“THE MANDATE IS to grow; the aim is to qualify”, is how Vera Pauw neatly sums up her job description as the new manager of the Irish women’s team. 

The room for growth in Ireland was shown during the summer amid the huge public interest in the women’s World Cup, only for it to suffer a blow in the middle of the tournament when Colin Bell left the FAI with little warning to take a coaching role with the Huddersfield men’s team. 

Ireland have never qualified for a major tournament, but after the players’ strike, they were heading in the right direction under Bell, who cut his coaching teeth alongside Jurgen Klopp at Mainz.

In World Cup qualifying for example, an injury-ravaged Ireland battled to a point away to a Dutch side that would go on to reach the final of this summer’s tournament. 

Bell left, however, and Tom O’Connor took temporary charge of the Rose Bowl friendly with the United States and the opening Euro 2021 qualifier with Montenegro. Among those watching on at that opening 2-0 win in Tallaght was Vera Pauw, who was unveiled as Bell’s permanent successor the following day. 

She named her squad yesterday for the next qualifier with Ukraine at Tallaght on 8 October, in the first of what are essentially two jousts for second place in the group behind Germany. The three best-ranked runners-up qualify automatically for the tournament in England, with the other six to scrap it out in the play-offs. 

Pauw is highly experienced and has coached her native Netherlands along with Scotland, Russia, and South Africa. She is also fiercely pragmatic and realises that if women’s football is to grow in Ireland, her side has to win.

“Qualification is crucial. Any country that has qualified for a major finals has seen the development of the game jump ahead.

“There is more money involved then, so it is crucial your national team qualifies for finals. We will do everything to get there. We have to get there.

“The [FAI] management did not put that as a mandate. The aim is to qualify, the mandate is to grow. It is key to qualify, but you cannot put a mandate on that with a team that has never qualified.

“That does not come from me, that comes from them. That doesn’t mean there will be less emphasis on qualifying, the only thing that counts is qualifying and we will do everything in our power to get there.” 

Her pragmatism extends to her style of play. She is not wedded to a fixed ideology or style; if you don’t like her principles of play, well, there are others. 

“I know people think there is a Dutch way. That doesn’t exist”, says Pauw. Instead, her tactics and approach will be moulded to suit the players at her disposal. ”

“People talk about the Dutch way of playing, but we did not play in that Dutch way when I coached in Holland. Those players had different talents.

“We played in an opportunistic way – with a deep block, finding the striker, going forward and covering the half of the opponent while doing that.

We got a lot of criticism doing that, but that is what the players were good at, and we reached the semi-finals of the European Championships in 2009. If we played what people call the Dutch way – building from the back, controlling the game, attack-minded – every game we tried that we lost three, four, five, six nil. Here the same will happen. We will analyse the team, and if there is a lot of creativity in the team you will play different to how you would if there is a lot of spirit in the team. 

“I do not have a preferred system. I adapt to what the players show me.”

Hence an important part of her job thus far has been to learn about the players she has at her disposal. She has hired Eileen Gleeson as her assistant to understand the culture of Irish football, the video analysis team have clips on the Irish players and previous matches, while U19 manager Dave Connell has written a report on each player. 

Later today, she is meeting with her predecessor, Colin Bell, to learn more about the dynamics at work in her new squad. 

“I am happy that Colin has been so open, as he made massive steps with this team and I can step on his shoulders and go on”, said Pauw. 

Former Irish manager Colin Bell. Matteo Ciambelli / INPHO Matteo Ciambelli / INPHO / INPHO

Of her 23-player squad for the Ukraine game only three – Claire Walsh, Chloe Mustaki, and Rianna Jarrett -play their club football in Ireland. Ever the pragmatist, Pauw didn’t make her selections based on where players are playing week-to-week, although is taking steps to bring the domestic players to the pitch of international football. 

A training camp for home-based players will convene on Sunday, before the full camp begins, and Pauw says she is exploring the possibility these players play games against boys’ teams, aged around 16 or 17. 

“The key thing in is that players get to the same level, especially in their recovery rate in a game. We need to work a lot with the home-based players, and we will do that with the staff and coaches of the clubs.

“We hope to have training sessions with boys, so that the pressure on the ball is increasing,  and [to ensure] at least once a week they have to recover very fast from every explosive action. Otherwise, that is breaking you up in the second half of an international game.

“The recovery from explosive actions is our biggest worry if you look at the home-based players. That is not the fault of anyone, it is the situation.” 

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