifiers.
In the 1-0 loss against Portugal, meanwhile, Ferguson was replaced by Parrott in the 78th minute of that contest.
Yet despite Ireland finding increased success with the 3-4-2-1 formation, Hallgrímsson is not ruling out playing both his attacking stars together from the outset.
“I absolutely can’t see why not,” the Icelandic boss said. “Obviously, we need to change a little the formation, how we are doing. But you would have said it would be impossible to play Adam Idah, Troy Parrott and Johnny Kenny at the same time [against Hungary]. But still we did, and it succeeded. So you can do everything if you plan it specially and have time to drill it.”
When pressed on whether Parrott and Ferguson had the footballing intelligence to start games together, and if he was a believer in tailoring the formation to accommodate a team’s brightest talents, the manager added, “Obviously, you would like your best players always to be on the pitch. It depends on what game, what opponent, how they are playing, etc. That’s one reason we play with three centre-backs in the team, because probably that’s, apart from maybe the goalkeeper position, our strongest part of the team.
“So with having three centre-backs and then building our attack from three centre-backs, I think that answers your question. If two or three of the strikers are flying, we look at that. What you’re saying, how can we change our formation without changing everything that we have been doing? We also need to think — now we have a momentum from something we are doing.
“We need to build on that. Just to put in one player, we can’t change. So many things that you have to take into account when you select the team or formation.”
Hallgrímsson also paid tribute to 37-year-old Seamus Coleman. The Donegal native played from the beginning in Ireland’s last four qualifiers, despite having only two starts (both in the League Cup) under his belt with Everton this season. In addition, the experienced full-back’s most recent appearance for the Toffees was the 89th-minute cameo in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on 5 October, which was before the initial recall to the Irish set-up.
“I’ve spoken about his energy and what he brings to the squad, how he helps the players around him,” Hallgrímsson said. “But listen, we’ve been watching and getting his numbers from Everton. He is as fit and maybe more fit than many of the players playing regularly. He takes care of himself as a player.
“To give him a football credit, playing these two games, I don’t know when he played two games in three days last time. But just to be able to do that [was impressive]. Now I’m complimenting him as a football player. To be able to do that and not get in his minutes at Everton, that’s amazing. That should be credited. Not only his character and charisma, and energy levels — to be able to do that at this level, in this magnitude of games, is unreal.”
With Ireland potentially two fixtures away from World Cup qualification, the Icelandic coach also suggested he would have no hesitation bringing in new players who wish to declare for the Boys in Green despite the temptation to stick with the individuals who have got them this far.
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“Even though we’re lost in the now, we need to be thinking about the future. That should always be how the association should think. We should constantly look to improve in all areas, including players. And [ask]: ‘What can we do to get their hearts to belong to Ireland?’”
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Can Ireland play Evan Ferguson and Troy Parrott in the same starting XI?
IRELAND BOSS Heimir Hallgrímsson believes Evan Ferguson and Troy Parrott can be accommodated in the same starting XI.
Ferguson has been widely perceived as Ireland’s first-choice striker in recent times.
However, the Roma star’s recent injury paved the way for the AZ Alkmaar forward to get a chance, and the latter delivered with five goals in two matches against Portugal and Hungary.
For the entirety of the World Cup qualifying campaign so far, Hallgrímsson has started games with only one out-and-out striker.
In Ireland’s six matches, Ferguson and Parrott have been on the pitch at the same time just once — for 16 minutes during the 1-0 home defeat of Armenia.
It likely would have been more, but the Dubliner missed the September window through injury, and the Meath native was ruled out of the most recent two qualifiers.
In the 1-0 loss against Portugal, meanwhile, Ferguson was replaced by Parrott in the 78th minute of that contest.
Yet despite Ireland finding increased success with the 3-4-2-1 formation, Hallgrímsson is not ruling out playing both his attacking stars together from the outset.
“I absolutely can’t see why not,” the Icelandic boss said. “Obviously, we need to change a little the formation, how we are doing. But you would have said it would be impossible to play Adam Idah, Troy Parrott and Johnny Kenny at the same time [against Hungary]. But still we did, and it succeeded. So you can do everything if you plan it specially and have time to drill it.”
When pressed on whether Parrott and Ferguson had the footballing intelligence to start games together, and if he was a believer in tailoring the formation to accommodate a team’s brightest talents, the manager added, “Obviously, you would like your best players always to be on the pitch. It depends on what game, what opponent, how they are playing, etc. That’s one reason we play with three centre-backs in the team, because probably that’s, apart from maybe the goalkeeper position, our strongest part of the team.
“So with having three centre-backs and then building our attack from three centre-backs, I think that answers your question. If two or three of the strikers are flying, we look at that. What you’re saying, how can we change our formation without changing everything that we have been doing? We also need to think — now we have a momentum from something we are doing.
“We need to build on that. Just to put in one player, we can’t change. So many things that you have to take into account when you select the team or formation.”
Hallgrímsson also paid tribute to 37-year-old Seamus Coleman. The Donegal native played from the beginning in Ireland’s last four qualifiers, despite having only two starts (both in the League Cup) under his belt with Everton this season. In addition, the experienced full-back’s most recent appearance for the Toffees was the 89th-minute cameo in the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on 5 October, which was before the initial recall to the Irish set-up.
“I’ve spoken about his energy and what he brings to the squad, how he helps the players around him,” Hallgrímsson said. “But listen, we’ve been watching and getting his numbers from Everton. He is as fit and maybe more fit than many of the players playing regularly. He takes care of himself as a player.
“To give him a football credit, playing these two games, I don’t know when he played two games in three days last time. But just to be able to do that [was impressive]. Now I’m complimenting him as a football player. To be able to do that and not get in his minutes at Everton, that’s amazing. That should be credited. Not only his character and charisma, and energy levels — to be able to do that at this level, in this magnitude of games, is unreal.”
With Ireland potentially two fixtures away from World Cup qualification, the Icelandic coach also suggested he would have no hesitation bringing in new players who wish to declare for the Boys in Green despite the temptation to stick with the individuals who have got them this far.
“Even though we’re lost in the now, we need to be thinking about the future. That should always be how the association should think. We should constantly look to improve in all areas, including players. And [ask]: ‘What can we do to get their hearts to belong to Ireland?’”
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