Hallgrimsson will not confuse players with new system

ALTHOUGH REGGAE Boyz new Icelandic coach, Heimir Hallgrimsson, already has an idea of what his starting 11 for Tuesday’s friendly international against Argentina in the United States will be, he will still rely on the knowledge of his local staff in order to put together the best team possible for the match.

Only two weeks into the job, Hallgrimsson’s main focus has been assessing the players selected for the friendly international.

Before departing the island with the local contingent yesterday, Hallgrimsson told The Sunday Gleaner he has spent most of his time thus far familiarising himself with the players, but that two weeks is not enough time fully assess each player and he will lean on the advice of local staff for his first game in charge.

“That (assessing players) is the purpose for me because it (game) comes very quickly. I haven’t really got to know everything and everyone.

“So the purpose is to get to know the people, get to know the players, get to know the general way of how you do things,” said Hallgrimsson.

The 55-year-old will only have today and Monday to work with the players and implement his plans for Tuesday’s encounter against the South American giants.

As a result, most of his time has been consumed with assessment through club matches and videos in order to come up with the right system and strategy for the match.

“I have only been 10 days in the job and this has been my time, looking at all matches of the players, just to get to know how they are playing at their clubs and it takes a lot of time to look at one player for maybe two, three matches and his actions during a game.

“A week, two weeks for a coach is no time. So that has been most of my time, looking at most of the players we have selected,” he disclosed.

He also stressed that with so little time before the game and with his limited knowledge of the players, it’s important not to overburden them with too much information.

“We will pick the system based on the players that we have. For this game we will probably use what they have done before, that is most effective because it is difficult to change a lot of things when you play a strong opponent.

“So it is not a lot of options that I have to put in my philosophy. We have two trainings, two meetings. So I have to be careful not to confuse the players,” he cautioned.

However, despite the short time he has had to assess things and prepare for the game, he already has the players he wants to start in mind.

“Yes, I have an idea (of starting team) but I have to re-evaluate and talk to the guys (local staff) that know the players better than me. But I have an idea,” he stated.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com