Eileen Gleeson is in contact with all her UK-based players to ensure they maintain their fitness in the weeks between the end of their club seasons and the first of two Euro 2025 qualifiers against Sweden at the end of the month.
Following defeats to France and England in their opening games, Gleeson yesterday announced her squad to face the world's sixth-ranked team.
Niamh Fahey, Heather Payne, Chloe Mustaki, Tara O'Hanlon and Jamie Finn miss out through injury, but Gleeson's more immediate concern is the fitness and match sharpness of those named in the squad.
Differences in the scheduling of seasons between leagues in England, Ireland and the United States mean that players across the panel are at different stages of their club season.
Questions were raised regarding fitness and motivation at the end of a long season for those in the Women's Super League in England, but Gleeson insisted that a plan is in place:
"Our fitness coach has been in touch with all the clubs. We link with every player directly."
Gleeson explains that not all clubs have the same approach: "Some are putting on extra sessions to have their international players ready for these camps.
"Some aren't, so we are taking up the mantle with that, providing the programme directly to the players."
Concerns have been raised that players inactive for six weeks won't be in form, but Gleeson is confident that a break isn't a negative.
"It's good that they have a break for the couple of weeks off, but they’ve all been pretty committed to their programme knowing they could be potentially selected for this."
The main message from the head coach is that communication is key when managing player schedules: "That dialogue is between clubs, the player and our performance coach."
There appears to have been ample communication between Arsenal and the national side.
Gleeson explains of selected captain Katie McCabe's travel arrangements: "We've been planning and there’s been a lot of communication with the club around recovery and sleep strategies for when she returns."
McCabe will join the team later after a post-season friendly with an Australian side consisting of stars from across the A-league.
Gleeson details that the Arsenal star will be prioritising rest after the 35,000-mile journey: "She flies back into London Sunday so probably won't join us until Tuesday.
"We’ve a very detailed recovery and sleep strategy. We’ve brought in sleep experts and worked with Arsenal on that. It was very detailed." She added.
There are benefits to bringing in players on a high after a successful season.
Amber Barrett is entering the international window as top goalscorer for Belgian side Standard Liege.
There have also been successes for Aoife Mannion, winning the FA Cup with Manchester United, and Leanne Kiernan scoring a hat-trick for Liverpool in their last club game of the season.
Gleeson is confident that the team can make an impact with in-form players, in what has been a tough campaign so far.
"Hopefully, they’re bringing that good luck and talent with them, the goal-scoring boots with with them! It’s great for us."
Gleeson has been taking the positives from losses to France and England.
With the panel's recent goal-scoring abilities in their clubs, Gleeson is hoping for a turn around against Sweden: "We didn't get the results but we felt the goals conceded were preventable, that we could have done a lot better in those moments.
"We were a lot more aggressive in the second halves but that’s the balancing act."
Cork City's Eva Mangan received her first senior international call up, with Gleeson impressed by the teenage midfielder's style of play.
"We want to get to be a team who are comfortable on the ball. Having players who have that good base is what is catching my eye with Eva, it always did."
The landscape of the women's game has been changing drastically. Since the World Cup in 2023 it has been reported that there has been a 76% increase in females playing soccer in Ireland.
It's not just grassroots that are seeing the benefits, adds Gleeson: "The profile of the team has changed, for the most part players are in professional environments, training full-time, playing full-time."
Gleeson praises progress but does suggest that the gap to bigger nations isn't closing: "While we're progressing so are the bigger nations, and potentially at a higher growth rate than us."
England manager Sarina Wiegman announced her team for the two back-to-back international windows on 14 May.
Gleeson laughs that Ireland don't have that luxury: "When you've got a bigger population, you can be a bit more set. We have to respond to the different needs of a smaller pool.
"We'll follow the same framework where we'll have to have them prepared for July."
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
