TIME TO STEP UP
Ireland have lots to improve on but Metz spirit will serve them well against England
L’EQUIPE didn’t think much of Ireland’s dogged defensive effort on Friday night. One of its headlines suggested it was an ennui (boredom) of an occasion in Metz while the French sports paper’s notoriously harsh ratings saw both Katie McCabe and Denise O’Sullivan receive a 3, below the 3.9 average for the Irish players – Courtney Brosnan unsurprisingly scored highest with six.
All of which felt a little wide of the mark. Ireland might not have played as well as the manager and players seemed to think in the immediate aftermath, but there were positive elements. Their battling qualities came to the fore. For all the silky skills shown by a technicallygifted French side, Ireland did restrict them to a goal – and the disappointing thing was that goal was eminently avoidable as it came from an early set-piece routine.
Indeed, if Leanne Kiernan had spotted the unmarked McCabe in front of the French goal in the 87th minute, Ireland could have been celebrating another of those 1-1 ‘victories’ that are scattered across our footballing history – a smash and grab to rival John O’Shea’s late equaliser in Gelsenkirchen a decade ago.
Ireland manager Eileen Gleeson (right) appeared distinctly unimpressed. ‘These are the decisions. In the moment, Katie is there and potentially, she plays her in and we’re 1-1. We will be looking at that and reviewing it.’
It shouldn’t be the only aspect that will be reviewed, though. Questions need to be asked of Ireland conceding such a soft goal six minutes into a game where they went out with a game-plan of containment. Kenza Dali, who was superb all evening, delivered a great free-kick that Maelle Lakrar knocked down and Marie-Antoinette Katato was completely free to nudge the ball in. It was simply a reminder, if needed, that players can never afford to switch off when competing at this altitude. Any error or lapse in concentration will be punished.
Anna Patten, who was plunged into the deep end less than a week after having her international clearance approved by FIFA, reckons the standard on Friday night was significantly higher than the WSL, where she stars for Aston Villa.
‘It’s a big step up that’s for sure,’ the defender said. ‘But that’s what international football is all about and it is such an amazing feeling to make my debut on this stage, against such a challenging team.’
Given she had only been training with the team for a few days, it was understandable that Patten took time to find her feet and she was occasionally sloppy in possession during the first half, but she grew in stature as the game went on. Tuesday in Lansdowne Road promises to be an interesting dynamic for the defender, as she will come up against the likes of Alessia Russo, Georgia Stanway and Chloe Kelly, whom she played with for the England side that finished third in the 2018 under-20 World Cup.
Patten has been avoiding any interaction with her former international teammates ahead of the showdown with England. ‘I’m keeping those communications to a minimum during this camp. I am focused on playing for Ireland.’ It was noticeable that Patten had a big smile on her face as the teams lined up for the anthems in Metz.
She said that she was thinking of her grandparents, Donald and Bridie Coyle.
‘My granny is from Galway and my grandad, who passed in the summer, was from Donegal and I think that is what made it quite emotional for me. My mum was up in the stands and was really proud, seeing me sing the anthem.’
She was one of four of Friday’s starting team who were born in England, along with Aoife Mannion, Emily Murphy and Caitlin Hayes and Patten is looking forward to an occasion to savour.
‘I can’t wait to get stuck in. I think that’s the mood in the camp. Lots of positives to take into that England game and I think it’d mean a lot if we go out there and put in an unreal performance against the English,’ Patten said.
As admirable as Ireland only losing by a goal was on Friday, there is still plenty of room for improvement. McCabe struggled to make any sort of meaningful impact and lost possession a number of times. O’Sullivan was typically tigerish and tenacious, but her final ball lacked precision at times, one moment standing out before the break when she had the opportunity to create a chance for Kyra Carusa, but over-hit the pass.
Watching Ireland being sloppy in possession and lacking composure at vital moments in Metz only crystallised how much Sinead Farrelly was missed in midfield. But the team have to be better at holding onto the ball when England come to the Aviva on Tuesday. Sweden’s second-half equaliser proved that Group A3 is going to be a tight tussle among the top three teams. But for Ireland to be a joker in the pack, they need to engineer some kind of result.
They will also need to create chances. One of the most damning statistics released by UEFA following Friday’s game was that France had 20 shots to Ireland’s one. From the opening moments, it was clear that this was going to be a back-to-walls exercise, reminiscent of some of the best days under previous manager, Vera Pauw – right down to pushing Louise Quinn up front towards the end in search of a goal. Even if this team is developing a more expansive style of play, we are unlikely to see it in this Euro 2025 qualifying group.
One other thing to note from Friday night is that more of the starting players – six – were born outside the country than inside it. Pauw had cast the net wide to try and find second-generation players and it seems that manager Gleeson, left, is continuing that practice. A notable aspect of the European champions is how many of their players, such as Chloe Kelly and Keira Walsh, come from an Irish heritage.
But perhaps, Ireland won’t need to go down that route too often in the future, considering the conveyor belt of talent coming through.
The U19s qualified for this summer’s European Championship in Lithuania yesterday with an impressive 1-0 win over an Austrian team who had beaten Croatia 8-1 in their previous game. It underlines the amount of good young female footballers in the country.
And this team helped that, by qualifying for last year’s World Cup and making the public interested in the team. There will be plenty of eyeballs on them this Tuesday, even allowing for both Arsenal and Manchester City in Champions League action.
No better time to give a statement performance.