EILEEN GLEESON SAYS Ireland must adapt to Katie McCabe’s gruelling trip to Australia with Arsenal just days out from the Euro 2025 qualifying double-header against Sweden.
McCabe is in Melbourne for a post-season friendly, meaning a 35,000km round-trip ahead of next Friday’s game against Sweden at the Aviva Stadium.
Her Arsenal side face an A-League Allstars selection at Marvel Stadium this Friday. The WSL season finished last weekend.
Gleeson previously said it was “far from ideal” and “a real challenge for the player and for us”.
Speaking at her squad announcement press conference this morning, the Irish manager outlined detailed plans for recovery and sleep strategy.
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While the Ireland squad will link up in Dublin on Sunday, McCabe is due to fly into London the same day so will be afforded time off before joining her international team-mates on Tuesday.
“Katie travelled to Australia with the Arsenal squad on Sunday,” Gleeson told the media at her squad announcement press conference.
“She’s in good form, she’s fit, she’s rested. We knew this trip was coming, so we’ve been planning and there’s been a lot of communication with the club around recovery and sleep strategies for when she returns. We’ve brought in sleep experts and worked with Arsenal on that.
“We’ve been planning for it for a long time. We’ve all spoken about the timing of it before.
“She’s our captain, she’s a hugely important player as we know but we have to manage these situations. They’re out of our operational control. We can’t stop it so we have to adapt to it and work with the club, and look to keep Katie safe and have her ready for the game then.”
Katie McCabe on the ball for Arsenal. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Asked if the scheduling and timing is something Uefa, Fifa or players’ association, FifPro, could look at, Gleeson continued:
“It’s a talking point. Player scheduling, game scheduling is a huge talking point — FifPro, Uefa, Fifa. Calendar clashes, calendar loading. All of those topics are always being discussed.
“Will it come up? It probably will at a lot of those discussions. For us, we have to keep the focus on the game and we have to manage the situation and make sure that we can have Katie well rested, well recovered and have her ready for us for the Aviva.”
The return qualifier is in the Friends Arena in Stockholm four days later, on Tuesday 4 June.
Ireland then face England at Norwich’s Carrow Road and host France in July.
SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh has been granted approval by the GAA’s Central Council to host the France game on 12 July. It’s yet to be fully confirmed as the FAI await the green light from Uefa.
Terraces cannot be used, as per Uefa regulations, so capacity would be 21,000 with the two stands. Gleeson says it would be “brilliant” to head to Leeside.
“For the moment, we’re focusing on this camp. We know obviously that Tallaght and the Aviva are not available for the July window. Páirc Uí Chaoimh is one of the strong contenders.
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“We’ll wait for confirmation on it but it’s a great stadium, we’ll be happy to engage all the Munster fans and get everybody out there supporting. Once it’s confirmed — or if it’s confirmed — we’ll be able to chat further.
“We know we have a strong following from the Munster area. Like I said, if it’s confirmed that we are in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, we’ll be delighted to be there.”
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'We can't stop it so we have to adapt to it' - Gleeson on McCabe's Australia trip pre-Sweden
EILEEN GLEESON SAYS Ireland must adapt to Katie McCabe’s gruelling trip to Australia with Arsenal just days out from the Euro 2025 qualifying double-header against Sweden.
McCabe is in Melbourne for a post-season friendly, meaning a 35,000km round-trip ahead of next Friday’s game against Sweden at the Aviva Stadium.
Her Arsenal side face an A-League Allstars selection at Marvel Stadium this Friday. The WSL season finished last weekend.
Gleeson previously said it was “far from ideal” and “a real challenge for the player and for us”.
Speaking at her squad announcement press conference this morning, the Irish manager outlined detailed plans for recovery and sleep strategy.
While the Ireland squad will link up in Dublin on Sunday, McCabe is due to fly into London the same day so will be afforded time off before joining her international team-mates on Tuesday.
“Katie travelled to Australia with the Arsenal squad on Sunday,” Gleeson told the media at her squad announcement press conference.
“She’s in good form, she’s fit, she’s rested. We knew this trip was coming, so we’ve been planning and there’s been a lot of communication with the club around recovery and sleep strategies for when she returns. We’ve brought in sleep experts and worked with Arsenal on that.
“We’ve been planning for it for a long time. We’ve all spoken about the timing of it before.
“She’s our captain, she’s a hugely important player as we know but we have to manage these situations. They’re out of our operational control. We can’t stop it so we have to adapt to it and work with the club, and look to keep Katie safe and have her ready for the game then.”
Asked if the scheduling and timing is something Uefa, Fifa or players’ association, FifPro, could look at, Gleeson continued:
“It’s a talking point. Player scheduling, game scheduling is a huge talking point — FifPro, Uefa, Fifa. Calendar clashes, calendar loading. All of those topics are always being discussed.
“Will it come up? It probably will at a lot of those discussions. For us, we have to keep the focus on the game and we have to manage the situation and make sure that we can have Katie well rested, well recovered and have her ready for us for the Aviva.”
The return qualifier is in the Friends Arena in Stockholm four days later, on Tuesday 4 June.
Ireland then face England at Norwich’s Carrow Road and host France in July.
SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh has been granted approval by the GAA’s Central Council to host the France game on 12 July. It’s yet to be fully confirmed as the FAI await the green light from Uefa.
Terraces cannot be used, as per Uefa regulations, so capacity would be 21,000 with the two stands. Gleeson says it would be “brilliant” to head to Leeside.
“For the moment, we’re focusing on this camp. We know obviously that Tallaght and the Aviva are not available for the July window. Páirc Uí Chaoimh is one of the strong contenders.
“We’ll wait for confirmation on it but it’s a great stadium, we’ll be happy to engage all the Munster fans and get everybody out there supporting. Once it’s confirmed — or if it’s confirmed — we’ll be able to chat further.
“We know we have a strong following from the Munster area. Like I said, if it’s confirmed that we are in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, we’ll be delighted to be there.”
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Eileen Gleeson plans WNT