Weekly review 24 June 2021.

Posted on June 24, 2021 by The other Bob Wilson

First of all, apologies for the fact that this so called weekly update is the first one I’ve managed for about a month! My excuses are, first, there has been the not inconsiderable distraction of Wales in the Euro Finals and, second, that I think that this close season so far has seen what is a record number of players linked with us when compared to other summers since this blog started.

So many of the stories linking us with different players have had an air of we’re desperate for hits on our website to them – for example, despite having signed a striker almost as soon as the 20/21 campaign ended in James Collins, that hasn’t stopped various media outlets mentioning us as a possible destination for almost any striker that has attracted interest from a Championship club.

Now, perhaps someone knows something about Keiffer Moore’s future that City fans don’t, but, although it must be accepted that our top scorer could do something for Wales during the Euros that gets the sort of club we could not turn down interested in him, I hope and believe that the intention is definitely to try and keep hold of him for the coming season, hence why so many of the stories seen in recent weeks seem to be pie in the sky to me.

However, among all of the far fetched stuff, there does appear the occasional story which seems to have a ring of truth to it to me and one of those came to fruition this week as, with the end of the month which sees contracts run out getting closer, City made two signings with the strong likelihood that there will be another one soon. One of the new arrivals definitely fell into that ring of truth category I mentioned earlier and I’ll come to that shortly.

First, though some words about a player who has left us for a fee in the last few days. In some cases, I don’t want to hear about players leaving us for a fee (I’ve already mentioned one such example in Keiffer Moore), but there are plenty within our squad who I wouldn’t mind seeing leave, especially if we could get some money for them – even if in this case, what we’re reported to be getting for him represents a small fraction of what we supposedly paid for him.

A confirmation appeared yesterday of something that had been reported the previous day – Robert Glatzel has returned to Bundesliga 2 to sign for SV Hamburg who have paid what has been reported as just over £400,000 for him.

I have mixed feelings over this, because for nearly all of his two seasons with us, I thought Glatzel had it in him to be an effective striker and consistent scorer at this level, but, on reflection, it seems to me that he had trouble adapting to the Championship’s physicality and, rather like Kenneth Zohore before him, City treated him as a target man pure and simple when his real strengths lay in other directions.

I changed my mind to an extend about Glatzel when he was given three weeks or so to make an impact during December/early January following Keiffer Moore’s hamstring injury picked up against the jacks. Glatzel was unlucky in some respects that this period was our least successful of the season and ended up costing Neil Harris his job, but Glatzel had to take his share of responsibility for that because he was unable to impose himself on matches in the manner that Moore had made a habit of doing.

Glatzel’s new club is one that I’m not keen on (the 1967/68 Cup Winners’ Cup Semi Final being responsible for that!) and I’ve enjoyed the fact that a club which, historically, is a giant of the German game has had such problems securing the promotion it must have thought was inevitable when it first dropped into the second tier in that country.

I make it that 21/22 will be Hamburg’s fourth consecutive season in Germany’s equivalent of the Championship – because of their size, they are something of a target for the other clubs in that league and they do seem good in finding ways to miss out on the promotion they must so desperately want. However, it has to be seen as a great move and opportunity for Glatzel because he’ll be playing in front of very big crowds in all of his home games and he could be a real fans favourite if he can score the goals to make this the season the club return to what they must believe is their rightful home – I wish him well because he seemed a decent bloke who tried to fully integrate into the Welsh way of life.

As for the three players who have come in or are coming in, I’ll start with the one that there hasn’t been official confirmation about yet. Rohan Luthra is a nineteen year old goalkeeper who was released by Crystal Palace at the end of last season. Luthra has played for England at Under 19 level and it was reported a few days ago that he will be joining us. If Luthra’s arrival is confirmed, then you do wonder if it might mean that one of the two senior keepers at the club (almost certainly Alex Smithies given his contract situation and alleged wages I’d say) may be allowed to leave. With Joe Day already having gone and finances tighter than they have been for some time, I wonder if there is some thought being given to having George Ratcliffe as back up keeper at the club with Luthra being third choice?

Slough born centreback Mark McGuiness is an Irish Republic Under 21 international who has signed a three year contract with City on a free transfer following Arsenal’s decision to release him despite him still having a season left on his deal with them. McGuiness played in a pre season friendly for Arsenal at MK Dons last year where he scored one of the goals in a 4-1 win after being brought on as a substitute and the impression he created that day is probably a reason why some Arsenal fans expressed surprise at the fact that they were prepared to let him move on and also that he would do so for nothing.

Fan reviews at Ipswich, where he spent last season on loan making twenty five appearances in all while scoring once, were more mixed with some saying that he had promise and was pretty good at playing out from the back and others remarking that he was someone who always had a mistake in him. At twenty years old, it’s hard to know if McGuiness has been signed as a “project” or whether Mick McCarthy sees him as someone who will come straight in to the first team squad- if I had to guess, I’d say he’ll start off with the Under 23s once the competitive stuff begins, but it may well be that it won’t take him long in becoming a bit like, say, Joel Bagan or Mark Harris in that he’ll spend more time with the seniors than the Under 23s.

At twenty four, Ryan Wintle, who has signed on a three year deal following his departure from Crewe when his contract ran out, is definitely going to be a part of our first team squad. Wintle is like his former Crewe club mate, Perry Ng, in that he has plenty of experience from playing for them in the lower leagues, having won a promotion from League Two in 19/20. This was the deal which had the ring of truth to it I mentioned earlier and I’ve said before that, although I shouldn’t really make such sweeping generalisations, the fact that the midfielder we’ve brought in plays for a club like Crewe has to be a good sign.

When looking at the response of Crewe fans, it seems universally positive, Wintle, who plays primarily as a defensive midfielder but has filled in an as an emergency centreback at times, was tracked by quite a few Championship clubs and the general view of those who have seen a lot of him since signing for Crewe as an eighteen year old is that he should be able to handle the step up in standards.

There have also been some announcements about pre season fixtures. Clearly, the pandemic means that the sort of opponents teams can play against is limited and this is reflected rather in the first team matches confirmed so far. On Saturday 17 July, we’re playing Cambridge United, newly promoted to League One, at home, we then go to Forest Green on Tuesday 20th, before another home match, against Exeter, on Saturday 24th. The two home games will be played at Leckwith behind closed doors, but it is hoped that they will be streamed for supporters to watch.

With the season starting on 7 August, there is still room for two more fixture announcements I’d reckon and you’d like to think that with restrictions on spectators easing and trial events (for example cricket at Sophia Gardens) taking place in Wales now, that there would be one game played at Cardiff City Stadium before the start of the competitive stuff.

Given the games arranged already, it follows that a return to work for the players is not far away and there’s been confirmation this week that pre season training will begin in earnest on Monday.

Earlier today, the Championship fixtures for this season were announced. City begin with what looks to be a testing home fixture against the division’s surprise team last season, Barnsley, before visits to newly promoted Blackpool and Peterborough and then August will be rounded off with successive Saturday home matches against the wurzels and Millwall.

With Barnsley in the process of losing their manager to West Brom it seems (what are the odds on their best player, the out of contract Alex Mowatt, following him I wonder?) it may be a much changed Yorkshire side that we face, so, even though we always lose at Peterborough and any game with Millwall these days should be treated as a banker draw, it could have been a more demanding first month for us – the full list of games can be seen here

Finally, a few words about Wales. As I expected and feared, we will be playing Denmark in the round of the last sixteen after they thumped Russia 4-1 in Copenhagen on Monday. Belgium’s 2-0 win over Finland enabled the Danes to finish second in their group despite them losing their first two matches, therefore, we will be playing in Amsterdam this Saturday at 5 o clock trying to maintain Wales’ record of always reaching the Quarter Finals of the major competitions they’ve qualified for.

When you consider that we’ll be playing against the country which seems to have become everyone’s second favourite side since what happened to Christian Eriksen, that Welsh fans are not allowed to travel to the Netherlands and that Danish fans have been given a twelve hour dispensation to travel to their near neighbours for the match, it’s not for nothing that I said in my piece on the Italy match that I’d be “very pleasantly surprised” if we were able to beat the Danes.

However, I take some heart from a comment I made in my piece on the Turkey win when I said that “strange and magical things can happen” to Wales when we play in this competition and who’s to say that they can’t do so again?

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A defeat against the impressive Italians, but Wales head to Amsterdam and the knock out stages

Posted on June 21, 2021 by The other Bob Wilson

With a defensive holding operation which I suppose you might expect from a side which, three goals in Belgium excepted, has a superb goals against record in competitive games in recent seasons, Wales qualified for the round of sixteen in the 2021 Euros, thereby making it an impressive three qualifications from the group stages in the three major competitions they’ve played in..

Although beaten 1-0 by Italy in Rome this evening, Wales made it through to the knock out stages as of right because of a superior goal difference over Switzerland who could not bring about the five goal swing needed to take them into second place, despite a 3-1 win over the very disappointing Turks.

I’d by pretty confident if I were Swiss mind because four points with a goal difference of minus one will surely be enough for them to clinch one of the four best third place finishes for them, but they’re going to have to go through a few days of nervous waiting before getting confirmation of this – Wales, on the other hand, know that they will be playing their next game in Amsterdam next Saturday evening..

As to who we’ll be playing, it’ll be the runners up in group B, but, as that could still be any of the four teams involved, it’s all still something of a mystery until tonight when the final round of fixtures in that group are played.

Although, our recent defeat against them doesn’t mean that we need to stop calling ourselves Belgium’s bogey side, we should be grateful that it is very unlikely to be them that we face. A draw in their final game against Finland would guarantee them first place, as, indeed, would a one goal defeat, with things only getting complicated if any defeat is by two or more goals.

Although the Finns have shown themselves to be defensively well organised and their victory over Denmark, albeit a traumatised Denmark, shows they’re capable of pulling off an upset, the likelihood is that Finland will end up with three points hoping that any defeat by the Belgians will be narrow enough to give them the chance of still finishing as runners up.

For that to happen, a Denmark side with no points from their two games so far would have to beat Russia knowing that a single goal win may not be enough to get them second spot, while the Russians could well end up rueing their 3-0 defeat against the Belgians when it comes to a second placed finish,with the probability being that they will have to avoid defeat to stand a chance of qualifying automatically or even as a best placed third.

If I had to predict, I’d say we will end up facing the team that are currently bottom of the group, Denmark. With Christian Eriksen discharged from hospital after a successful operation to fit him with a defibrillator, I’m sure the mood in the Danish camp is a better one and, having watched their unlucky 2-1 defeat against Belgium in midweek where they looked what they are, a top ten side in the world rankings, the Danes are the team I fear most out of our three likely opponents – I’d very pleasantly surprised if were able to beat them.

As for Finland and Russia, I’d say we would be looking at a very tight game where we might just be considered slight favourites. After all, we beat Finland twice in Nations League qualification, while I wouldn’t mind betting that there are some in the Russian side that still wake up in a cold sweat brought on by nightmares about what Messrs Ramsey, Bale and Taylor did to them in 2016! Being a bit more serious, I’ve not been too impressed with what I’ve seen of Russia in the competition so far, while Finland have something of an Iceland 2016 look to them which would make them doughty, if somewhat limited, opposition.

Coming back to what we do know, by finishing second in what I would rate as a tougher group than the one we won in 2016 (Russia were, arguably, better than Turkey this time around, while I’d argue Italy and Switzerland were better than England and Slovakia), Wales have defied their seeding, their odds and the large majority of pundits who had them down to finish last.

While we may not be in Croatia territory with their record of second and third placed finishes at World Cups and Iceland’s achievement of reaching the Quarter Finals in 2016 was remarkable considering their population of not much over six hundred thousand, Wales have done enough in the last five years to be up there challenging for a top six place in any country with a small population punching above their weight league table – no matter what happens from here, I believe our Euro campaign of 2021 now has to follow 1958 and 2016 as being deemed a success.

As for today, it could be said that the two manager/coaches went with different approaches when it came to team selection. While Roberto Mancini, with his team’s qualification secured, made eight changes, Robert Page limited himself to three as he left the three members of his squad facing a suspension if they picked up another booking (Keiffer Moore, Chris Mepham and Ben Davies) on the bench and brought in Neco Williams, Chris Gunter and Ethan Ampadu which meant that we reverted to the 3-4-3/5-3-2-1 seen in the last of the warm up games against Albania.

That day, we were non existent as an attacking force until we brought on Moore at half time and changed our formation – we had next to nothing to offer up front today as well, but this time we had an excuse in that we were playing a very good team.

After Italy had beaten Switzerland by a 3-0 score line that did not flatter them in the slightest, I saw a pundits’ discussion on ITV involving Gary Neville, Patrick Vierra and Roy Keane in which Italy were almost completely written off as possible winners of the tournament on the grounds that they had not played anyone good yet. Because I genuinely believe that the people who have played the game for a living have a better knowledge of it than those of us who are just spectators, I thought “fair enough” when I heard that verdict while thinking to myself that Italy were definitely the most impressive side I’ve seen so far.

Time will tell whether those three, who hold two hundred and sixty nine more international caps than I do, were right and I was wrong, but today Italy proved that, with something like a second string team out, they still are a very impressive outfit.

There was still the same intense high pressing game that had made life so difficult for Switzerland and Turkey and it is to Wales’ credit that they did not go the same way by suffering a three goal defeat or worse – especially when you consider that we had to play the last thirty five minutes with ten men following Ampsdu’s red card.

The Chelsea player was dismissed for a foul on Federico Bernardeschi where his foot was slightly off the floor when he made contact with the Italian’s shin. It was, we were told, a definite red card under the current interpretation of the law, but all that means to me is that the current interpretation is wrong.

 If you include our last Under 21 fixture, Wales have now had three players sent off in their last six games – there was Williams’ pathetic red card for handball against France and, although I’ve not seen Sion Spence’s sending off against Moldova, the fact he got a second yellow card, for a perceived dive, which was shown to him as he was being carried off on a stretcher rather tells a story!

It’s not the laws that are wrong, it’s the modern day interpretation being put on them that’s the problem – none of the three players would have seen red in more sensible times.

I won’t go into any great detail on the game. Suffice it to say that Italy’s 23-3 win in the goal attempts category accurately captures how the match went.

The winning goal was overdue by the time it arrived in the thirty sixth minute, but Wales will be angry and concerned that both of the goals they’ve conceded in the competition up to now have come from dead ball situations – this one was from a free kick by the very impressive Marco Verratti touched in by Matteo Pessina as he gained a vital yard on Joe Morrell.

Hardly surprisingly, Morrell’s limitations against opponents this good were exposed at times, but what do you expect from someone who spent most of last season on the Luton Town substitutes bench? Similarly, Charlton’s Gunter struggled occasionally, while the contributions of Joe Allen, Ampadu and Danny Ward, with his kicking anyway, told a story about how their league seasons had gone.

I’ve heard it said a few times that Italy are strongest in midfield at the moment, whereas, great servant though Allen has been and continues to be, this is the area where we are weakest. Little wonder then that I watched the game thinking that Wales’ world might collapse at any moment, but they were able to get a save (Ward was very good in that department again), a block or a challenge in that would prevent a goal – although we rode our luck on occasions, no one could deny our resilience and spirit.

Indeed, there were decent opportunities to end Italy’s ten game run without conceding a goal – Gunter probably came as close to scoring his first international goal as he’s ever done when he nodded Dan James’ corner on to the roof of the net and in the second half Ramsey got free in the inside right channel but was unconvincing, albeit from a narrow angle, as he seemed unsure what to do next. The worst miss was Bale’s though – he was completely unmarked as Joe Rodon’s header from a free kick dropped to him on his left foot about ten yards out, but his volley flew well over the bar, it was the sort of chance I’d expect him to score from about eight times out of ten.

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