How Troy Parrott factor will influence Ireland v Czech Republic
After losing to Armenia in Yerevan in September, Ireland’s World Cup hopes were hanging by a thread with only two games played.
They were structurally a mess, as they got overrun in midfield against a side outside the top 100 of the world rankings at the time, conceding 16 shots and deservedly falling to defeat.
Ken Early said “the heart of the Irish team had turned into a superhighway through which Armenian attacks sped for most of the second half”.
It came only a few days after an unconvincing draw against Hungary in which they sloppily conceded twice in the first 15 minutes and their resulting comeback was aided by Hungary’s Roland Sallai getting sent off early in the second half.
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With his job in jeopardy, manager Heimir Hallgrímsson decided to go back to basics to focus on stopping the opposition, and he stumbled on the formula that would take them to the playoffs.
“I’ve realised we needed to find a way not to concede as many goals. We’ve talked about it, we conceded goals early in games. I think this team must win on keeping clean sheets or conceding as few goals as possible,” Hallgrímsson said.
“When you have opponents like Hungary with all their individual quality, when you have opponents like Portugal with all their goals in their players, you need to be solid in defence. I think that’s our way to win games at this moment.”
Hallgrímsson moved from a back four to a back five against Portugal away, which played more like 10 at the back as they camped in their own box for almost the entirety of the game. But the defensive shape was almost flawless as Séamus Coleman came back into the line-up after being left out of previous squads, and his leadership was of considerable benefit.
It was perhaps no surprise the breakthrough came after Coleman was substituted, as Ruben Neves scored a header in stoppage time to give Portugal a 1-0 victory.
Albeit helped by Caoimhín Kelleher’s superb save of a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty, Ireland had stopped Portugal scoring in 90 minutes. In their previous two games in the group, Portugal had scored eight goals and they had put five goals past Denmark and Poland at home in the previous year, teams of much higher ranking than Ireland. So this was a much-improved defensive performance.
Gaining in defensive solidity, however, left them devoid of any sort of threat on the other end. Evan Ferguson, particularly, struggled in hold-up play against Portugal’s strong centre backs, Goncalo Inacio and Ruben Dias, and Festy Ebosele – another player brought in from the cold for this fixture – was uncertain in attacking positions. Troy Parrott, returning from injury but in the form of his life for AZ Alkmaar, was left on the bench, a mistake that would be remedied when the teams met again.
For the next game, against Armenia, fearing a repeat of what happened in Terevan, Hallgrímsson played a defensive back five once more and it led to an uninspired first-half performance at home. Again Ireland were helped by a red card at the start of the second half, this time to Tigran Barseghyan, and improved as the game opened up, with Ferguson scoring the winner in the 70th minute.
Richie Sadlier on RTÉ questioned why anyone would think this Irish side would beat Hungary and Portugal. But in the second half, there were small signs that an attacking aspect was being added to the shored-up defence. Ireland won 1-0, but it should have been at least three, with Adam Idah, in particular, close to scoring a couple.
Still, nobody expected what would happen against Portugal at home, when it all came together for one of the best performances by an Irish team ever seen at Lansdowne Road. It was a back five again, worked on in the previous games, but now with a sting as Parrott was fully fit and in form. Chiedozie Ogbene, blessed with the pace to hassle elite defenders, was alongside him, and Finn Azaz was ready to support at all times, breaking from midfield.
Parrott scored two excellent goals as Ireland mostly let Portugal have the ball – 72 per cent of it – but were ready to pounce at the slightest mistake. Portugal newspaper A Bola described the trio of Parrott, Ogbene and Azaz as “racehorses”.
“The three were a constant threat, and Portugal never managed to counter these transitions,” wrote A Bola.
Parrott’s hold-up play was much better than Ferguson’s had been in the away match. He had 17 touches, only one unsuccessful, compared with Ferguson’s 14 touches with four unsuccessful. Parrott won two of his four duels, while Ferguson only won one of 16 against the same centre backs.
An example of the double threat of Ogbene and Parrott came in the first half when a good ball in behind created a two-v-two with Portugal’s defence. With both moving at pace, and Parrott attracting one of the defenders, Ogbene went one-on-one and curled a shot from the edge of the box against the post. It was a quick counter that deserved a goal.
Kelleher’s kicking also made an impact as he played Gaelic football-style long passes immediately over the top, an effective tactic the Portuguese defence was reluctant to deal with. It was the sort of positivity that had been missing from previous games. Ireland won 2-0.
That meant Ireland went in with confidence to the final game of the group against Hungary. Now settled on a back five, with Azaz and Ogbene supporting Parrott up front, they showed they had more than one way of playing, with Parrott scoring a couple of goals while Hungary sat back on a 2-1 lead.
This is where Azaz truly shone and he would have been in contention for the man-of-the-match award if Parrott had not scored a hat-trick. The Southampton midfielder took charge in attacking midfield and put in his best performance in an Irish shirt as he delivered an excellent lofted through-ball to Parrott, who expertly scored the equalising goal.
There was a Hail Mary aspect to Parrott’s winning goal that derived in many ways from intangibles, such as Liam Scales’s steely determination to get a flick-on and Parrott’s instinct to get a toe-poke to the header. But it is sometimes forgotten that Ireland should have led the game before that after another exceptional long pass by Azaz, who picked the ball up around the centre circle and fed Johnny Kenny, who was denied by an outstanding save by the goalkeeper.
Parrott’s hat-trick brought Ireland into the playoffs from the brink. Hallgrímsson found that balance between defence and attack that could take on the best teams in Europe. Parrott, Ogbene and Azaz are set to be fit to play against the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, Josh Cullen, the best passer in deep midfield, is out with a serious knee injury, while Coleman has barely played for Everton since that international break.
Personnel issues aside, Hallgrímsson must continue the good work of the last international break. In Parrott they have a striker capable of winning a game on his own if he gets service. Quick and aggressive transitions to go with a strong defensive shape are the key to getting through the playoffs – it is not the time to be passive.
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