Blues forward Sammie Szmodics felt he and his Republic of Ireland teammates showed England too much respect in the first half of their 2-0 UEFA Nations League defeat at the Aviva Stadium.

Szmodics was one of three Town players starting for Ireland alongside Chiedozie Ogbene and Dara O’Shea.

“At half-time the manager [Heimir Hallgrímsson] said to us that we need to press high and get up the pitch more. He said before the game that it was important for us not to show them too much respect but in the first half we did just that,” the former Blackburn man said.

“But in the second half we got after them and we got up the pitch more. We started to win first and second balls; we forced them to go long a lot more.

“The fact is that the manager wants us to be positive. We have not had much time with him and while certain things gelled today, more of that will come when we have more time on the grass with him.

“We know now that if you give these guys half a yard, they will punish you. They are a passing team, they keep the ball moving, and their rotations are effective. We were bamboozled for the second goal, their sequence of one/twos.”

The 28-year-old felt he ought to have made more of his second-half opportunity when fellow Town man Chiedozie Ogbene cut the ball back to him from the right, while he accepted he was among those at fault for one of England’s goals.

“I should have done better with my shot,” he reflected. “It was a cutback pass. I like going into the box and then coming back out to the cutback area. The least I should have done was hit the target. A player of my quality should hit the target.

“Then for the Jack Grealish goal, I didn’t stay with my man. So it wasn’t anything tactical. We just have to move forward because, to be fair, the new manager has been brilliant with us and had made it very clear what he wants.

“This result is very tough to take now but we have two days to recover and then we have to go into the Greece game with the need to get a win.”

Szmodics paid tribute to the Irish fans: “The support today was unbelievable. It was the loudest stadium I have ever played in. They really backed us, the fans. They were applauding tackles, even fouls. We managed to get them onside early. We have a couple of days to put it right.

“England are a good team but so are we. We have to play with more belief. We are a good team. And we are an honest team. No one will work harder than us and that is a guarantee and on the ball we have to get a bit better and get used to how this manager wants to play.

“Now it is all about sticking together and putting it right Tuesday. The big lesson from today is that you can’t give away two goals like that to a world class team.”

Photo: Andrew Surma/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

oldelsworthyfan added 09:40 - Sep 8 He takes responsibility and has high expectations for his own performance. I like this guy.
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victorysquad added 10:01 - Sep 8 Irelands 2nd half performance was much better, but for them to win games like this (same for us in the Premier League) it takes laser focus concentration for 90+ mins, backed up with a good game plan, no mistakes, and clinical finishing. I thought the town players were the better performers, but to be have any chance of winning, they all had to make more of an impact on the game, that in reality mean't both Sam, Ogbene and O'Shea (scoring from a corner). That is what we are going to need from them this season. The Premier League is a brutal league, and our success will be measured on whether we can step up to these stupidly high levels. We are going to have to leave each game having achieved those high levels, not talking about what should have been. Sounds harsh, but that is the reality. That has to start next weekend away to Brighton, a very very good side, but one that has had the rub of the green so far. We need to go there and take 3 points from them, that will be a statement.

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LimerickTractorBoy added 10:04 - Sep 8 I like him too but he's talking shyte here, Ireland totally outclassed, chasing shadows, embarrassing . Sammie should have hit the target with the 2nd half chance, glaring miss.
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DinnernotTea added 10:10 - Sep 8 The atmosphere by the Irish was terrible. Strange comment.
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tractorboybig added 11:14 - Sep 8 mate your team were totally outclassed, hope you play better for us
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SpiritOfJohn added 11:34 - Sep 8 The game changed when Seamus Coleman went off and Gordon found that he couldn't outpace Ogbene. That gave Ireland a chance to press higher up the pitch without being exposed on the counter. Unfortunately for Ireland they won't score many, until they can find a centre forward from somewhere, Idah isn't good enough.
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TimmyH added 12:40 - Sep 8 Our boys did okay...Ogbene had one or two half opportunities but hung on to the ball that second to long not knowing whether to run at the defender or find a clinical pass or cross. As others mentioned you have to be 100% concentrated...thought at first Ireland tried to press England (which wouldn't have worked and didn't) but should have parked the buss more and catch them on the break as per Slovenia and Slovakia.

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BlueWax added 12:41 - Sep 8 I made more noise than the Irish fans chomping on my dinner (or tea)! Can't see how that atmosphere was better than last sat v Fulham SS
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 14:55 - Sep 8 Hard to judge on tv, but I too thought that after initially being pretty loud, the Irish fans went rather quiet as the odds began to pile up against them. That to me is symptomatic of much of the support in the UK (and evidently Ireland too): we tend to only sing when we're winning. On the continent, in my experience, the support is more often continuous, irrespective of what the current result is on the pitch. We could do better (not referring to ITFC specifically as our support has been great of late - but let's see what happens if we hit a bad patch).

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