Republic of Ireland women’s head coach Colin Bell wants his side to take inspiration from the Netherlands and revealed he holds the European champions as a ‘role model’.
Ireland face the Netherlands at Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday night looking to boost their chances of qualifying for the 2019 World Cup.
Bell’s side currently lie in second place in Group Three, level on points with the Netherlands, and will be looking to record a memorable victory.
But Bell admitted his side will have to take a defensive approach against such high-class opposition.
“At the moment in our development stage we are concentrating more on the defensive work,” Bell told OTB’s Joe Molloy.
“We need to improve going forward and also when we have possession. We are working on these things all the time but the Dutch are so good at what they do and they are also so fast.
“You can’t play with a high line against them – you’d get absolutely torn apart – because they have such fast players going forward and they also move the ball very quickly.
“So it is about getting bodies behind the ball, keeping it organised, but also having a threat going forward. We need to be a force going forward, with our pace that we also have – we showed that in Holland when we had four really good counter-attacking chances.
“And also, we want to keep the spectators and our fans on the edge of their seats. So they have to have a sense of something is going on, something could happen.”
Speaking about his own side’s strengths, Bell believes Ireland have the players available to improve their style of play and offered the Netherlands as an example of what he is striving for.
“We’re trying to get the right balance because we do have some very good technical players,” Bell added.
"So we’re trying to get that balance right between being organised; defensive work, we have a couple of really tough defenders.
“We need players who are going to get stuck in and players that are good in the air. But we also have a backline that can play as well, [like] Niamh Fahey. Going through the midfield with Denise O’Sullivan, Megan Connolly and Katie McCabe – technically very fine players.
“I want this team to be able to pass, have good possession, create chances, dominate games through possession, and I think we’re taking Holland as a good role model.”
Written by James Hopper
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