Soccer

Ireland need to identify way to trouble England after limited showing in France

Eileen Gleeson has some tricky decisions to make before Tuesday’s crucial match at the Aviva Stadium

Proof that Ireland's Kyra Carusa was not, in fact, 'invisible' against France last Friday. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Proof that Ireland's Kyra Carusa was not, in fact, 'invisible' against France last Friday. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Mary Hannigan
Mon Apr 08 2024 - 06:00

Considering she hasn’t been at the Republic of Ireland helm since August of last year, Vera Pauw might have been a touch bemused to see L’Équipe giving her four out of 10 in their manager ratings following Friday’s game in Metz. The mark was, of course, intended for Eileen Gleeson, whose efforts to put her own stamp on the job since succeeding the Dutch woman have, evidently, gone unnoticed by the sports paper.

L’Équipe’s ratings are the stuff of legend, relentlessly merciless, as the “invisible” Kyra Carusa will attest after being given the lowest mark of all, a two, after the opening game of Ireland’s Euro 2025 qualifying campaign. But the highest they awarded any of the home team was a six, their conclusion that the French “were far too clumsy against very limited Irish women”.

Need it be said, Gleeson’s assessment of her players was somewhat kinder. “We knew it was going to be tough and it was tough, but I feel like the girls gave a good performance,” she said.

The stark stats, though, show that France had 21 attempts on goal to Ireland’s one, and while there was admirable defensive resilience in keeping the French scoreless for the last 84 minutes of the game, the hosts’ failure to be clinical in the last third added some glisten to that effort. And for all the talk of a more progressive Ireland since Pauw’s departure, there was an ‘as you were’ feel to the failure to cause the French any great trouble.

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So how does Gleeson approach Tuesday night’s game against England at the Aviva Stadium? Considering they’re the reigning European champions and are ranked second in the world, you’d imagine the instinct would be to go with a similarly cautious formation, but in front of a – hopefully – big home crowd, there will be an expectation that Ireland show much more adventure than they did in Metz.

Gleeson took her fair share of risks in her choice of personnel for that game, giving Anna Patten her debut and Aoife Mannion and Emily Murphy their first competitive starts for Ireland. Before being switched to the right for the second half, Mannion was at left wing back, admitting later it was the first time she had played in that position. Murphy, meanwhile, looked lost on the right side of midfield and was taken off at half-time.

There is, then, likely to be some tweaking for a game England now see as a must-win after they dropped points to Sweden at Wembley. Jess Ziu could feature after a hamstring issue ruled her out on Friday, while Heather Payne’s fitness will need to be tested after she was forced off after an hour. And Megan Campbell will hope to have done enough when she came on for the second half to claim the spot on the left of the defence.

Whatever line-up Gleeson chooses, she’ll trust that her players prove to be much more than “very limited Irish women”.

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan

Mary Hannigan is a sports writer with The Irish Times