Having lost a host of experienced players since returning to the job, Michael O'Neill is trying to build a side for both the present and future.
"Will they have careers like Steven Davis has had? Like Jonny Evans has had? Or Aaron Hughes has had? Who knows?"
What makes their recent results all the more impressive is how many eligible players are already senior, and seasoned, internationals. "They listen to start with. For how long, we'll see," joked O'Neill when asked what were the biggest plusses of working with such a young group.This youth movement, however, has not necessarily been wholly by design. When O'Neill returned to the post at the end of 2022, he envisaged relying upon a core of the side who had helped him enjoy such a fruitful spell first time around.
That quartet alone accounted for 382 international caps as well as the vast majority of the squad's Premier League experience."If you go back to January 2023, I was in a situation coming into a game in March where I hoped Davis would be available, I hoped Dallas would be available, Corry Evans, Jonny, Cathcart, Shane Ferguson.
When asked the key to ensuring a promising international career turns into a long one, he returned to one of his recurring themes - at what level and how regularly his squad are playing their club football. With O'Neill looking to become just the second manager to lead Northern Ireland to a second major tournament, he sees a "developing side", one already "very good without the ball" and showing a desire "to improve together" before qualification campaigns for the 2026 World Cup and Euro 2028.
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