Having written virtually nothing on Ryan Giggs’ first two matches in charge back in March because I barely saw anything of them following my house move a few days earlier, I suppose that is a contributory factor in why I have this feeling that his reign as Wales manager/coach has barely got started yet and, having now played another game earlier this week, it still seems to me that we are in something of a holding pattern waiting for the autumn when the proper stuff begins when it comes to the national side’s new manager/coach.
That’s not really fair on Giggs. After all, it’s rare enough for Wales to beat any country 6-0, let alone the one with the biggest population in the world and all of this in your first game in charge.
Of course, under normal circumstances, I would have given the China match, and the Uruguay game which followed, much more attention, but, I must say it all seemed so low key in the way it was covered by the media and greeted by supporters.
Once more, this seems harsh on Giggs who it has to be said has been pretty bold with his selections so far in a way that reminds of much of the time John Toshack was in charge – while Giggs’ hand has been forced to some extent by injuries to senior and very important players, he has still decided to leave someone like Hal Robson-Kanu out of his first two squads.
Overall, a big win over China, a deserved, but narrow, defeat by a good Uruguayan team and now a 0-0 draw with Mexico represents a decent set of results to start with for Giggs, who must realise that there are many Wales fans out there who were less than enamoured with his appointment.
I’ll freely admit that it used to grate with me when Giggs would routinely pull out of Wales squads for friendly games with injuries which never seemed severe enough for him to be missing from the Manchester United squad for their next match – often they were only three or four days after his country had played as well.
Maybe, that’s got something to do with my lack of appreciation regarding what our new national team manager has done so far, but, whatever the reason, having watched the Mexico match on IPlayer, there was not a great deal happening to persuade me that the game merited as much analysis as I normally indulge in on here.
After that cue for widespread cheering, what can I say about the game which was played in front of a crowd of about 80,000 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California – it goes without saying of course that there weren’t too many there supporting the team in red!
Well, when your goalkeeper is almost universally selected as your man of the match, it tends to suggest that your team spent most of the time on the back foot. That was certainly the case against Mexico and it has to be said that the Central Americans, who are preparing for their seventh consecutive World Cup Finals, really should have won, but were let down by a strange failure to convert what was at times almost complete dominance into authentic goalscoring chances – they had a few, but not nearly as many as you would expect from a team which dominated the goal attempt stats to the tune of twenty two to three.
If the general tone of this piece so far has tended to be pretty negative, I should add that we are talking here about a game between a side made up of a squad of twenty eight players hoping to make it into the abridged one of twenty three to be announced shortly for the tournament which starts in Russia a fortnight today and one missing it’s best player, it’s very important holding midfielder and it’s captain for all but the first fifteen minutes or so.
With no Gareth Bale, no Joe Allen and one or two other first teamers, it was always going to be tough for Wales against a side which had only lost twice in it’s last twenty one matches and it was made even harder with the early loss of Ashley Williams with a suspected broken rib.
Now, Wales’ skipper has had a wretched club season at Everton and his performances for his country have not had that air of authority which you took for granted at one time, but he remains an important member of the Wales team. This is especially so because, as the day when he is no longer there in the defence gets ever closer, there has not appeared to be a youngster coming through (if we accept that Ethan Ampadu is more likely to be used in midfield at this stage of his career) who suggested he could step into Williams’ boots.
Therefore, perhaps the best thing about the game from a Welsh point of view was that Chris Mepham, the twenty year old Brentford centreback who broke into their side in the second half of the season just ended, came through a very testing game in front of a crowd which was, perhaps, three times bigger than he anything he had experienced before with flying colours.
Mepham, the subject of a £5.5 million bid by Bournemouth in January that was turned down by Brentford, was assured and decisive in his defending while also showing signs of leadership qualities which only added to the feeling that he may have a long term future in the Welsh side.
Alongside Mepham, Bristol Rovers captain Tom Lockyer performed like someone with far more than four caps when he came on for Williams and, with Mexico enjoying some success down both flanks in the second half in particular, the two centrebacks were instrumental in repelling what was, at times, wave after wave of attacks by what was, to all intents and purposes, the home side.
Behind Mepham and Lockyer, Wayne Hennessy is another who was thought of as an automatic choice not too long ago, but has had his place in the team questioned somewhat following a very costly mistake against Ireland. However, he did his cause no harm at all here with a series of good saves (nine of Mexico’s twenty goal attempts were on target) and was a deserved winner of that Man of the Match award.
With Connor Roberts of Swansea, George Thomas of Leicester and Matt Smith of Manchester City (combined age sixty) all getting game time, with the latter two making their debuts, as second half substitutes, we are beginning to see why there was so much enthusiasm a couple of years ago regarding the group coming through at Under 17/18 level at that time.
Wales are in action next when they entertain Ireland in the Nations League which begins the qualifying process for Euro 2020 – from a personal perspective, that will be the game when the Giggs era really gets under way and, hopefully, he will be able to rely on a stronger squad then than he has been able to select from in his first three matches.
