Vera Pauw fears the proposed introduction of a tiered international qualification format will make it "virtually impossible" for countries like the Republic of Ireland to make major tournaments.
On Friday Pauw named her squad for next week's huge World Cup qualifier against Finland at Tallaght Stadium, where a win would send Ireland into the play-offs.
It's a massive night - a sellout - and though Pauw stressed her main focus was on getting the three points, she was honest about her wider concerns around the game, claiming UEFA's well-intentioned changes are fundamentally flawed.
FAI CEO Jonathan Hill is due to meet UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin on Monday to outline Ireland's worries.
"There's plans to create a first, second and third tier in the next qualification campaign, which would be detrimental for the development of the game," the Dutch woman told a press conference.
"I think we should focus on that at the moment from a policy point of view, but Jonathan Hill is dealing with that.
"The plans are, you'd have a first tier with the first 16 countries based on the UEFA coefficient, not including friendly games, which would put for example Ireland, but also Scotland and Wales, into the second tier. The [winner] of the group in the second tier, after playing for two years in the lower level, would have to play a play-off with the number two team in the top tier, without having the opportunities to play friendly games [against the strongest nations].
"That means the chance to qualify will be minimised instead of being opened for the second tier. The top teams will grow away from the rest, and that [will hurt] development of the game."
"Small changes can make big differences in that plan."
Pauw has been vocal about the need to address the imbalances within the game; in their two qualifiers against Georgia in this campaign, the Girls in Green have scored 20 goals without reply.
That's not a scenario that benefits anyone, the manager said.
"England has the best league with the most money, Germany is the second with the most money, and then the third is France with the most money. That is what it is at this moment. You could say it is the same in the men's game also but the women's game has not developed yet to a stage where it can take care of itself.
"The associations need to take care of the second tier. The ones with average money don't get anything. The ones with no money get support. That is the situation.
"As usual with things, who is going to discuss it?
"It's up to UEFA of course. They decided and they have good intentions for the game. Without FIFA and UEFA we wouldn't be where we are... it's been with all good intentions but I think that in this case the expertise for sports development needs to step up and have another discussion about it and see if we can succeed. Small changes can make big differences in that plan."
When asked if it would be much more difficult for Ireland to qualify for tournaments in the new format, Pauw said: "That's true. Virtually impossible."
A year ago Ireland missed out on the summer's Euros when Ukraine pipped them to runner-up spot in their group. Pauw and her players had to watch on as Ukraine then lost a play-off to Northern Ireland, who took their place at the tournament in England where they lost to Norway, Austria and the host nation.
Would Ireland have fared better?
"Northern Ireland's group was a very difficult group," said Pauw.
"Northern Ireland has done so well so we don't know if we'd have won (any games) but we are higher ranked so on the basis (of logic) we could have qualified (by beating the North in the play-offs), and then in that group we could have shown the world where we are and the steps we're making, gaining experience for the next step."
Pauw has endured a challenging couple of months on a personal level, revealing in July that she'd suffered abuse and serious sexual assault during her time as a player and coach in Dutch football.
She publicly thanked the Irish public for their support when she guested on the panel for RTÉ's coverage of the Women's Euro 2022 clash between Finland and Germany and Pauw again took the opportunity to publicly show her gratitude for the backing she has received.
"I'd been hiding under a stone for a few weeks. Then I decided to go on television because I wanted to thank everybody for the exceptional warmth... it was overwhelming. I could hardly grasp the warmth I got from Ireland. It kept me on my feet.
"It's the hardest thing I've done in my life but also the best thing, because I feel free, it's out of my body. I feel open in my relationships with people but there is still a long way to go.
"I repeat, I want to be seen as a coach first. I'm the same Vera. For me it's the end of the a process, for you it's a shock. I'm a better Vera than I was before my statement.
"We have the game against Finland, it's a huge game, it needs all our energy, all our attention, see if we can get a result from that.
"In Dutch we say, 'don't sell the skin of a bear before you shoot him'. It's a very hard and long road to go."
