In principle, Ireland was given a strategic roadmap for their upcoming match against England by 52nd world-ranked Slovenia, who held the English team to a 0-0 draw at the Group C Euro 2024 match in Cologne. This could offer insights for the 58th-ranked Irish team on how to confound the England manager, team, and supporters at this weekend’s game taking place at the Aviva Stadium.
However, this method used by the Slovenians might prove less valuable due to the altered nature of the present England team. The approach adopted previously by the England team could be significantly different due to injuries sustained by Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Ollie Watkins, and Phil Foden’s health issues. Alongside this, with the substitution of Lee Carsley in place of Gareth Southgate, the English strategy for an upcoming Nations League match in Dublin could see a considerable shift.
In spite of this, there was a shining instance from June when Andraz Sporar, the veteran midfielder, pressurized Declan Rice sufficiently that Marc Guéhi, the English centre-half, turned into the ideal orchestrator. This technique is what Carsley had previously wished for the Irish squad to apply against the mighty Spanish team at Euro 2012.
John O’Shea, assistant manager of Ireland’s team alongside Heimir Hallgrímsson, emphasizes the importance of analysing the performances of the England under-21 squad, which has been coached by Carsley since 2021, especially their victorious campaign at the European Championship last year.
In O’Shea’s words, “Lee has introduced some different players from the 21s… It’s important to consider that the Euro matches were under Southgate’s guidance. We’re addressing the way Slovenia approached the game. A strategy would incorporate the traits of Lee’s under-21s and the senior team.”
Carsley announced last week his decision to showcase Chelsea’s prodigious 22-year-old winger, Noni Madueke, during this international season. During the latest media session at St George’s Park, he introduced Lille’s Angel Gomes, Rico Lewis from Manchester City, Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento, and Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest. The quintet, honed by Carsley at the junior level, could all see action against Ireland. The current England roster did not include these five in the squad that only managed a scoreless encounter in Cologne against a nation of 2.1 million.
Despite narrowly avoiding an upset against Slovakia due to Bellingham’s 95th-minute overhead kick in the Last 16 match, England made significant strides in the Euros by reaching the final with Harry Kane scoring the deciding goal.
Carsley’s England exhibits distinct traits from the team under Southgate.
As Declan Rice returns to Aviva, O’Shea declines to speculate on the possible impact if Rice had remained with Ireland. Instead, focus was placed on those who opted to represent Ireland, which now includes the Arsenal midfielder looking to play a key role in midfield in his 62nd international cap.
O’Shea argued that England, having just played in the Euros finals, poses considerable threats. To counter this, Ireland must limit the influence of England’s players, recalling how Panathinaikos’ Sporar and Adam Gnezda Cerin previously pressured England into mistakes.
Despite missing Tuesday’s session, defenders Séamus Coleman and Andrew Omobamidele from Everton and Nottingham Forest have been declared fit by O’Shea. Brighton’s Evan Ferguson is also slated to make a comeback after being sidelined since March due to an ankle injury.
“Evan is prepared for Saturday’s game after having a couple of training sessions with us. He’s recently re-joined the team after a several months’ break, but being young, he’s in good form and shows lively performance in training sessions. A concrete decision regarding him will be made later in the week.”
The relationship between O’Shea and Carsley stretches back to their playing days for Ireland. However, Carsley, who is presently holding the position of England’s interim manager, has also shared his coaching knowledge with O’Shea during O’Shea’s Uefa A coaching license training. There was an instance, in an alternate football scenario, where both could have been appointed in the same Irish management team, as Carsley was considered by the FAI to replace Stephen Kenny.
When I joined Stephen’s team, Stephen and Keith Andrews were the main players. Now, I serve as second-in-command to Heimir. Paddy McCarthy is also part of our team. The team is fostering an environment of substantial knowledge and beneficial information is being imparted to the players. Therefore, our main focus is to coalesce all these elements efficiently for Saturday’s game.
Remember, different strategies are required to triumph in games. If the opponent is displaying aggression, it’s crucial not to fall into their game plan. Rather, the game strategy should be varied. When the opposing team takes a more passive stance, our team would need to be more offensive and capitalise on our ball possession to create scoring opportunities.