HEIMIR Hallgrimsson needs to adapt his tactics in order to ensure Evan Ferguson isn’t ‘feeding off crumbs’ in future Ireland games.
That’s the view of John Aldridge who spoke for many when outlining his hope that Ferguson finally getting back on the scoresheet versus Finland might spark an upturn in his fortunes in the green jersey.
Speaking to NetBet Sports Betting, he said: “Evan Ferguson’s goal against Finland last week will definitely help him.
“I feel like people were beginning to point fingers at him a little bit and it definitely knocks your confidence.
“You could tell he was waiting for a goal to come.
“When it does come, it’s the football equivalent of seeing a counsellor – it really gets the weight off your shoulders and things suddenly look a lot brighter.
“That being said, I think against England he was feeding off crumbs.
“Heimir Hallgrímsson’s gameplan probably didn’t prioritise getting the ball to him that frequently.
“They needed a free kick or something for him to get on the end of, but that didn’t happen at all.
“He’s just got to forget about the England game and look forward to getting back with his Brighton setup with an international break goal under his belt.
“Hopefully in the future Ireland can develop more of a game plan to get him involved more frequently.
“He’s only getting one or two opportunities to score every international game – realistically you need three or four at this level.
“You need to have the players around you to create as well so you can just focus on putting the ball in the back of the net – I’m not really seeing that from Ireland at the moment.”
It was very telling that Ferguson himself openly acknowledged his chances of netting tend to be few and far between when lining out for his country.
Following Thursday’s narrow 1-0 win at the Aviva Stadium the 20-year-old remarked to Virgin Media: “The chances come very thin with Ireland so you sort of have to work for them a lot.
“And when it comes you have to take them.”
Sunday’s trip to Wembley was always going to be an uphill task in terms of creating opportunities but especially so once Ireland were reduced to 10 men around the 50-minute mark.
But this Nations League campaign has been a moderate success as beating a comparable team in Finland home and away ensures they will have a chance at avoiding the drop in March.
Friday’s UEFA draw will see Ireland find out which of Armenia, Bulgaria, Kosovo or Slovakia will await them in March’s two-legged promotion-relegation play-off for League B.
Ireland faced off against three of the League C teams during Stephen Kenny’s reign.
Slovakia, who beat them in a Euro 2020 play-off, are the biggest threat to Hallgrímsson’s side as they are ranked 22 places higher in 41st.
Armenia beat Kenny’s men in Yerevan in the 2022 Nations League before a late Robbie Brady goal sealed a 3-2 victory at the Aviva Stadium.
Meanwhile Bulgaria played Ireland in the Nations League in 2020 — Kenny’s first game in charge — in a clash that ended 1-1, with the return in Dublin a scoreless draw.
The Boys in Green have never played Kosovo.
