Heimir Hallgrímsson leaned into a critical analysis of the second-half performance by the Republic of Ireland despite a valuable 2-1 win over Bulgaria in the Nations League play-off first-leg.
“We showed real character coming back and scoring two goals,” said Hallgrímsson of the headers by Finn Azaz and Matt Doherty at the Botev Stadium in Plovdiv.
“Thinking back to the goals, there were mistakes defensively, but I thought both our goals were really well done. Good deep runs into spaces, good crosses, good deliveries.
“I don’t think we have to change many things but we have to be less passive, as we were in the second half. We gave Bulgaria the initiative which we should not have done. We need to fix that and improve for Sunday.
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“Maybe because we were winning, we have not done much of that and it made us a little more passive than we should be. We need to correct that.”
Azaz was named man of the match for a performance that was similar to how he has been playing week in, week out for Middlesbrough in the English Championship, but when asked to name one Irish player the head coach could not look past Doherty’s contribution.
“It was a good collective performance today. No one special but I would say that Matt Doherty had a really good game - he scored with a fantastic run from deep to get in behind them. He was brave to go for the header.
“And he had a big part in the first goal. Quick thinking to send that diagonal over to Robbie Brady for the cross.
“Sometimes the scorer gets the biggest praise but it was Matt’s 49th cap. Hopefully he gets a 50th back home in Ireland.
“But it was the collective with many good performances. Even the five players that came in showed they can play a part in this team.”
Doherty’s turnaround at 33-years-old is remarkable simply because Hallgrímsson left him out of the Ireland squad last October to give younger players like Festy Ebosele an opportunity.
“We always wanted more options and all of a sudden we have three players playing regularly in that position. It is a young squad so it is important to have a blend of experienced players.”
On the injury time foul on Evan Ferguson by Mikolay Minkov, Hallgrímsson gave the Bulgarian defender the benefit of the doubt on a slippery pitch.
“It could have been accidental.”
