Michael O’Neill will enter his third year as Northern Ireland’s manager in late 2024, and although he has not been hugely impressive so far, the upcoming UEFA Nations League campaign could see narratives quickly change.
The Armagh-born legend of Northern Irish football has played for and managed various clubs in the past, but being in charge of his nation is certainly the biggest task he has ever taken on.
Here we will look at how the nation has fared under his guidance so far, as well as previewing the upcoming Nations League campaign, which presents a huge opportunity to improve his managerial legacy.
O’Neill’s tenure so far
O’Neill became the Northern Ireland manager in December 2022 shortly after he was sacked by Stoke City due to a poor start to the 2022/23 Championship season.
In hindsight, his forced departure from the English club was perhaps harsh, as they have not significantly improved since he left. The Championship odds for the current season suggest they could even face the drop offered at 9/1, with the football betting tips predicting their inconsistency to continue throughout 24/25.
Perhaps Stoke should have had more faith in O’Neill, considering they haven’t turned a corner in his absence. Although Stoke likely does not regret how it turned out, since it allowed him to return to leading his nation from the dugout.
O’Neill’s first task for his nation was to take charge of their UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign, which started in March 2023. Over the course of the 10 fixtures, he coached the team to three wins and seven losses, including a historic final match day win over Denmark.
The nation had hoped for a stronger point haul overall, although O’Neill’s team showed promise in their opening qualifying campaign and ultimately improved on the two wins they recorded in 2022.
Michael O'Neill reflects on our campaign finisher 🙌 #GAWA pic.twitter.com/I1rI6FFsxf
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIreland) November 21, 2023
Up to now, the team has not built on that level of potential that they showed in 2023. Narrow friendly wins against Scotland and Andorra in 2024 were positive, although the lack of control the team has had when facing strong opposition has ensured fans are not all in on O’Neill’s style just yet.
However, the Nations League campaign of 2024 could be where O’Neill’s team finally instils dominance into their play, as they have been handed ties against three teams that they should certainly get the better of.
Nations League could welcome a new style for O’Neill’s team
If O’Neill is to be a long-term success at the helm for his nation, then his team will have to make a habit of convincingly beating nations ranked below them in the rankings.
The 2024 Nations League draw has offered him a huge opportunity to send his team out to fully express themselves and potentially dominate fixtures.
Northern Ireland will face Luxembourg, Belarus, and Bulgaria in home and away fixtures, and all three are ranked below the nation’s 72nd position in the FIFA world rankings.
The UEFA Nations League draw is complete. League B sure looks like it’ll be a whole lot of fun. pic.twitter.com/1at5S8v8pJ
— We Global Football (@We_Global) February 8, 2024
O’Neill’s side should be expected to have superior possession in their home fixtures, and for their control of proceedings to be reflected on the scoreline in each.
In the away ties, avoiding defeat throughout would be impressive. It would help O’Neill to get the fans on his side by encouraging his players to compete for possession more aggressively in tricky away ties. Fixtures against Spain and Scotland last year saw the team have significantly less than 25% of the ball.
Ultimately, O’Neill is in his dream managerial job, although he still has work to do to prove it should remain his for the foreseeable future. In the upcoming Nations League campaign, he needs to deliver positive results and a positive style of football, and he has the experience and fixture schedule to do just that.
