DENISE O’SULLIVAN WAS hailed as a “hugely important player” for Gotham FC as she returned from injury over the weekend.
The Republic of Ireland international had been sidelined with a knee setback, and came off the bench in the second half of Gotham’s 1-1 draw with Portland Thorns on Friday night.
Ireland manager Carla Ward watched on at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey as O’Sullivan featured off the bench in the 65th minute. Gotham acting head coach Shaun Harris was pleased to have the Cork midfielder back in action.
“Denise is a hugely important player for the team,” Harris told his post-match press conference.
“Her experience, her ability on the ball, to know what to do in certain situations – when to speed up, when to slow it down, when to foul, when to tackle. She takes up many good positions, and you saw when she came on today what she can bring to the team, that urgency of getting the ball. You can see a real belief and confidence within the team when she’s on the pitch.
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“So really pleased with Denise and the sooner we can get her back to full fitness, it will benefit us.”
Having opened up on her decision to leave Liverpool after less than six months and return to the NWSL in an interview with The 42 last week, O’Sullivan spoke to the media after the game.
“I’m very happy here so far. It’s been only seven weeks, but everyone has been so welcoming at the club,” said the 32-year-old.
“It’s a very high performance culture, a really good environment to be part of and I’m being challenged every day. I’m really excited to be here and excited for the future with the club.”
Carla Ward (left) watched on as O'Sullivan returned from injury. Tom Maher / INPHO
Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO
O’Sullivan also spoke about a “very supportive conversation” with Ireland boss Ward about the move.
“She wanted me to do what made me happy and that was coming back to the USA. She didn’t mind. She knows I take care of my body well enough, so she didn’t really care about the travel back and forth. She was just very supportive of whatever decision I wanted to make. She’s here at the game tonight, so that’s nice.”
O’Sullivan looked lively as she returned from a training ground injury to the opposite knee to the one that has been dogged by MCL issues of late. As detailed with The 42, she is looking to “get in a rhythm again” as Ireland’s World Cup play-off semi-final against Kazakhstan looms large in October.
But Gotham commands her attention for now. Friday night’s draw set a new club record for an unbeaten run (10 games) as the defending champions sit five points clear at the top of the table with eight games of the regular season remaining.
“Everyone at the end was very disappointed with just a point. I think that goes to show the standards of this team,” O’Sullivan reflected, after Jaedyn Shaw’s 60th-minute opener was cancelled out by Sophia Smith’s penalty 15 minutes later.
“We’re going to come up against really tough teams in this league, and I think we have to try and find more ways to get creative in the box and take more shots and try to score more.
“But the girls put in a really big effort. Really proud of the team and just looking forward to the next game now. We’ll go over the video and see what we can improve on and keep working on.”
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‘Hugely important player’: Denise O’Sullivan hailed on injury return for Gotham
DENISE O’SULLIVAN WAS hailed as a “hugely important player” for Gotham FC as she returned from injury over the weekend.
The Republic of Ireland international had been sidelined with a knee setback, and came off the bench in the second half of Gotham’s 1-1 draw with Portland Thorns on Friday night.
Ireland manager Carla Ward watched on at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey as O’Sullivan featured off the bench in the 65th minute. Gotham acting head coach Shaun Harris was pleased to have the Cork midfielder back in action.
“Denise is a hugely important player for the team,” Harris told his post-match press conference.
“Her experience, her ability on the ball, to know what to do in certain situations – when to speed up, when to slow it down, when to foul, when to tackle. She takes up many good positions, and you saw when she came on today what she can bring to the team, that urgency of getting the ball. You can see a real belief and confidence within the team when she’s on the pitch.
“So really pleased with Denise and the sooner we can get her back to full fitness, it will benefit us.”
Having opened up on her decision to leave Liverpool after less than six months and return to the NWSL in an interview with The 42 last week, O’Sullivan spoke to the media after the game.
“I’m very happy here so far. It’s been only seven weeks, but everyone has been so welcoming at the club,” said the 32-year-old.
“It’s a very high performance culture, a really good environment to be part of and I’m being challenged every day. I’m really excited to be here and excited for the future with the club.”
O’Sullivan also spoke about a “very supportive conversation” with Ireland boss Ward about the move.
“She wanted me to do what made me happy and that was coming back to the USA. She didn’t mind. She knows I take care of my body well enough, so she didn’t really care about the travel back and forth. She was just very supportive of whatever decision I wanted to make. She’s here at the game tonight, so that’s nice.”
O’Sullivan looked lively as she returned from a training ground injury to the opposite knee to the one that has been dogged by MCL issues of late. As detailed with The 42, she is looking to “get in a rhythm again” as Ireland’s World Cup play-off semi-final against Kazakhstan looms large in October.
But Gotham commands her attention for now. Friday night’s draw set a new club record for an unbeaten run (10 games) as the defending champions sit five points clear at the top of the table with eight games of the regular season remaining.
“Everyone at the end was very disappointed with just a point. I think that goes to show the standards of this team,” O’Sullivan reflected, after Jaedyn Shaw’s 60th-minute opener was cancelled out by Sophia Smith’s penalty 15 minutes later.
“We’re going to come up against really tough teams in this league, and I think we have to try and find more ways to get creative in the box and take more shots and try to score more.
“But the girls put in a really big effort. Really proud of the team and just looking forward to the next game now. We’ll go over the video and see what we can improve on and keep working on.”
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