Heimir Hallgrimsson's Tactical Dilemma Ahead of Game 16
Heimir Hallgrimsson reaches game 16 in charge of Ireland on Thursday with a clear pattern already etched across his team sheets – and a glaring hole right in the middle of the pitch.
Across his first 15 competitive matches, Hallgrimsson has mixed promise with frustration: seven wins, a landmark success over Portugal, that memorable Troy Parrott-inspired triumph in Budapest against Hungary, but also six defeats and a World Cup dream ended on penalties by Czechia after a draw. Through all of it, one constant has anchored the side.
Josh Cullen.
When Hallgrimsson picks a serious team, Cullen is usually at the heart of it. The Burnley captain has started 11 of those 15 games. The other four? He was unavailable every time – three times injured, once suspended. He is the reference point, the metronome, the player Ireland build around in that congested, unforgiving middle third.
And now he’s missing again.
The ACL injury Cullen suffered for Burnley against Everton at the back end of last year, the same one that ruled him out of the Czechia play-off, will also keep him off the plane to the Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri. For Hallgrimsson, it’s a tactical headache. For the rest of the squad, it’s an invitation.
With a home Euros still a realistic target if the campaign stays on track, this is the kind of night that can change careers.
The problem? The options are thinning out.
Since the original squad was named, Harvey Vale and Jamie McGrath have both withdrawn through injury. Two more creative sparks gone. Two more combinations off the table. The choices narrow, and the spotlight swings towards the two men who now look almost undroppable.
Jason Knight and Jayson Molumby.
Knight is as close as Ireland have to a second midfield regular under Hallgrimsson. He has started eight of the 15 competitive fixtures in this era, and he arrives in camp with a healthy rhythm. At Bristol City he has been ever-present in the Championship, starting all eight league games plus a League Cup tie against Walsall, helping the Robins into eighth place. He’s busy, aggressive, and in form.
Molumby, too, has been heavily used. The West Brom midfielder has featured in all 10 of their matches this season, starting seven. Under Hallgrimsson, he has also started seven competitive games, a sign of the manager’s trust in his energy and bite.
On paper, those two feel nailed on. In reality, there is a quirk: since Hallgrimsson took over, Knight and Molumby have started together only once, at home to Greece. Systems, opponents, and injuries have all played their part. This time, the manager’s hands are more or less tied. It would be a major surprise to see an Irish XI without both names inked in.
The real intrigue lies around them.
Who joins them in midfield? Who links with or plays off Parrott up top? Does Hallgrimsson stick with a back four or drag Ireland back into the era of two marauding wing-backs in a back five?
Conor Coventry has pushed himself to the front of the queue. If Knight is shunted to the right, Coventry’s neatness and discipline in the centre make sense. He started the recent friendlies against Grenada and Canada, and he has been trusted at Charlton, starting seven of their eight league games plus a League Cup tie at Cheltenham. He knows the role. He knows the tempo.
Then there’s Finn Azaz, another player Hallgrimsson has leaned on consistently over the last 18 months, especially since the Nations League play-off clashes with Bulgaria. The Southampton man brings craft and a goal threat. He could sit in the pocket behind Parrott, threading passes and arriving late, or drift wider with someone like Chiedozie Ogbene or Adam Idah pushed closer to goal.
That choice will say a lot about Hallgrimsson’s intent. Control the game, or stretch it?
Lurking in the conversation is Jack Moylan, the form forward who has made an immediate impression at Cardiff. Four goals already this season, including a brace against Charlton last weekend, have forced his name into every selection debate. He looks comfortable in the blue shirt, confident, sharp.
On the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, Keith Treacy didn’t hesitate.
“I’d love to see Moylan up with Parrott,” he said. “The way he played for Cardiff on the weekend was outstanding. He scored two goals, had an assist, he could have had another two assists.
“He was unbelievable, the way he came off the front line and kept picking up those pockets – dictating play. We want to see an awful lot more of that from Jack Moylan.
“When there’s no Evan Ferguson, Parrott and Moylan look really good.”
That’s the temptation: Parrott as the spearhead, Moylan buzzing around him, Knight and Molumby driving the engine room, and a technician like Azaz or Coventry giving structure behind it all.
There are other names on the squad list, but they come with caveats.
Bosun Lawal is officially listed as a midfielder by the FAI and has played there for his club, but he is equally at home in defence. Right now, his body is not fully on board. He hasn’t featured in Stoke City’s last three matches since coming off holding his hamstring in a 4-0 win over Charlton earlier this month. Throwing him in on Thursday would be a major gamble. It almost certainly comes too soon.
Killian Phillips finds himself in a similar position. The St Mirren man only returned at the weekend, in a 3-0 defeat to Dundee United, after a month out with a shin problem. To go from that straight into a high-stakes international midfield battle would be a huge leap.
So Hallgrimsson’s “options” in the middle are not as plentiful as a squad list might suggest. The core is clear. The permutations are fewer than he might like.
Yet this is where managers earn their reputations. Strip away Cullen, remove Vale and McGrath, and what’s left is a chance to reshape the team’s personality. Does he double down on industry with Knight and Molumby and add stability in Coventry? Or does he lean into the spark of Azaz and Moylan, trusting Parrott to knit it all together in the final third?
The answers he chooses on Thursday night will tell Ireland plenty about how he plans to chase those home Euros – and who he really trusts to carry them there.
