So, after the sixty four year wait, all of the build up, all of the hype and all of the optimism, Wales went out of the World Cup tonight with what, I’m afraid, was a whimper, beaten 3-0 by an England team which didn’t have to play that well to register a win which has left me slightly relieved that it wasn’t worse for us.
Wales’ World Cup campaign lasted eight ignominious days and, although no one would have thought it at the time, the high spot was the forty five minutes which followed a woeful first half against the USA. For short periods of that second half against the Americans we looked like the side we can be, but, there’s no two ways about this, Wales have been one of the worst teams in this competition (in fact, I’d only rate Qatar as being worse at the moment).
I take no pleasure in saying that and I think it’s important not to totally lose track of just what this squad has achieved in getting to this tournament. However, I think it’s also important that we don’t slip into “plucky little Wales” mode and try to make out that it was only ever about ending that long almost three score years and ten wait for World Cup football.
The fact is that, whereas we’ve played two Euros and another World Cup and definitely looked like we belonged on such a stage with the first two (the results clearly indicated that we did in 1958 as well), we’ve looked out of our depth here with even the one point we gained not really being deserved.
I asked a messageboard question yesterday asking whether Wales were crap, under-performing or a mixture of both? Attempting to answer it, I said it was a mixture of both with the balance more towards under-performing, but having had another thirty six hours and tonight’s game to reflect further on it, I’m even more in favour of it mainly being that we’ve under-performed.
Gareth Bale was withdrawn at half time tonight after again contributing very little (Rob Page said it was because of a hamstring injury). Given what he’s done for his country over more than a decade and a half now, I can understand the thinking which says that Bale might come up with something no one else on the pitch could produce in a minute, but logic, and the evidence of your own eyes, tells you the reality of the situation.
I remember that Scotland game at Cardiff City Stadium in the pouring rain which Bale won with a stunning shot two minutes from time. That was ten years ago last month and I’d say that was around the time Gareth Bale was at his absolute peak, but the truth has to be that even that Bale ( the one which was, in my opinion, the third best player in the world for a few years) would have struggled to do much in this World Cup if he had played as little football in the two years leading up to the tournament as the current one has.
So, in a way, Bale hasn’t really under-performed to that great an extent in these last three games when you consider the evidence of the last year or two. Much the same applies to Aaron Ramsey who played the full ninety minutes tonight, but, again, was completely unable to reproduce a Turkey type performance from nearly eighteen months ago when he was able to dispel the sort of doubts he is facing now.
No, the under-performance has mainly come from the younger, fitter, members of the squad and, after watching the three games, I think anyone who has played a significant amount of time (say thirty minutes) during them are kidding themselves if they say they’re satisfied with their personal contribution to this competition..
I genuinely cannot pick a Welsh player of the tournament, I’d offer Ethan Ampadu, Keiffer Moore, Chris Mepham and Joe Rodon as candidates only because I think they had spells in games where they played well, but none of them were able to maintain that form over any sort of concerted period or from one game to the next.
That is the real shame of this sorry campaign, the squad as a whole did not do itself justice. Granted, I think the conditions were tough in at least one of the matches and there was proof from the quality of the opposition that the World Cup is a step up from the Euros, but we’ve looked unfit, slow and disorganized compared to most other sides and I’m not sure there’s another team in the competition that has passed the ball worse than us.
Rob Page was full of praise for his players after the game. I suppose he always was going to be, but does he really think his team were “outstanding” in the first half when, in a game they had to win, they defended in depth, sometimes a little luckily, to keep the scoresheet blank?
No, for me, Rob Page, who I think had done a decent job as manager beforehand and so wasn’t surprised when he was offered a new contract, has had a bit of a nightmare in this tournament and I’d say he’s now in need of a strong start to the qualification process for the next Euros when they begin in March.
It’s been hard to figure out what the plan has been tactically in the last three games and, although I appreciate that there’s not been time to get much meaningful coaching and fitness work done, I do wonder whether a coaching hierarchy consisting of three centrebacks (Messrs Page, Symons and Knill) is really the best way to go?
England’s goals came from a Marcus Rashford free kick on fifty minutes and within another minute, Phil Foden made it two before Rashford got the third with about twenty minutes left from a shot which Danny Ward should have saved. Meanwhile, the USA took the second qualification place by beating Iran 1-0, so they’ll face the Netherlands in the last sixteen, with England having a tricky looking test against Senegal.
One final plus point to finish on when it comes to Wales, Rubin Colwill came on for the last ten minutes of tonight’s game to at least get some playing experience from the tournament. About half an hour before kick off, I heard Nathan Blake strongly implying that Colwill’s club were making a mess of his development and, although City would say that there are valid reasons why that’s happened this season, I’d agree that his club career has virtually stood still for eighteen months.
Now, in a side facing a real relegation scrap in the second half of the season, a side that’s main weakness is clearly a lack of goals, Colwill has to surely be a starter most weeks for City. In a team crying out for a proper number ten (not Joe Ralls Andy Rinomhota or Sheyi Ojo!), the fact his club have resolutely failed to play him in that position is a real head scratcher. I’m pretty certain that we’ll score goals at a better rate for the rest of the season if Colwill becomes a far bigger part of our attacking play, but, for that to happen, timid City managers have got to accept that this might mean that a few more may be conceded along the way.
Finally, City’s under 18s were 2-0 winners over Bristol City at Leckwith on Saturday with Gabriele Biancheri scoring a goal in either half.
