Pauw hopeful of avoiding headache of player unavailability ahead of World Cup

Macdara Ferris reports from Irishtown Stadium, Ringsend

The World Cup is never far from Vera Pauw’s mind and it was straight in front of her today when the Women’s World Cup trophy was in town on tour.

The Republic of Ireland boss will have to name a 23-player squad for this summer’s tournament.

Ahead of that difficult decisions are on her mind as she will need to whittle down her extended squad and balance the fact that some of her players' season will be over at the end of May – the World Cup starts on 20 July with Ireland playing hosts Australia in Sydney on the opening day.

Pauw, speaking to the media today in Irishtown Stadium, talked about her plans for dealing with the different fitness requirements for her players and is hopeful that European clubs will release her players to allow them play in Ireland’s pre-tournament games.

“It is a worry,” she said about the European Club Association (ECA) indicating players might not be released until 10 July, just ten days ahead of the start of the tournament.

“The ECA does not realise there are players who have 11 weeks of no football before the World Cup. So saying this means you hurt players.

“If we were to do this, going for the ECA idea, you can put an ambulance next to the pitch for all the ACLs that will happen. That’s 11 weeks of no football, then 10 hours of jetlag dumping into Australia and see what you do.”

The Ireland boss has written to all her players’ club coaches to explain her reasoning. Her team are scheduled to play two friendlies at Tallaght Stadium - against Zambia on 22 June and France on 6 July on the eve of their flight to Australia.

“The Championship coaches that I’ve spoken to are extremely happy. It’s about player protection. That’s why we have these individual programmes. Every single player will be healthy, fresh and ready for the World Cup.

“The Championship players will have four weeks of complete rest. They can do some movement if they feel like it, but there is no strict training. They will then get an individual programme leading up to camp, so they are ready for camp.

"The players who finish later will have at least two weeks of rest."

She is also hopeful that North Carolina Courage star Denise O’Sullivan will be available for France game.

Pauw has had a number of players return from injury recently and that will add to her headache of squad selection. “Niamh (Fahey) and Leanne (Kiernan) have not played a minute yet (for Liverpool), hopefully they will play minutes so we can see them playing.

"Chloe (Mustaki) has started playing, I've been there to see her live, and Savannah (McCarthy) is playing in midfield and is doing well (with Shamrock Rovers). We need to see how they develop, as they need to be better than what we have now.”

To help with preparations Pauw has brought on board periodisation specialist Raymond Verheijen. The Dutchman is an expert on planning and managing individual player training load in the build-up to the World Cup.

“We have worked together since 1998 and he’s an absolute expert in this area, the best in the world.

"I’ve built up a lot of experience over the years myself, adding to that programme, but when you go to the specific details, you need someone focussed just on that. He’s a football physiologist and knows exactly how and when.

🇮🇪⚽️ The FIFA Women's World Cup Trophy Tour made a special stop in Dublin today! Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw, former international Olivia O'Toole & current star Abbie Larkin were in attendance! 🏆

Browse the full album by @ConorLufc here 👉 https://t.co/QG3sMcikB0pic.twitter.com/W6zTA1JeNs

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) May 10, 2023