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Gareth Bale was withdrawn at half time tonight after again contributing very little (Rob Page said it was because of a hamstring injury).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.
I agree with your view that the under-performance has mainly come from the younger, fitter, members of the squad . But after England demolished Iran everyone seemed to think Iran would be an easy game for Wales. However, people seem to have forgotten that Iran qualified for the last 3 world cups (they have qualified for 6 tournaments in total), In 2018 they were in a group with Spain, Portugal and Morocco – drawing with Portugal, beating Morocco and losing 1-0 to Spain so they were no ‘mugs’ and some of their current squad had played in the last 3 competitions. This combined with the time of day the game kick off made them dangerous opponents as we found out which was not helped by our team under performing.
In hindsight the (UK time) 7pm kick-off against a young USA side was probably our easiest game and not being able to turn second half momentum into two goals made things a lot harder; 10am in the heat against a determined Iran side (basically equal to us in FIFA rankings) when Wales just didn’t show up at all made things almost impossible; Phil Foden’s dive and us starting so slowly after going one down against England put the last flicker of hope out for us having a successful tournament on the pitch.
I can see the reasoning behind first half selection against USA, but we’re left wondering what would have happened if second half side tactics against USA was used for full 90+ and what could have been if the team performance against England had been seen against Iran instead. What can happen when Ampadu has help from Allen instead of being asked to perform role of three players, eh?
Off the pitch, aside from some iffy comments about England and a truly embarrassing quote regarding Germany’s protest against being silenced, we did reasonably well. Hopefully the three recent tournaments we’ve experienced since 2016 have inspired the next generation and funded better coaching and facilities so that we have a proper legacy from this experience to look forward to.
Some thoughts:
– Dafydd Pritchard of BBC Wales asked last time Wales played well and suggested it might be as long ago as Turkey game in Euros 2020. I think this is unfair; we played well Poland away in NL with much weakened side, played well Austria at home for 90% of the game and played well (goalie error aside) Czechia away. However, I do take the point that we’ve been focusing on simply getting over the line for a while and I do take Podcast Pel-droed’s point that it’s now one good tournament performance in seven games. A lot has been said about Bale, Ramsey etc. and some has been said about Page, but I think Page’s backroom team really needs a freshen up if not in personal then certainly in ideas soon.
– Where was Joe Morrell? He was fairly regular in our side until Austria play-off game but that result (the heroic performance by Allen doing more than one job alone) seemed to lose him from starting games. He’s not sexy, he might not be match fit haven had rough start to season at Pompey (no way is Marlon Pack better choice) but he’s our watercarrier. If Morrell wasn’t fully fit, where was Dyland Levitt? He’s not always done well in international games, still lots needing development, but did us getting beat by Polska at home really scare Page off these two names? Was using Ampadu as one-man midfield really a better option? Giggs did everything possible to get Levitt and Smith game minutes, wisely predicting where we were desperate for young player to stand up, but while former still holds hope, I’m now less sure about now 23-year-old Mathew Smith. Someone please try converting Tyler Roberts instead who would be so much better in midfield role than Ramsey who is now pure 10.
– Bale, Ramsey, Hennessey, Gunter, Williams all still have roles to play going forward but we need to be far smarter about when and how to use them. It’s time to manage the transition to the future for, hopefully, Germany 2024 and beyond while recognising that we’re not in period of Toshack-lead reset where 17, 18 year-olds can play together with results being almost totally secondary.
– Was it me or did Colwill look fairly comfortable on the pitch? One misplaced pass but otherwise used his strength well, moved around efficiently and effectively and won at least one dual against much-fancied Bellingham.
– Ben Davies likely to be our captain going forward and much better in defensive three but we probably need more in midfield so wouldn’t surprise me to see us play as 4-2-3-1 again going forward. That will be interesting.
– The generation aged 25-30 are quite experienced now and while none seem to be hitting highs of core five (Williams, Davies, Allen, Ramsey, Bale), they can certainly be trusted.
– The generation of 20–25-year olds has some obvious names to be excited about and there are some to get excited by in 17-20 age group too. Together Stronger has given us so much so far so let’s keep it up and be excited one game at a time until we eventually win the whole darn thing.
Thanks both for your replies. BBIF, can’t argue with you there – I think many, myself included, read too much into Iran’s game with England and, in my case, the political situation in the country, but, as it turned out, I reckon the latter worked in their favour to an extent against us.
DJ, if I had to pick one overriding matter which requires attention over all others regarding Wales, it would be find a midfield player who would be at home at the level we’ve seen in those eight days. While the likes of Morrell, Smith and Levitt might be able to see us through a Nations League or, maybe, Euros, campaign alongside Ampadu, we need better in biggest tournament in the world. For now, I think we should stick with Joe Allen (as long as he can be fitter than he was in Qatar) because his brain can still get him through games at international level as he uses the experience of his seventy odd caps.
I look within the current squad for someone who could adequately be converted into a central midfielder, but don’t see anyone. Jordan James looks the best bet to come into the squad out of the youngsters coming through and someone who is a regular selection in the Championship at his age should have the potential to become the sort of player I’m talking about – for me, he’s someone who should be a throwback to the Toshack era where we look to get him to that forty cap mark as soon as possible (always assuming he’s willing to choose us over England).
As for when we last played well, what I will say is that Joe Allen has been in the team when we’ve gained our better results in recent years and I’d argue that him, not Ramsey or Bale, is the player who most makes us play better.
I’ve been trying to come to terms with how I feel after Wales’ first World Cup campaign in what can almost be called a lifetime – I certainly don’t feel as I expected I would. I was ready for us going out early and for a set of results like the ones we got, but I was not expecting such a poor level of performance in four, maybe five, of the six halves of football we played. This article by Elis James is a decent reflection of how I feel – there’s the pride and disappointment he talks of and no anger, but, unlike him it seems, I do feel a little let down.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/dec/01/wales-fans-feel-pride-and-despair-but-not-anger-after-swift-world-cup-qatar-exit