Change of guard in defence as Ireland look to future

CORE POTENTIAL: Eileen Gileeson spoke on getting minutes under Jessie Stapleton belt as she could potentially be core starting centre back in 2025. Pic:©INPHO/Giuseppe Fama

It’s at the back that Ireland are looking to the future.

France in the opener of a brutally daunting Euro qualification group looms this day week in Metz but tackling the transition of their steady defence has been clear for a while.

Her predecessor Vera Pauw shipped flak for characterising the trio of centre-backs as “slow” but Eileen Gleeson offered a tacit nod in that direction by accepting an overhaul is nigh.

Diane Caldwell, Louise Quinn and Niamh Fahey have formed that backbone for the majority of the last decade and now the centurions are all well into their thirties.

Fahey, at 36, is the eldest squad member, followed by Caldwell a year her junior. Birmingham City skipper Quinn turns 34 in June.

Ironically, they could be replaced in time by three English-born players to have declared in the space of just over the past year.

Aoife Mannion was first to enroll 13 months ago, having been on the bench for England’s seniors.

Then Celtic’s Caitlin Hayes finalised her eligibility last September to become a fixture in the rearguard for all six of the Nations League wins and now Anna Patten has switched allegiance.

The latter was also part of the England set-up, expressing her pride at captaining their U23 team just over a year ago.

She was then on loan from Arsenal but has completed a permanent switch to Aston Villa.

“It is a great honour and it means a lot,” said Patten, a former teammate of Ireland captain Katie McCabe at the Gunners. “My parents were watching, so it was so nice to wear the armband, sing the national anthem loud and proud, and I couldn’t ask for much more.

“If we are fortunate to ever get up to the seniors, then it wouldn’t all be brand new”.

Assembling with the Ireland squad at Castleknock Hotel this Sunday will be all new to her. She could also achieve our ambition of being on the pitch for an England game but against them when Ireland host their first home qualifier, the second part of the double-header on April 9.

“I think it is just a feature of international football,” explained Gleeson about her new recruit. “We must try and expand our talent pool and it is not new that players come in with different accents, different backgrounds, different places of birth, different familial roots, so this is it.

“Anna is eligible for Ireland and, in that time in her pathway, she was where she was (England). Sometimes, those opportunities don’t become available.

“We are not looking to bring in anybody who doesn’t want to fully commit to Ireland, that doesn’t have a connection to Ireland and that wouldn’t fit into the group. We think Anna would do that and we had a conversation with her.” 

Evolving her defence during this window may be more straightforward due to Fahey’s injury.

She was named in the squad before reports of sustaining a torn calf while captaining Liverpool were confirmed. At its most optimistic outlook, the Galwegian might recover for the England clash.

“There has been plenty of press around an ageing backline and experienced backline,” acknowledged Gleeson about the changing of the guard.

“Age doesn’t wait for anybody, so we have to look at the squad and the needs of the particular positions that we need to refill. We have Jessie Stapleton coming through as well as Aoife and hopefully Anna.

“Everything we do is with a longer-term view and we have got very experienced players in Louise, Diane and Niamh. They would be very aware themselves around the lifespan of the top level athlete.

“We must start filling positions where players are going to naturally transition out of. Some young players were brought through in the Nations League and we’re trying to get minutes under Jessie’s belt because potentially she is your core starting centre-back in Euro 2025.” 

Gleeson admits it’s an arduous struggle to book a place directly at the Switzerland finals as one of the top-two teams in a group that also includes Sweden. There is the fallback route which she’s loath to rely on.

“If there were bets on, the probability is for us to finish fourth,” she confessed.

“That can’t be our starting point. There’s a realism but Ireland, as a nation, has always outperformed.” 

SQUADS:

IRELAND:

Goalkeepers: C Brosnan (Everton), G Moloney (London City Lionesses), S Whitehouse (Lewes).

Defenders: J Stapleton (Reading - on loan from West Ham United), D Caldwell (FC Zurich), L Quinn (Birmingham City), N Fahey (Liverpool), A Mannion (Manchester United), C Hayes (Celtic), A Patten (Aston Villa), M Campbell (London City Lionesses).

Midfielders: K McCabe (Arsenal), D O'Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), M Connolly (Bristol City), R Littlejohn (London City Lionesses), T Toland (Blackburn Rovers), L Agg (Birmingham City), H Payne (Everton), J Ziu (West Ham United), L Quinn (Birmingham City), I Atkinson (Crystal Palace).

Forwards: K Carusa (San Diego Wave), A Larkin (Crystal Palace), A Barrett (Standard Liege), L Kiernan (Liverpool), E Murphy (Wake Forest University).

FRANCE:

Goalkeepers: Solène Durand (Sassuolo), Pauline Peyraud-Magnin (Juventus), Constance Picaud (Paris Saint-Germain).

Defenders: Estelle Cascarino (Juventus), Élisa De Almeida (Paris Saint-Germain), Sakina Karchaoui (Paris Saint-Germain), Maëlle Lakrar (Montpellier), Griedge Mbock Bathy (Lyon), Ève Périsset (Chelsea), Wendie Renard (Lyon), Thiniba Samoura (Paris Saint-Germain).

Midfielders: Amandine Henry (Angel City), Selma Bacha (Lyon), Sandy Baltimore (Paris Saint-Germain), Kenza Dali (Aston Villa), Grace Geyoro (Paris Saint-Germain), Lea Le Garrec (FC Fleury), Sandie Toletti (Real Madrid).

Forwards: Vicki Becho (Lyon), Kadidiatou Diani (Lyon), Julie Dufour (Paris FC), Marie-Antoinette Katoto (Paris Saint-Germain), Eugénie Le Sommer (Lyon), Delphine Cascarino (Lyon).

IRELAND’S EURO 2025 Fixtures:

Friday, April 5 (8.10pm): France v Ireland, Metz.

Tuesday, April 9 (7.45pm): Ireland v England, Lansdowne Road.

Friday, May 31 (7.45pm): Ireland v Sweden, Lansdowne Road.

Tuesday, June 4 (Time TBC): Sweden v Ireland, Gothenburg (TBC).

Friday, July 12 (7.45pm): England v Ireland, Carrow Road, Norwich.

Friday, July 16 (7.45pm): Ireland v France, Venue TBC.