'It's good the Czechs won, it shows us how close we are'

Heimir Hallgrimsson was holding court in a corner of an Aviva Stadium dressing room when news filtered in about how things had ended in Prague on Tuesday night.

The previous Thursday, the Czech capital had been the cause of what the Republic of Ireland manager had repeatedly described as "pain".

That night's penalty shootout at the Fortuna Arena had put a spike through any Irish hopes of a World Cup adventure this summer.

But fast-forward to Tuesday and Czechia were back in another shootout on home soil, this time against Denmark.

Meanwhile, Ireland had already finished a fall-back friendly against North Macedonia that had ended scoreless at the Aviva.

The post-match press conference was over and now Hallgrimsson was taking time to speak to a group of journalists in that nearby dressing room about the finer points of the qualifying campaign just gone and how he and his staff will look to build on it.

The Ireland boss and assistant John O'Shea had just satisfied queries about potential Irish eligible players who might join the cause when the Icelandic native paused to ask, "What's the score?"

One of the scribes in the huddle informed the room about which way the Sword of Damocles had fallen in Prague this time.

The fact that it's the Czechs and not the Danes who will play in Group A in Mexico this June may well reinforce feelings of what might have been from an Irish perspective. However, that's not how Hallgrimsson reacted from his perch on the wooden bench in the corner after taking in the news and hearing the wistful intakes of breath around him.

"We have different opinions on the coaching staff. I really think it's good that the Czechs won. It shows us how close we are to this," the Ireland manager said, before looking over to O'Shea, and saying, "I know it’s a dagger in the back."

O'Shea jokingly quipped: "The dagger has gone through my back."

Like most neutral observers, Hallgrimsson had been of the view that Denmark would have the edge on Czechia. But as he concluded "football is not played on paper".

After that brief newsflash, talk returned to Ireland and the road ahead.

On those aforementioned eligible players, Hallgrimsson said there was "nothing close" in terms of options who might follow in the footsteps of the English-born Harvey Vale, who had just won his second Boys in Green cap earlier in the night.

Chelsea striker Liam Delap - son of ex-Ireland international Rory - does not appear to be in contention for England's squad in the short-term, but that being said, O'Shea replied that any decision about an allegiance switch still lies in "Liam's corner", with Hallgrimsson backing up that view that it's "a decision that is still just his".

Either way, that's neither here not there when it comes to the next stage of Ireland's evolution. Next month, there will be a camp in Murcia, Spain, after the English Championship season has ended for all but those involved in promotion play-offs.

A friendly against Grenada has already been scheduled for 16 May with hopes of adding another fixture before that. At the end of the month, Qatar will visit Dublin and a week later, Ireland head to Montreal to face World Cup co-hosts Canada.

For those hoping to see League of Ireland talent included, Hallgrimsson pointed out that the domestic schedule makes that a near impossibility.

"They will be in season at that time, so it will probably be difficult to get them in the May camp," he said.

"This (camp) is more for the lower leagues, for the Championship [players]. If it's a possibility, probably we will try to have some, but I don’t think it’s an option."

As things stand in the Championship, Ireland newcomers Bosun Lawal (Stoke) and James Abankwah (Watford) are at clubs that are a little way short of the play-off places which means they will have an opportunity to further stake a claim.

Their versatility is a boon, according to Hallgrimsson, who echoed earlier press conference comments from O'Shea.

"I think we are growing. It's nice to have both James coming in - he can play left-back, right-back and centre-back - (and) Bosun as well is a really versatile player.

"Those players help us in more than one position, and that is necessary for us given that we have had a lot of injuries in this campaign."

But the growth that Hallgrimsson and O'Shea have been most encouraged by comes in the shape of statistical metrics that the manager had alluded to more than once after the defeat in Prague. And that was something he was keen to get across in the dressing room huddle.

For him, the "turning point" in forging belief and embedding foundations for a brighter future was Portugal away when Ireland narrowly lost out to a stoppage time goal last October.

"We have talked about our identity," Hallgrimsson said.

"We want to be the best organised, the best defensive team, and that's what we work on every time we come and meet. Again, we want to be the best in set-plays, we want to improve on set-plays every camp that we come together as a team.

"And then focus on discipline is so important at this level. John talked about the margins that happen in games, in set-pieces. We want to improve this. Focus on discipline is not only yellow cards etc, but we have conceded too many yellow cards in this campaign that led to, for example, (Liam) Scales couldn’t play against the Czechs. So we need to improve in that area.

"We have talked about duels and that is something that we have been improving a lot. We like to win our one-v-ones.

"And then we would like to be a forward-thinking and fast-attacking team. Again, we are repeating the same things and I hope you see progress in possession for us.

"Then we would like to have leaders and batteries, as many of them as possible, and good characters.

"I showed you this (presentation) before, and we would like to be judged on these things. If we are lacking in some area, then we feel that criticism is deserved. But this is what we see as the identity for the Irish national team here and now."

Hallgrimsson said he took particular pride in how his team had improved markedly in metrics like first contact at attacking and defending corners, as well as defensive duels.

"All metrics in running (and) sprinting has improved. There is correlation, statistically if you do more running, you win more games," he continued.

"And then fast attacking, forward-thinking, a lot of things we have improved there tactically, but most of all how we penetrate lines."

Hallgrimsson highlighted numbers that showed that Ireland was moving from the lower percentile of teams to the higher percentile alongside Europe's leading nations like Germany and Spain in that particular area, as well as in the defensive version.

"Statistically, in this area, we are growing tremendously and that shows you from the first camp in our campaign before the last campaign and this is us now. We are improving in so many areas."

Beyond quantifiable stats, the growth of leaders like Nathan Collins, Dara O'Shea and Troy Parrott among others has also pleased the management team.

And Hallgrimsson emphasised that the staff are constantly hammering home the key principles to the players as well as reminding them of their progress to date.

"Just to put it into context, one bad day in Czechia, doesn't mean a bad life. It’s a setback, yes, but we are looking at this as a journey. Limit the setbacks and learn from the setbacks, so if it happens again, we can know what to do and improve."

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