England find their shooting boots, heartbreak for Ireland and WAFCON gets postponed

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1:12Rachel: Welcome to Upfront, I'm Chloe Morgan. And I'm Rachel O'Sullivan. The road to the Brazil World Cup has officially begun. Today we're checking in with the Lionesses and Ireland and more to discuss those opening games and what the road to qualification looks like. Oh God, I feel nervous about this bit already. Are we going to see more experimenting from Sazie Vigues? Will Ireland bounce back from heartbreak against France? Stay tuned for that and much, much more.

1:47Rachel: There's a lot of stuff going on in world politics at the moment and I will just touch briefly on that in a second. but I would like to give a bit of a shout out to a friend of the pod Darren who I bumped into at a pub I was basically in this like disgusting kind of very rurally looking pub that I'd never been to in my local area it had a had a flag outside and so I was a little bit nervous to go in with Florence and then we went in had a couple of beers we're like oh it's not the most comfortable of environments but we'll stay here and just finish off our drink and go one more anyway this guy comes over and I was like oh gosh what's gonna happen here anyway he said oh are you Chloe from up front he was like I listen to your podcast every single week and I absolutely love it he was like surprised you're in here to be honest it's a little bit of an unusual space um I wouldn't I wouldn't suggest that you stay in here for much longer but also just wanted to say I'm a massive fan of you and Rach so massive shout out to Darren thank you for coming over and yeah I've had to give a shout out we've obviously got to start with England and their road to the 2027 World Cup which began on Tuesday night in Antalya with a 6-1 win over Ukraine very formidable if not a little bit of a slow start and it looked like we weren't it wasn't ever going to hit the back of the net um we'll get into the coverage uh around the game but let's talk about the uh 90 minutes itself first because it was it felt like we were knocking at the door knocking at the door doing all the right things creating loads of chances loads of opportunities but the ball it was like kind of like a magnetic field type of game where you just could not get the ball in the back of the net um obviously all the goals in the in the came in the second half we had 85 percent of the ball in the first 45 minutes but it was just felt a bit um a bit wasteful in a way Rach I mean what what did you think?

3:24Chloe: I think I think it takes time to figure out a low block and I know like I saw some comments being like it's not like they've never faced it before like how are they struggling so much to think a team just kind of goes out and goes this is exactly how this low block is going to show itself and this is exactly how we fix it a low block isn't a singular way of playing you You know, everyone doesn't do the same thing in a low block, right? So you've got to find ways and get time to kind of figure out when you're on the pitch. So yes, there was a lot of movement, a lot of possession. And you're essentially, you know, problem solving on the pitch.

3:57Chloe: You're trying to work out some of these players. Are there opportunities? Can we draw them out? Will they jump? All that kind of stuff. And I think it took that first half for England to figure that out. I thought Ukraine, as expected, were very disciplined. But the difficulty with playing a game like that, when you've not got possession of the ball, it's very, very tiring. And I think England knew if they were patient that those moments and those opportunities would come. So, yes, they were very dominant in the first half. And yes, it was frustrating. But I did feel that they were going to figure it out.

4:25Chloe: They were creating a lot, not a lot on target. And that's difficult when it's so compact in the middle. So I think getting half time in to be able to go, OK, here's what we've figured out from the first half. Here's where we think we could exploit. If you're this player or that player. I think Georgia Stanway touched on it, speaking to Sophie after the game, where she was told to start taking some shots from outside the box. We know she can do that. Players were told to, you know, start having a bit of a pop from outside. Players will step forward then if they know you're going to do that, that creates space.

4:52Chloe: So it was just that 45 minutes to figure it out. And I think the second half proves that they did a very good job of doing that.

4:57Rachel: Yeah, definitely. I think, I mean, the chances they created were ones that I thought, OK, yes, 100 percent Ukraine's defence, I thought was super, super effective. They were kind of, you know, crowding the middle areas. They were making it congested. You know, it was really difficult to kind of find those through balls and find players. But at the same time, there were so many missed opportunities where England could have just put the ball in the back of the net. I mean, you can't get away from the fact that, you know, Russo is particularly the first kind of like 10, 15 minutes, had some really, really decent chances and then chooses to shoot straight at the keeper or a header that's like, what should have just, it should have been a clear cut goal, but it goes over the bar.

5:31Rachel: And I think that's what I meant, I think, by wasteful. I didn't mean to kind of have any discredit on Ukraine and kind of how well they'd set up. But it felt like England were knocking on the door and creating chances in really unique ways. I mean, first of all, I think they were going really direct, like taking the game to Ukraine. And then they're kind of trying to use the avenues on the left or right hand side. And then they're trying to go through the middle and finding some success where Ukraine are getting a little bit more tired or not being able to track their runners properly. And then you've got kind of Ben Kilda Brown kind of stepping into things like she's obviously trying to, you know, prove her worth as well.

5:59Rachel: she's kind of hitting the crossbar which is a I thought if that's going to go in what a worldy way to kind of like make your first kind of impact on on the stage I mean yeah what were your thoughts when you hit the whole that cross the because I just thought oh my god an inch lower an inch I just

6:14Chloe: I think there's two ways that a team can look at that right you can and I think if stuff like that is happening come the 70th 75th minute you start to go Jesus it's never going to happen I think it happening in the first half they'll go away and look at it going okay we are creating we are getting closer now at the end of the day I think what there was four shots on target in the first half you know that one wouldn't have been included obviously so they knew they were they were creating enough they had they they just needed to be more clinical and that more opportunities would come so yeah there were moments where you're a bit like oh my god this goal has a force field around it and what a way it would have been for Laura to get her I think her first goal it would have been so um yeah I they plugged away and look it's not always going to be pretty breaking down a low block it doesn't always produce the prettiest football it can be a bit of a grind when you have to do that um but yeah like I said the second half was just a completely different story

7:02Rachel: well that's the thing and I was kind of wondering like what was um what was being said to the team at half time because it did feel like there was this kind of essence of experimentation coming in um you had Jess Park then starting out wide scoring those two goals um and then it but but also at the same time it just felt like I think she was asked a question um I think it was ITV uh for that she was kind of saying okay what was actually said during this half time and she was kind of saying well you know you don't need tough words in those moments because everyone is actually giving their best they're creating chances they're doing what we've told them to do um obviously as you were saying you know it helped to swap the wingers from one side to the other and we came inside a little bit more and then we started to totally control the game but it did kind of feel like that was like the pivotal moment in actually finding finding success and essentially opening the floodgates like I know I know I felt quite critical of you know how we discussed the first half but essentially it was so impactful and it felt like the game had really turned on its head when those first two goals went in.

7:53Chloe: Yeah, and as I said, it was, I think, the suggestion to start shooting more from outside the box, Stanway Park, they can score absolute worldies from out there. Ukraine then are alert to the fact that those threats are another thing they need to contend with. And if you're sitting in a low block packing up the box, then suddenly they're like, OK, they're actually going to start taking shots from outside the box. We need to step out and try and prevent that from happening. You do that, you create space in the box. So actually, that kind of thing was obviously set at halftime. But yeah, I also think they spoke a little bit on the radio about when Ukraine got their goal.

8:29Chloe: Now, I know England would have been raging that they conceded from a set piece as well. But I actually think it gave Ukraine a little bit of like, hang on now, if we get forward, we might actually get... Yeah, so suddenly they're stepping up a little bit higher than they'd maybe originally planned to. And that's, again, creating more space for England to operate in, especially with the personnel England had on the pitch. You've got players like your Jess Parks, who like to operate in that and they can operate in closed spaces with players around them or they're you know lethal on the wings and as we saw so it was just an interesting thing as the game kind of went on in phases where England started to see those opportunities no definitely

9:05Rachel: and I think um yeah you're so much you're so right to kind of give credit to that Ukraine goal because it was such an interesting timing of the game and kind of what it could have actually done it could have completely turned the game on its head and I did see like a a bit of a burst from Ukraine afterwards it did feel like a bit of there was some swag about them after that that was like hold on a second we could cause a real upset and it did feel like obviously it was completely against them on a flow and you know Kalanina kind of get inside of the ball and just kind of just getting a foot on it and just seeing what happened and there were so many bodies in front of Hampton there was just absolutely no chance that she was going to get to it but it felt like after that then you know the line letters could have sat back but actually I feel like it inspired them in the same way that inspired Ukraine because you know getting that goal then six minutes later getting another goal six minutes later and then it felt like the game had kind of run away from Ukraine.

9:48Rachel: So yeah, it was a very kind of, it was a confident performance all round. Job done kind of vibe. Yeah, it was like you walk away from that, it's 6-1 and you're thinking, yeah, that's probably about the result that they would have been pitching for.

10:02Chloe: Yeah, like, yeah, you can be annoyed about the goal conceded. Yeah, you could have been a bit stressed in the first half, but had you said pre-match, it's going to be 6-1, you'd have gone, okay, yeah, that's probably what I would have thought would happen. I do want to pick out Stanway's second goal. The way she picked that out from under her feet, it kind of came into her in the box. She was quite, her player's quite close around her. And the speed that she just kind of picked it out from under her to put it in the top of the net was, yeah, that was one of those goals that gave an audible reaction for me.

10:32Chloe: By this stage, I was in the media room in Ireland, in Dublin. That was one of those goals that made me go, oh, you know what I mean? When you just can't help yourself. So I want to break that out.

10:44Rachel: 100 % it was the technique on that one because I think it was so it was so little backlift on it it felt a little bit um LJ-esque it was like you know like the force of the ball doesn't warrant like the mechanism that that sort of precedes it and you just think how the hell have you created that much force to get it in the top left corner with like that little bit yeah so yeah fair enough

11:01Chloe: like technically that was absolutely ridiculous and more broadly Georgia Stanway I think you know we're seeing her get up a little bit higher more and I think she's doing a much better job at supporting Alessio Russo, who sometimes will drop deep to try and create. And in the past, you've not always seen England being very good at reading that. When she's come back, someone won't necessarily step in to fill that gap. And I think Stanway's gotten a lot better at developing that relationship with Russo. So, yeah, I thought she offensively had a really good game.

11:32Rachel: Definitely. OK, let's talk a little bit about the back line then. There's been a lot of discussion about England's fullback positions, especially who might succeed, the legendary Lucy Bronze. But did we see the future last night? We had Mya LaTosio starting at right back at this game. We had Taylor Hines playing at left back for the third time in England's last four games. Lota Ruben Moy also starting the game after Alex Greenwood picked up a minor muscle injury. But obviously, I mean, Leah Williamson back to it, playing for the first time for a country since the Euro 2025 final. she was replaced by Esme Morgan but do we feel like this is kind of like I mean it's a hard one to kind of gauge because there wasn't a lot for the back line to really be doing in this game it was a relatively sort of an easier fixture for them so there wasn't a lot of kind of tests that they were really facing as a new line-up as people are kind of calling it but yeah what do we kind of think about about the positioning?

12:24Chloe: In terms of personnel probably you know there's some young right backs coming through the youth groups but I don't think at a level to step into the shoes of Lucy Bronze, which is why I think May Letizier is the one doing that. And I know this has caused a whole fucking uproar, which I'm just bored of now because, you know, it's not like England are lacking in depth in the central defensive area. It doesn't mean May Letizier is not an excellent central defender. Like she is a very good centre-back, but she's also so good that she can play at international level at right back and is the best option for England.

12:59Chloe: the other option is probably to play someone else out of position there and they probably wouldn't do as good a job as she does and you've also got the benefit of a player like that who's versatile and we've talked in the past about the importance of versatility and you know I think that's something that's becoming beneficial more beneficial and more respected I think in the game you know you look at players like there's not many players who can play two positions at national level Rachel Daly was one and she was obviously quite a contrast in both the back and the front but um I think probably this might be the kind of we'll see more of them playing and I think you've got the likes of Esme Morgan coming through and looking really confident a lot of Wubbenmoy getting a lot of minutes as well which is really important so yeah plenty of something Serena Viegman's often criticized for not doing for some reason rotation in the squad and plenty

13:45Rachel: of new faces I do feel like Sassi Vries kind of gets stuck in this like Euro 2022 mindset that there's this narrative around that she just won't change a formation and I'm like that was it was four years ago that was taking place. Let it go, guys. Yeah, literally that. I don't feel like she's fully shaking it off, which is bizarre. Maybe this is kind of like a counter narrative that the England team are trying to create around that.

14:07Chloe: We just need to put in 11 players you've never heard of and only then will she shake it.

14:12Rachel: Literally that. And then like even to add to what you were saying there, so she obviously handed a debut out to the London City Lioness's left back, Poppy Patterson as well, as a substitute in the second half for Taylor Hines. And then you've kind of got kind of Katie Reid like stepping out obviously like not in the sort of England setting as much at the moment but like everyone's kind of pitching her that she'll be like the next Leah Williamson I feel like the OGs that we know are kind of like there's these like little whippersnappers kind of nipping at their heels in a way and it's exciting yes but it's also important to remember that some of these

14:42Chloe: OGs or as some of the some might call them veterans of the squad who've been there a while are still like 28 so you know this idea that they need to be moved on it's like come on they've they've came into the squad quite young and they're at their prime now so to still be seeing new blood coming through is quite exciting

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15:52Rachel: well we touched on the game a little bit and it kind of makes sense now that we'll talk about the the backdrop and the context to which this this game sits because we have to remember that this is a very very tough group ukraine iceland and spain and there's only one automatic qualification spot this is that my the worst part of my job on up front is trying to go through like how these different tournaments keep changing their bloody minds about how they're going to format things so I'm going to do my absolute best and the notes are written in front of me so I really can't get this wrong and I know that Sophie Downey is somewhere in the background of your um of your setting so if I have if I have fucked up too much then Sophie can can jump in yeah um so each of the four group winners in League A go straight through uh to the World Cup each other team in League A will go into the playoffs so far so good I'm understanding that but also worth just

16:42Chloe: Don't reiterate it, people. Only the team who comes first automatically goes through. That's bloody hard.

16:48Rachel: Carry on. That in itself is quite the test. So no matter where England finish, they will have a chance. Even if they finish last and get relegated from their group for the next edition of the Nations League, they will still be in the pot for the playoffs for World Cup qualification.

17:04Chloe: Correct. That stands. Everyone understands that. This is what I'm thinking of Ireland-wise. yes we're in a tough group but there's always a safety net of a playoff.

17:15Rachel: Do you think that just while we stop there on that moment like do we think that has an impact on like the competitiveness and like the jeopardy that people feel going into this because it feels like yes 100 % you want to get your you know your first spot but you're not thinking oh Christ I've not got the first spot well no you know because I've got a second chance at it.

17:32Chloe: Playoffs are then seeded so the better you do the lower seeded team you will essentially play in your playoff so So actually coming even third out of the four is better than coming four out of the four. Does that make sense? Because you'll essentially face a team from another league, but it will be a more favourable, I'm putting in quotation marks, a more favourable tie the better you do.

17:54Rachel: And how are they then seeded? It's on world rank and they're seeded as opposed to where they finish in their respective leagues. Yeah, OK, cool. But you could have a team, it might not even make sense in that way, because you could have a team that technically you wouldn't want to play against because of like how good they are, but actually they've not performed that well and actually they end up in a lower seeding than they otherwise would do from a world ranking perspective.

18:16Chloe: Which makes this difficult and why it's worth reminding people that this qualification method is really difficult with only one team guaranteed to go through in each group.

18:26Rachel: The top three teams in each of the four League B groups will also go into the playoffs, as will the six group winners and the two best runners up in League C.

18:36Chloe: So they're the ones who are the other side of the draw, right? So say everyone in League A essentially, you've got the four that qualified, great, they're gone. Everyone left is going to be put into a playoff with those teams that you've just mentioned. So you're going to more likely have a more favorable draw if you come second in the League A group because you may face someone from League C rather than if you come last, you might face someone from League B. so the first playoff phase you play one team across two legs so in October you'll play your first match against whoever you've drawn across two legs if you win that you go into phase two which will happen in October, in November and if you win that you go into the World Cup

19:22Chloe: Point is, it's difficult and it's worth saying that

19:25Rachel: I'd really like to put this to a vote of the listeners that have got to this point in the pod and understand the format and those that don't just from my own understanding because sometimes I come away from these comments and I'm just like I must be thick as shit because there's just there's just no like

19:39Chloe: in your defense in your defense you are also juggling the hosting of the podcast and the reading of the words the right way and you're making sure that you're saying what you're meant to be saying so to then ask you to then interpret what the fuck you're reading as well on top of

19:52Rachel: that is tricky we always have a bit of a joke on this pod that they call me Ron Burgundy behind because if it's written down, I will say it, no matter how much sense it does or doesn't make. So I just want to out myself here that that is, yeah, it doesn't come naturally.

20:09Chloe: In the running doc, it's going to be like, go fuck yourself up front, listeners.

20:13Rachel: Like that is generally what happens sometimes. And thank God it's not live because it would be absolutely fucking chaos. Anyway, moving swiftly on, well, not moving swiftly on, we've got a really good question in from Anne Dominga on Blue Sky. after past experience of the nation league a b c league split what are the pros and cons for the higher and lower ranked national teams compared to the previous former okay for the higher teams

20:35Chloe: as you can see it is more difficult to qualify and you play more than likely the same teams over and over hello spain my old friend right like that that's one kind of downside for the lower ranked teams particularly in league c this is what i was concerned with again they're kind of playing the same teams over and over are they really improving and being exposed to different types of football just staying in league c and when this came out everyone said this is great it's going to stop the 10 nil results going to stop the 12 nil results it's exactly what we want it's not good football blah blah and i always think back to the times that i used to go to those 10 and 12 nil games luxembourg england won 10 nil and i'll never forget sitting in the post-match press conference and their coach saying up until the after the seventh goal we we were doing everything we want had hope to do from our game plan we were learning loads we were really proud of how we were you know putting ourselves out there those last three goals were really disappointed with their mistakes they were this and they had taken a huge amount of learning from that game they brought England to their brand new stadium they were delighted to have this game in this in this stadium and I think as well to North Macedonia who we spoke to their head of women's football and she was saying you know we're not going to get to a world cup realistically for a long time this is our world cup we get to host england and the european champions and we get to play that game in our main stadium in scopia we don't often get to play in our main stadium like this is huge for us it's really exciting for us and they learn a huge amount like i'm sure chloe you you that you'd know this as a player like you learn a lot when you play teams above you and i just think i my my only concern is that lack of opportunity to kind of grow.

22:18Chloe: And yes, you might yo-yo back up into League B and have a couple of windows where you might play a different team for once, but then you end up back down in C again. And it's just that kind of, you know, that's my concern about that. Now, as you say, you've got League C winners who will go into playoffs, which is great, but more than likely playing a very, very difficult opposition to try and get into the World Cup. So pros and cons.

22:41Rachel: There you go, Anne Dominga. If that isn't the most comprehensive response to a question that's ever been submitted by a listener, I don't know what is. Moving on to the next fixtures there. So we've got England facing Iceland on Saturday. Spain beat them 3-0 on Tuesday. Two goals for Claudia Pina. They're tough. Iceland are going to be tough. Like, I don't think, you know, you should expect what happened with Ukraine.

23:05Chloe: We've had the opportunity to see Iceland play at the last two Euros. And I've been really impressed with them. So they will be a tougher prospect, I think.

23:15Rachel: Well, let's get on to some actual big controversy now. So we've just had a bit of an update. Spain are scheduled to play Ukraine next in Turkey on Saturday. There have been reports that the Spanish team wouldn't travel. However, UEFA told them they would face losing three points and a possible further sanction if they didn't fulfill the fixture. I, unless you couldn't work out what was going on, I assumed it was some kind of sort of player welfare, player safety situation. obviously, you know, the political, well, the globe's on fire. Rach, you've got sort of further info about sort of what the rationale is behind this decision and the sort of risks that Spain are taking by potentially not fulfilling this game.

23:51Chloe: I think a drone either shot down in Turkish airspace over a US airbase or landed in a US airbase, a missile drone type thing, essentially came into Turkish airspace. And Spain were saying with the escalating, you know, war essentially going on in the Middle East that they were concerned about traveling to Turkey to fulfill this fixture. And UEFA essentially said, you know, Turkey is safe to travel to currently. All, you know, security and foreign offices are, have said you can travel to Turkey. Obviously, you know, caution if you're near the border with Syria or Iran, which I think was already the case.

24:29Chloe: But essentially, it is a safe country to travel to. Ukraine have chosen this as the location that they want to host their games. um so therefore what UEFA I think phrasing it as they threatened to I think UEFA said this game is safe to take place so if you don't fulfill the fixture you then face the punishment for not fulfilling your fixture that's essentially what I can gather and Spain have said okay well we'll do it we'll come so it is happening essentially at the moment I love that that

25:00Rachel: Spain tried to call out UEFA's bluff UEFA were like we're not having any of this uh get your arses on the bus and get over to Turkey. I mean, it would have made for a very interesting kind of situation for the Lionesses, I think.

25:14Chloe: In the current situation, all measures that are used to decide whether it is safe to fulfill a fixture are saying it is safe to fulfill the fixture. So that's what ultimately UEFA are saying. And I think, you know, Ukraine have come, of course, obviously from a war zone there was a great interview on Sky with one of their players talking about how the league is carrying on over there and how they have to kind of schedule four to five hours for a match now they start at 11 in the morning because if the sirens go off they have to go into the into their bunkers and wait for it to pass and then they come back out and they have to warm up again and they have to carry on with the game and that can happen numerous times so So, you know, the fact that they are in a country that they feel safe in and are being told is safe, they probably very much want to play this game.

26:03Rachel: I think context like that really puts it into perspective kind of what, you know, teams in some of these countries are really going through at these moments. I mean, obviously, to add to that also, I mean, the Ukraine team had to take a 15 hour coach to get to the stadium for the England game. um yeah obviously like you know how difficult it is politically out there they're not able to currently have any any fixtures in in the country as it as it stands but listen the world's on fire

26:25Chloe: at the moment i can understand people being cautious and stuff but you know at the moment turkey is deemed safe to travel to so and i'm sure every effort is you know put in place and if the thing as well for spain is if they do need to leave the country quickly they will be able to most likely. So I'm sure all safety measures are in place. It wouldn't go ahead otherwise. It's why Ukraine can't host games in their country because the country isn't deemed safe at the moment.

26:52Rachel: Definitely. And then I think just to really top off this section of sort of global chaos and political messes and kind of the world being on fire, before we go off for a break, we've had confirmation that WAFCon has been postponed. This news comes less than two weeks before the tournament was due to start so july the 25th is the new start date this was something that had been broken like last week back end of last week or so and sort of hadn't really hit kind of like

27:16Chloe: mainstream conscious yet well yeah so um a journalist broken on the 27th of february and that it wasn't going to be going ahead and you know a lot of us shared it and kind of this is crazy and only now you know the 5th of march have wafcon come out and i'm not even going to say confirmed but yes confirmed it something that essentially had already been broken I just yeah I'm so disappointed for the players for the staff for everyone who's been gearing up for this tournament to be told such last minute that it's not going to be going ahead it's absolutely

27:48Rachel: ridiculous it's such a shambles I was I was honestly like do you know in just like these are the kind of moments that people look at or like mainstream kind of like news readers will look at and go fucking hell women's football is just like not it's just not in a great place and it's not that's not the current situation at all but like how are you telling people this late in the day like what has led to this decision what rationale is there behind this decision like i i just i don't understand like how you cannot these tournaments aren't things that are decided you know two or three months ago there are things that are put in place you know years in advance to kind of decide who's going to host the tournaments and what the infrastructure looks like like it's just it's not good enough it's an absolute fucking but even just their reaction to

28:25Chloe: this news being broken it tells you everything you need to know they didn't go geez maybe we need to like speed up our announcement that it's not happening given it's already been broken by a journalist oh no it's fine we'll just wait another like seven days crazy what the fuck is

28:41Rachel: going on rage what's going on mate get your act together guys come on fuck's sake um talking of trying to get their act together after the break ireland comes so close against france i can't wait to talk about this

28:59Rach

29:01Rachel: I'm really really sorry there were Irish hearts broken it just felt like I mean Melvin Mallard has essentially become what I can describe as an enemy of the Irish people it was it was such an incredible game it was such an incredible account of themselves Ireland were ahead for an hour before Manon scored two goals in 10 minutes. 71 minutes, please.

29:26Chloe: Thank you. Well, we had 71 minutes. No, we were 71 minutes in before France got back into it. So it made me feel better. Do you know the kind of way? We were 71 minutes into the game going, we're fucking ahead here. Jesus.

29:38Rachel: I really thought that this was, I mean, this is one of the best performances that I've seen Ireland put on. And I think, like you said, Rach, I think everyone kind of expected that this was going to be probably on balance, a France win. Ireland took the game to France in a way that I the confidence the kind of composure the chances they were creating it made France look like a second-rate team I stop I honestly no honestly the I mean within the three minutes you've got you know that Connolly free kick left corner and like to be fair French goalkeeper absolutely outstanding game was 100 % one of the big reasons why the, you know, on tip-in, the game was ticked.

30:18Rachel: Absolutely incredible saves as well. But it felt like in the first, what, 10, 11 minutes or so, there was at least four chances.

30:25Chloe: Yeah, three really good chances in the opening 10. I went into this game like that, thinking this is going to be bloody tough. We're in Ligue 1, we know we're coming up against. And look, I know we beat France before the last time we were in Ligue 1, but that was at the end of the group stages. You know, things had kind of been determined. And so I feel like mentally both teams were in a very different place going into that game. Not to take away from the fact that we beat them 3-1. It was unreal. But going into this one, you know, France are a team that always scare me. They play with such flair, such speed.

30:58Chloe: They've got such quality players in that team. And I just thought like what you saw from Ireland, that they had a very clear game plan. I've been so impressed with when they get their game plan, how diligently players can stick to it for the full 90 minutes. and I just thought that they knew they weren't going to have much of the ball but what they managed to do and what Carla Ward is managing to create is a team that can be really threatening when they do have it as opposed to just kind of like some half-hearted punt it down the end and hope someone gets on the end of it. There's a real clear counter-attacking style of play that Ireland have developed and they make teams work for a result.

31:34Chloe: There's no kind of, I think people now know you come into games against Ireland, it's not going to be easy and if you want to come out with the three points it's going to be a bloody hard job to do it a hard task to do it so yeah we created three really clear good quality opportunities the first open in 10 minutes which I was kind of like a we should have believed and scored but b I was like okay this is not going as maybe as I expected despite France getting a corner in the opening minute and so for McCabe to get the goal she did brilliant work from Emily Murphy in the lead up to it wonderful kind of assist from her she was brilliant all night and I really enjoyed her and Kira Caruso playing together because both of those players are excellent uh counter-attacking players they have an engine on them and they are so good out of possession they put the back line under so much pressure Jean-Francois um Aurélien Jean-Francois had a super game I thought she was she's so quick so every time we did have a counter-attack she was so quick to get back to the ball you know Kira Caruso or Emily Murphy were piling in on the pressure and she's so calm in possession as well so that's kind of I guess what made it tricky for Ireland but as you said yeah a super performance and I think Carla Ward is starting to understand now when she first came in I think she had a style of play she wanted to play and she tried to play it and realized okay it's not going to be as simple as just implementing what I want she's got a little bit of Ireland into her and Ireland now got a little bit of Carla Ward into her and I think they found a really nice blend.

33:00You could

33:01Rachel: definitely see how much it meant to her when the mccabe goal went in it kind of panned over to where she was standing and the ecstatic she was absolutely beaming obviously the bench has gone absolutely wild but you could tell like there was like a a proper excitement for her but i think there was also maybe a tempering in the fact that it was so early on in the game and you didn't really know like whether this was going to be okay christ we're going to shut ourselves where we're one nil up okay can we keep this lead are we going to be able to keep this lead do we do we go again um but what i absolutely loved was the mentality that ireland showed to kind of they they didn't they kept their composure they're like we're one nil up let's go again it was almost like a nil nil start you know when like we used to say like the team captains used to say okay one nil pretend it's nil nil go again like it's this it was that mentality that i saw with the with the island team when they kind of regrouped they were like okay this means absolutely nothing if we don't keep this lead and it kind of felt like especially after halftime there were so many again really deep like decent decent irish chances and it kind of felt like oh like if you don't get another one I feel like the game is gonna tip because it felt like towards like the probably about 65 70 minutes then that's when France were yeah yeah it was like the momentum and the kind of shift and like the intensity of which Ireland were playing it was starting to take its toll on them and they were starting to kind of step off a little bit they were they were becoming less to less to the first balls and it felt like France were then knowing that that was kind of where their weakness was and then stepping up again and full credit to Mallard I mean the the foot the close footwork the trickery the kind of her ability to take on players there's a fearlessness in the way that she plays and you know two goals bottom right hand corner it just felt like I I just felt a real sense of kind of like oh they didn't deserve that they didn't deserve that at all I mean what was it like for you watching it because I felt like it was like this oh yeah

34:41Chloe: oh like constant it was tough it was tough and I felt like a goal was coming for France and I thought part of me was a bit like you know if anyone's gonna score I don't mind it's Mallard I think she's been having such a good season how she didn't start for France I don't know um so part of me was a bit like okay fine if it's going to be anybody it could be you uh you don't need to get the second one um but I just thought like the fight then we saw from Ireland to get back into it to get that second goal you know I was super proud of and Denise O'Sullivan had all but scored only for Marianne Tonekototo to pull off her best feckin defending I've ever seen and like saved with their face she ended up in the back of the net and the whole I think it was the force in which

35:21Rachel: the ball hit her was crazy like it took her back with it and I was like it was in for everyone

35:27Chloe: we were all up we were you know and um so yeah I just it's hard and I came to McCabe command she was like look end of day we didn't come away with three points and it's in that raw moment it's so disappointing but you do have to look at it and go we came we competed absolutely competed we made France work very very hard to get those three points they were very relieved when they came off the pitch that that they'd come away with the three points and to minimize them to only two shots on target against us is ridiculous and I think there is a step up in quality across the team and I think you know we've seen them learn a lot from the kind of slower performances at the beginning of Carla Ward's tenure and I just think that kind of playoff against Belgium was a real turning point for Ireland where they almost went, okay, I see what we're trying to do now as a team and like, I really buy into it.

36:19Chloe: This could work for us. This could actually, yeah, we might not be a team who has loads of possession. And, you know, we're not a big bowl playing team. And as much as Carla Ward would like that, I think she's realized what we're good at and then helped Ireland to become more impactful when they do have possession and they do counterattack and they do look a real threat when they go forward. So that's quite exciting. I think the frustrating thing for Ireland was that Poland took points off the Netherlands. And ultimately, you know, if Ireland is trying to get anywhere in this table, they're probably thinking more than likely Poland might be the team we can do better than.

36:53Chloe: But now they've gone and picked up points against the Netherlands. So we're a bit like scrambling a little bit. And yeah, we face the Netherlands on Saturday and maybe without some key players potentially, which won't be good. but I do think they can take this and try and use it as fuel to know how well they can play and hopefully take that into the Netherlands rather than go into a disappointed.

37:18Rachel: Well, I think, Rachel, you kind of touched on there the sort of the foundations that Carla Ward has built and it kind of feels like the foundational layer has been built already and it kind of feels like, okay, well, the next stage is kind of like the first level. It's kind of, okay, well, what does that look like? How do you establish that style? How do you grow in that confidence? How do you look at the performances that you have? And yes, you're not getting the results but you're playing the right way and there's a belief in the system that you're enacting. We've got a really lovely question in from Patrick on the Football Ramble Discord.

37:43Rachel: He's saying that it was just over a year to go until the World Cup. What's your assessment of Ireland and how they're shaping up?

37:49Chloe: I mean, I've probably touched on it there in that I feel like they found, Carla Ward has found a nice balance in what she wants out of Ireland and what she thinks they can, how she thinks they can play. I think you can see a real buy-in from the players. I also think across the board, players have improved players are getting more minutes marissa shiva is playing regular minutes you can see that in her performance and in her confidence on the ball emily murphy is having a great you know start with ireland and only recently really coming into the team and at times early on maybe looked a little bit lost kind of sometimes run around a little bit aimlessly whereas now i feel like she's got a real clear understanding of what her role is she was everywhere uh on tuesday and as I said I just thought her and Kira Caruso together were such a threat it reminded me a little bit of like when you roll the dice and you play Aruso and Blaxtenius together right they can be brilliant together but who's going to come off the bench and I just felt like the two of them together was a really good roll of the dice because while we're going to be absorbing a lot of pressure to have both of them as outlets prove to be such a threat so I've really enjoyed that you've got players like Aoife Mannion, Caitlin Hayes, players like that who are playing well for club and getting regular minutes and initially I remember looking at it going Christ we're going up against like a Baltimore and a Grasque Oro and then I'm like hang on a lot of the Irish players now play against them in the WSL so they know what to expect and I just think it made it meant that they were so much more switched on during the whole 90 minutes and I think that's what really impressed me is Ireland have always been quite disciplined but they're sustaining and

39:23Rachel: improving that even more well Patrick there's your answer and I'm assuming maybe making some quite big assumptions there. But given that your name is Patrick, I'm assuming you'll quite like that answer, to be fair. A quick word for Scotland, who battered Luxembourg 5-0 thanks to Caroline Weir, hat-trick. I mean, who bloody else? They're in League B. Northern Ireland are also in League B. Chris Lindsay had a tough start with a 2-0 defeat away in Switzerland. Wales kicks off with a 2-2 draw against Czechia. We had Josie Green on the pod on Tuesday, of course, and she agreed that this is going to be a very transitional phase i've got a lot of stick actually from that pod about my ability to size a baby uh through the various phases of the weeks so yeah to be fair though like people seem to use

40:08Chloe: really random measuring tools like it could be a fruit or like it could be a fucking ball like how

40:13Rachel: are you supposed to know literally i didn't even know this is the fucking thing but here we are it's a peanut it's a watermelon i don't know well that well that's the thing at 22 weeks did you know that it was the size of a large banana no why would why would you measure it in a banana

40:26Chloe: is it that shape that's a stupid measurement yeah that's what i said like don't use fucking things to measure it by they're not even the same shape why would you do that i've got that's making me think that your baby looks like a banana at 22 weeks that's stupid you know you're the first

40:41Rachel: person who's agreed with my assessment of the whole fruit thing and i have no doubt this is going to be clipped up this is going to be clipped up and i'm going to feel validated and that's absolutely fine. On that weird and wonderful note, thank you so much for listening to Upfront. We'll be back on Tuesday to discuss more international football, including the Asian Cup. And we've got a very, very exciting interview from one of my former teammates. I'll give you that little clue that we're recording next week. Definitely stay tuned for that. In the meantime, you can find us on Instagram and x slash Twitter.

41:13Rachel: I'm at morgy underscore 89. Rach is at girls on the ball and we are at Upfront underscore pod. You can also find us on YouTube at Upfront Pod. See you next week.

41:38Rachel: Upfront is a Stack production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

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