Heimir Hallgrimsson believes that if Ireland are to have any chance of beating England, it will have to be a collective effort from his players.
Ireland open their UEFA Nations League campaign with a home clash against the old enemy at Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening, which is Hallgrimsson's first game in charge of the national team since taking over from John O’Shea in the summer.
The new man in charge was quick to emphasise that, on paper, England have a superior side, however, he was not ruling out the possibility of his side causing a shock against the team ranked fourth in the world and coming into the game off the back of an appearance at the Euro 2024 final in July.
England do, however, arrive into this game with a new man at the helm following Gareth Southgate’s exit following the Euros final defeat to Spain, while they are also missing several key players, including Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, and Ollie Watkins.
And speaking at the pre-match press conference, Hallgrimsson looked quietly optimistic that his side could make things difficult for the visitors.
"If Ireland has a chance to beat England, that’s collective, for sure," said Hallgrimsson. "Man for man, gung ho, probably nine out of ten, England would win.
"So we need to play collective against them, and that is going to be the way to win the match tomorrow."
However, Hallgrimsson was quick to point out the reality of the situation, admitting that he was expecting to have a lot less possession than Lee Carsley's side.
"If you play the game in your head, probably England will have more possession than us, so defensively we need to be really solid, taking the chances that we get, whenever we have the chance to play attacking football, go higher up the pitch. We've already prepared for that," he said, when asked if the packed crowd can expect entertainment and excitement.
"I hope it's going to be a mix of both, but playing the game in your head statistically, looking at past games, I think England will have more ball possession than us and if we are defending 60% of the time, then we need to be prepared for that.
"But that is how I see the game. Probably we will be defending more than attacking. But when we get it, we have our solutions going forward.
"Hopefully we will score some goals. Whether we will have more possession than them is irrelevant if we score goals from our chances."
The manager admitted that he is really looking forward to his first game in charge as he hopes that his players can put his plan into action after what was just a few training sessions together.
And he stressed that he is also excited to experience the incredible atmosphere of the national team in action against quality opposition at a packed stadium.
"I’m really excited," said Hallgrimsson. "First and foremost, I’m excited to feel the atmosphere, everybody is talking about how good it is and I know it’s going to be massive against England. I’m just looking forward to that.
"Working with the players for the first time, see what we have been trying to do in the trainings and see can we transfer it to the match. There’s lots of things I’m looking forward to but most of all meet the fans and the atmosphere in the Aviva."
Looking ahead to the game, the manager confirmed that there were no injury concerns and he has a fully fit squad to choose from, and while he understands the historical context of such a big game against England, he does not feel that it is his job to motivate the players ahead of the game.
In fact, he stressed the importance of trying to take the emotion out of the game for his squad and to focus on their role on the pitch and implementing the tactics for the collective performance that he is looking for.
"I’ve been briefed on those [historical] things," he said. "I think for us coaches it’s probably not necessary to motivate the players to play against England.
"It’s probably the opposite for us, to just remind them what they should be doing on the pitch, focus on the tactics etc.
"That has been kind of what we have been talking about. It has probably been to cool them more down than to get them excited and motivated.
"I think that comes from within them, to do good and motivated. So we can say it’s more our job to cool them down and get them focused on what they should be doing on the pitch."
As for picking the team, Hallgrimsson would not be coaxed into naming his side the day before the game to the assembled media, but did explain his thinking behind announcing the selection to the players.
Generally he finds it helpful to name the starting XI on the day before the game, as it gives his players time to sleep on the selection so that they are ready to go on matchday.
"It’s basically none of your business when I talk to the players and show them the line-up," said Hallgrimsson, when asked when the players would find out. "But usually I’ve done it matchday minus one in the afternoon, so the players can sleep on the starting XI.
"That’s the normal way. If I do it now, I’m not sure.
"The reason I do that is for the players to know and think about it in bed matchday minus one and be prepared."
"You will see when we kick off," he added, when asked about the shape of the side. "We’re not going to talk about how we play or our tactics. You will know that but it’s a fair question."
While Ireland’s history with England is well known, the manager also has previous with the Three Lions, as his Iceland team famously knocked them out of Euro 2016 to qualify for the quarter-finals in France.
And while Hallgrimsson admitted that it was a bit of a perfect storm that evening in Nice, he is hoping that such star align once more as he gets to do it all again from the Irish dugout on Saturday evening.
"I hope we will have the same result tomorrow, of course," said Hallgrimsson.
"We were just speaking in the car on the way in, that night was special. Everything we did that night succeeded, whether it was tactical, taking our chances, defending our goal, and nothing England tried that night succeeded.
"So it was just one of those days. Hopefully it will come again tomorrow.
"But we know, even if we have our best game, it still isn't sure it will lead into a victory against a good team like England. We need to make sure we have the best game we can tomorrow and see what that gives us."
Watch Republic of Ireland v England in the UEFA Nations League on Saturday from 4pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
