Well, that was weird. Saturday evening in the Aviva wasn’t so much a football match as a deeply confused psychodrama. Ireland v England fixtures are never straightforward anyway but this one was raddled with so much ache and emotion that it was often difficult to think straight. Little wonder Lee Carsley began the night by going to the wrong dugout.
The interim England coach and former Ireland international (even that itself is a deeply strange phrase to see written down) walked out of the tunnel at the start and immediately sat on the Irish bench, before realising his coaches were down the sideline from him. “I did come out and turn right, yes,” he admitted after the game. “As you know, I spent a lot of time on that bench so I know exactly where it is.”
It was that kind of night. In the build-up to the game, Heimir Hallgrímsson conceded that he had never been involved in a match between two countries that were such close neighbours or had such a shared history. You’d imagine he won’t be in a hurry to experience it again.
While the stands heaved and honked with boos for England’s players, their anthem and their fans, the Icelander was watching on in frustration at his team being pulled hither and yon. The various backstories of Jack Grealish and Declan Rice and even Carsley himself couldn’t have mattered less to Hallgrímsson in that first half. Setting up with a back five and still allowing Trent Alexander-Arnold the time and space to play a simple ball through the centre of defence for the first goal was of far more significance.
“It was difficult to be on the pitch in the first half,” he said. “They played so well, so fast. So it was just tired legs I think, first and foremost. We tweaked a little bit tactically as well [in the second half]. We moved players higher up on the pitch, tried to go higher at them. But again, when they had spells of passing, it was always going to be difficult for us.
“So no, I was happy with the players coming in and I was pretty happy with the second half. I think we kind of kept them from getting their goal-scoring chances until the late, late part of the second half. But looking at it now, probably the game was over after the first half. It was really important to stay in the game. That was the message at half-time. Stay in the game, don’t concede the third one.”
You had to feel a little for Hallgrímsson. Whatever he ends up doing with this Ireland team, Saturday night will probably always feel like an outlier, the kind of freak event that doesn’t really provide any useful lessons for the future. Short of Thierry Henry making a comeback, there won’t be another fixture for a while where any visiting player (or players) get the sort of treatment that came the way of Rice and Grealish.
Not that it seemed to bother either of them. Rice spoke on TV afterwards of his decision not to celebrate his goal. Even that seemed to annoy a lot of people, despite it coming from a patently good place.
“Obviously, my nan and grandad on my dad’s side of the family are all Irish,” he said. “They have obviously passed away, they are not here any more. I think to have celebrated would have been really disrespectful of me, with them obviously not being here any more and them being my dad’s parents.
“I didn’t want to do that, to be honest with you. Obviously, I had such an amazing time playing for Ireland in the first team, the 19s and 21s. I have great memories that will live with me. I don’t have a bad word to say, I wish them all the best, like I always do with anyone.”
Carsley was impressed with Rice and Grealish and how they handled the night. He was even impressed with how the Irish fans barracked them, saying they did it in the right way. Whatever that means.
“Yeah, I’m pleased with it,” he said when asked about the performances of two panto villains. “But not surprised. I think they’re both playing football long enough now to understand that and to respect that it was going to be a little bit hostile at times.
“But in the right way. I thought the fans were really respectful with it. I thought that they both handled the atmosphere, as did the whole team. It’s going to be high tempo for everyone, not just Declan and Jack.”
At least it’s all over now. The whirl and swirl of Ireland v England is nothing like what Hallgrímsson will face against Greece tomorrow night and then the trips to Helsinki and Athens in October. Those are the games that will decide whether Ireland can stay in Group B and they will give everyone a clearer idea of what the new man has to offer.
We can get back to the psychodrama at Wembley in November.
