Above: The squad in training. Photo: Ireland Football on Twitter.
By Alyce Collett (3/4/25)
It’s international break once again, and perhaps even more so than the one two months ago, this window is really pivotal for the Republic of Ireland, who is still in the early stages of life under new manager Carla Ward.
After defeating Turkey in a less than convincing fashion in game one of the last window, Ireland then copped a 4-0 loss at the hands of Slovenia that left plenty of people scratching their heads and feeling very concerned.
There were many reasons thrown around as to what may have been the cause of the drop in form against Slovenia, but no matter what the reason was, the Girls in Green have to turn around that form and fast. If they do not, a speedy return to League A may be in serious jeopardy.
This campaign sees two matches for the Girls in Green against Greece, who had two losses in the February window, so these matches have come at perhaps the best time for the Republic of Ireland. The April squad on paper appears to be stronger than the selected team in the February window.
The most obvious strengthening is the inclusion of Saoirse Noonan, who was remarkably left out of the February squad despite being in stellar form for club side Celtic.
She comes into a forward group that needs to get some confidence back into its game and by correlation start scoring freely again. From a group that scored 20 goals last time they spent a season in League B, they would love nothing more than to be scoring that freely again.
Although unlikely considering Ward is set in her plans for resetting this team, it would be good to see a change in the set up of the forward line. Kyra Carusa has been first choice central striker for some time now, but it would be perhaps worth changing things up to start someone like an Amber Barrett and pair her with a speedy type, for example an Abbie Larkin or a Leanne Kiernan.
The midfield is perhaps the most set section of the Irish line up, and the least likely to see any change. Denise O’Sullivan and Ruesha Littlejohn are absolute generals in the centre of the park for the Girls in Green, and with both in solid form at the moment there is no reason to suggest there will be anything out of ordinary from the pair. It will be interesting to see though if Aiobheann Clancy gets much of a go, with the Shelbourne youngster back in the Ireland squad after picking up a debut cap against Morocco two years ago.
The defence is also pretty well set, but does also come with some queries.
Firstly, Caitlin Hayes was surprisingly given no game time last window, despite seemingly having cemented her role in a three prong centre back formation alongside Aoife Mannion and Anna Patten. Will Ward persist with two centre backs and keep Hayes on the bench, or revert back to the trio of centre backs we have come to expect from the Irish?
Heather Payne is a vitally important part of the Irish set up, with her pace up the right side of the pitch critical for the creation of plenty of Irish attacking plays. However, after picking up a bit of an ankle issue in Everton’s loss to Manchester United on the weekend, she does come into the window under a bit of an injury cloud.
Then there is the eternal question of how to maximise the on field influence of captain Katie McCabe. What the Irish tried last window did not quite work, but something that has worked previously is starting Megan Campbell at right back and playing McCabe out wide but a bit further up the pitch.
Time will tell what Ward and the coaches decide to do.
The first match between the Republic of Ireland and Greece will take place in Heraklion, on the island of Crete, on April 4 at 3pm Irish time. The reverse fixture will then take place at Tallaght Stadium in Dublin at 7:30pm on April 8 local time. Both matches will be shown on RTE 2, but those outside the island of Ireland will need a strong VPN to watch RTE’s coverage.
Republic of Ireland April Squad
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Sophie Whitehouse (Charlton), Grace Moloney (Unattached).
Defenders: Heather Payne (Everton), Jessie Stapleton (Sunderland), Anna Patten (Aston Villa), Aoife Mannion (Manchester United), Caitlin Hayes (Brighton), Megan Campbell (London City), Chloe Mustaki (Bristol City), Katie McCabe (Arsenal).
Midfielders: Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina), Tyler Toland (Blackburn Rovers), Ruesha Littlejohn (Shamrock Rovers), Marissa Sheva (Sunderland), Aiobheann Clancy (Shelbourne).
Forwards: Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Kyra Carusa (San Diego), Abbie Larkin (Crystal Palace), Amber Barrett (Standard Liege), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City), Saoirse Noonan (Celtic), Emily Murphy (Newcastle United).
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