Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Heimir Hallgrimsson.Ryan Byrne/INPHO FreeReaction 'We are not happy with this performance' - Hallgrimsson concerned by Ireland's inconsistency The Irish boss said his players did not replicate their effort levels from Friday’s draw with Senegal. 10.06pm, 10 Jun 2025 Share options HEIMIR HALLGRIMSSON DID not sugar-coat Ireland’s performance after they were held to a 0-0 draw away to Luxembourg, saying his side did not match the effort they put in against Senegal in Dublin last Friday. “Let’s be honest, we are not happy with this performance”, the Irish manager told RTE. “It’s good to keep a clean sheet but we felt first half we were sloppy, the game was boring, all the good things we did against Senegal was missing: all the quick movements, the press, the ball speed. “In the second half we had more tempo, we won more duels, but it was not good enough. We like getting answers to questions but this was a negative one.” Advertisement Ireland will begin World Cup qualifying in September with a home game against second seeds Hungary before travelling to play bottom-ranked Armenia, and Hallgrimsson put the difference in Ireland’s performance levels in that context. “This is something we must learn from, we must play the same way against everyone, whether it’s a friendly at the end of the season or a group stage game, we need to play the same way all the time. “This can teach us a lesson. It is understandable players are thinking, ‘after this game we have a break for a long time’, and there were a few injuries from fatigue, and maybe they were a little bit careful as they don’t want to be injured at the end of the season. “Even if we had won the game we would not have been happy with the performance.” Asked by RTÉ to acknowledge the positives, including debutant goalkeeper Max O’Leary’s clean sheet, Hallgrimsson quickly veered back to the negative side. “We can always find something positive and we will do that, first and foremost, the effort we put into this game was so much less than against Senegal.” Midfielder Jason Knight said there was much for Ireland to improve. “Obviously it wasn’t the most comprehensive performance by any means”, said Knight. “Loads to work on out there. But a lot of change, a lot of new lads into the squad. I think there’s definitely things to improve, definitely from tonight. But overall a decent camp and now everyone’s looking forward to September. “We had the chances. And we limited them to very few. Obviously on another day we probably scored two or three, but that’s what we’ve got to improve. But like I say, loads to improve on, but loads of good stuff as well.” Gavin Cooney View 6 comments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “'We are not happy with this performance' - Hallgrimsson concerned by Ireland's inconsistency”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “'We are not happy with this performance' - Hallgrimsson concerned by Ireland's inconsistency”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy before taking part. 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Leave a commentcancel Access to the comments facility has been disabled for this user View our policy ⚠️ Duplicate comment Post Comment have your say Or create a free account to join the discussion Heimir Hallgrímsson Republic Of Ireland News in 60 seconds Senegal stun England to put Thomas Tuchel under immediate pressure 37 mins ago Freetaxing spectacle Ireland round out the season with dreary draw away to Luxembourg drawing conclusions A game soon forgotten but it does pose the question: just what do we want from Ireland? 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