Above all else, the exclusion of Leanne Kiernan, Aoife Mannion, Megan Campbell and Jamie Finn from the Republic of Ireland’s 23-woman World Cup squad focused the attention of manager Vera Pauw in UCD this afternoon.
Pauw deemed it “impossible” to select Mannion and Campbell as neither veteran hit markers dictated by the Dutch coach’s football philosophy of “periodisation”. Plenty more will be unveiled on this specialist subject in the coming weeks. Pauw is even writing a book about her methodology.
Campbell’s absence will be keenly felt by senior members of the Irish squad as the Liverpool wing back has won 47 caps since 2011. Also, no one else can make a throw-in seem like a bullet into the opposition’s box.
“Unfortunately for Megan there was no chance,” said Pauw. “The risk would have been too great.”
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Campbell is not injured. The management do not deem her fit enough to travel. Same goes for Kiernan.
Yet it was talking about the non-selection of Finn that brought Pauw to tears. The versatile Birmingham City midfielder has been retained as one of three players who will travel to Australia as injury cover.
“That has been the hardest decision,” stated Pauw. “[Finn] had been part of the team the whole time but you have seen we have changed tactically our playing system, with Kyra Carusa as a target player and Heather Payne as a pace option on the wing.
“And other players have jumped up a level as you saw against Zambia and that prompts tough decisions.”
Finn started six matches of Ireland’s matches in World Cup qualifying, including the playoff win against Scotland to make the finals.
Izzy Atkinson, the 21-year-old West Ham United winger, is the one who really jumped up a level during Ireland’s 3-2 victory last Thursday at Tallaght Stadium.
“Claire O’Riordan, the same,” said Pauw. “With Izzy we always said we all know she has everything to be a super football player. But tactically the penny had to drop. And the pressure of a World Cup forces players to step up, and concentrate on teamwork, because that is what makes the difference.
“So we have been working this week with her very closely.
“You probably don’t remember, but I remember exactly the moment [against Zambia]; if you make five runs, then you need to rest and recover for a moment. Any player. And usually she would turn [clicks finger] and be up front. But when she came back she decided to not make that run, because she couldn’t any more. She needed that little bit of time. And the ball came over and defensively she was there. That shows maturity in the game, that shows insight.
“So she grabbed her chance with both hands.”
From the manager’s perspective, the decision to leave a natural goalscorer like Kiernan behind was not as challenging as most observers might presume. Kiernan suffered an ankle injury last September that required surgery and months of rehabilitation. There was at least one setback which resulted in Liverpool playing her for just 30 minutes at the end of the season.
Still, the 24-year-old looked like the a genuine striker available to Ireland as recently as last Thursday when she had a goal disallowed for offside in a 45-minute run against Zambia.
Kiernan will feel she had done enough but the science told Pauw otherwise.
“Unfortunately, it’s the football fitness. She only played 30 minutes this year and then 45 minutes. We gave her the chance to fully train and she did really well. But the data showed the time between explosive actions were getting longer as the first half went on. And other players were getting exposed to the higher levels so technically you have to take that decision because the World Cup level will be twice as high. It’s not that she didn’t give her all, or we didn’t give her chances. She grew and grew but unfortunately it’s a little bit too early.”
This decision becomes harder to stomach when Amber Barrett and Marissa Sheva are picked ahead of Kiernan despite both struggling for minutes at club level in the Bundesliga and for Washington Spirit. Granted, Barrett scored twice against Zambia but Sheva, who was only capped against China in February, does not arrive in camp until tomorrow.
Shamrock Rovers teenager Abbie Larkin is the fourth attacker. The 18-year-old has all attributes to become a star player for Ireland in Australia.
Clearly, Pauw intends to start Carusa as the lone forward supported by wing-backs Katie McCabe and Heather Payne come the World Cup opener against Australia in Sydney on July 20th. We know this because the Ireland manager spelt it out.
Until the two USA friendlies in April, Pauw used Heather Payne as a defender playing at centre-forward. Payne is now reclassified as a wing back with Sheva about to become a key player in the team.
“Well, again, following [Sheva] in the NWSL, if you see her playing there she can create space a lot for Katie. She is serving with her abilities to fight to win the ball back. What she brings makes her as a very, very important player for our team.”
Pauw also confirmed that the strongest Ireland XI will start against France in Tallaght next Thursday so expect to see the midfield trio of Megan Connolly, Denise O’Sullivan and Sinead Farrelly.
“The final decisions were made after the last session and rewatching the video. That is elite sport but I have broken dreams. It is so hard for them because that World Cup will never come back.
“We haven’t been able to sit down one-on-one with the players who did make the squad, only those who did not make the squad.
“For the players who did make it, it was not a celebration. Of course there were tears that they were going, but there were tears of pain for the others.”
Pauw refused to budge on naming a fourth goalkeeper, the uncapped English born Sophie Whitehouse, as one of the three reserves despite the obvious issue of bringing a player that has zero chance of featuring in the Group B matches against Australia, Canada and Nigeria.
The reason? Ireland goalkeeper coach Jan Willem van Ede insists on having four goalies for seven-a-side training games. And Fifa demand that three goalkeepers are available for every game (an outfield player could be used).
“If the World Cup was in Europe,” said Pauw “it would be different.”
