Honest Heimir Hallgrimsson cannot excuse under-par performance

Heimir Hallgrimsson made no excuses as he admitted that his side were second best againt England in tonight's UEFA Nations League defeat.

A baptism of fire for the new Ireland manager as his team were comprehensively beaten by Lee Carsley's charges at a packed Aviva Stadium.

Goals from Ireland old boys Declan Rice and Jack Grealish proved the difference between the sides as England came flying out of the blocks to effectively end the contest in the 26th minute as Grealish added the second.

It was cruise control for England after that, and while Ireland put in a much better second half performance, there was a sense that the group favourites were already working their way down through the gears.

"We have to admit that we were second best in this game," said Hallgrimsson, speaking at the post match press conference. "By far," he added for emphasis.

And the new manager was honest and frank as he quickly appraised the disappointing performance, especially in the first half when England really showed the gulf in class between the two sides.

"It was a lot of things. First and foremost, I think it was a [lack of] confidence, decision making and the lack of initiative. That was the biggest difference apart from individual qualities.

"But when you are defending in a collective way, you need to take decisions and believe in action and reaction.

"We were not good at this, compared to an England from a good Euros and Euros 2; they have belief that their actions will always be successful. They know each other quite well.

"We were always hesitant, especially in the defence, jumping, pressing etc. It was individual actions instead of a collective."

Hallgrimsson will welcome the quick turnaround as his side go up against Greece on Tuesday night,