AND SO, IRELAND continue to trudge through their Euro 2025 qualifying Group of Death.
Eileen Gleeson’s side welcome Sweden to the Aviva Stadium this evening [KO 7.30pm, live on RTÉ 2] as they look to get off the mark.
They fell to narrow defeats to France (1-0) and England (0-2) in April, while the Swedes lost to Les Bleus on the same scoreline and drew 1-1 with England.
First, a reminder of the disparity. England, France and Sweden are second, third and sixth in the Fifa world rankings; Ireland are 25th. England are the reigning European champions and World Cup finalists. Sweden are the Olympic runners-up and World Cup bronze medallists. Ireland’s group counterparts make up three of the four Euro 2022 semi-finalists, while they have never qualified for the finals tournament.
They’re hoping to end that hoodoo in this campaign. Automatic qualification already appears out of reach, with the top two teams in every group booking their tickets to Switzerland 2025, but Ireland are guaranteed a play-off spot.
Gleeson insists they aren’t really thinking about that: all eyes are on Sweden, who they also face in Stockholm on Tuesday, before the return ties against France and England in July.
At yesterday’s pre-match press conference, the manager spoke about being “passive” at times against France and England, particularly in the first half against the Lionesses. They were 2-0 down inside 30 minutes, and could have been in a larger deficit.
“As a team, we want to be assertive and aggressive,” she said.
“It is that balancing act: are you going to go full tilt and chase from the start, are you going to stay in the game as long?
“It’s getting that direct pressure on and when to have that on. We pushed the line a little bit higher to engage on the press in the second half against England. The highest risk chances for both France and England are when we push out, and Courtney [Brosnan] has to make a worldie save that’s happened on a break.
“Overall whether we were in the low block, like the first half against England, we could have got closer to the ball at more points. Where’s your line of engagement? When are you going to go after the ball? When are you going to allow them have it? When are you going to drop? It’s making those decisions but I think the girls are ready, physically and mentally, to do that. It’s just choosing the moment.”
Caitlin Hayes, who is all but certain to start as one of three centre-halves, sat beside Gleeson at their Castleknock base. She’ll likely be joined by Louise Quinn and Anna Patten in the three, with Katie McCabe and Aoife Mannion used as Gleeson’s preferred wing-backs in the qualifiers to date. Heather Payne and Niamh Fahey are both out injured.
Gleeson could deploy Izzy Atkinson or Megan Campbell on the left to allow McCabe to push higher, while Denise O’Sullivan is a major injury doubt and likely to be a big loss in midfield. Megan Connolly should be an anchor, with Ruesha Littlejohn, Jess Ziu, Jessie Stapleton, Tyler Toland and Lily Agg among other options.
Kyra Carusa has generally been the focal point up top, and while the in-form Leanne Kiernan would offer a spark playing off her, Gleeson’s XIs are tricky to predict.
No matter who she goes with, striking a balance between being passive and aggressive — defensive and attacking — will be crucial if Ireland are to secure a similar result to the famous 1-1 draw in Gothenburg two years ago.
“It’s not just the football side, it’s also the mental side in terms of becoming the hunted at the right time and the hunters,” Hayes said.
“If you’re in a low block you wait for your opportunity and you maybe wait for a Swedish mistake, pick it off as a pack and move forward together. Ultimately, everything is done together, whether we’re in a low block or going for them high, that’s the main thing, that we do that together.
“I think the last couple of games we’ve maybe not been cohesive in terms of the way we’ve decided to go forward or to retreat back. I definitely think there’ll be improvements to be made. It’s recognising sooner when it is our time to jump or hunt.”
One proven way of doing so is through Campbell’s long-throws. Her load is carefully managed due to her injury history, and although the Championship season ended in late April, she’s more likely to win her 50th cap off the bench.
“We know the throw is a threat but you have to think of the whole game and not one element,” Gleeson said yesterday.
Sweden manager Peter Gerhardsson acknowledged the same in his media duties.
“You never know if she starts or then comes in. If you’re 1-0 up, maybe they bring her on. It’s not unusual, Iceland also have a player like that and they equalised against us with a long throw.”
While without his star striker Stina Blackstenius through injury, Gerhardsson also had a word for her clubmate Katie McCabe. “I would say that McCabe is one of my favourite players because she is typical for the way to play. She’s one of the best players in Arsenal and she plays with passion, she plays with strength, she plays with good technique.
“What I like also is she is a little bit of a winner. You can say angry, but I like it. She couldn’t be in my team so we have to handle that.”
Ireland trudge on, Gleeson unwilling to nail her colours to the mast with a minimum points target for this double-header against the Swedes.
“What we always talk about is qualification for Euro 2025. Right now we are focusing on the games in the qualifiers, but we understand the importance of the points, we understand the importance of every single goal conceded, every single goal scored in terms of being seeded in the play-off, if it comes to that.
“Obviously we want points, we want to win the games. If that isn’t the outcome, how do we still use that outcome to get us to the next point and the next step towards Euro 2025 qualification?”
