Poland v Cymru - Wroclaw 1st June

[insertname]

Jun 1, 2022 18:11:58 GMT allezlesrouges said:

I think RND will make a very good understudy to Ben Davies. I liked the forward thrust Wes Burns gave us - would like him to be a mainstay in the squad. Levitt was very composed & looks like he's got the quality to be trusted in midfield. Matondo was bright & has definitely improved, but he's not someone I'd look to play in big games

James was great, but I feel there is a pattern forming with him in regards to his end product now. When you get into positions like he did you need to turn them into goals. This is why I feel Brennan will be favoured on Sunday, I think Brennan scores that chance in the first half

It’s even down to small things like his crosses always hitting the defender so he has to stop, hold on to the ball and set himself again.

[aberbeeg]

Great performance up until the final quarter. If Smith had an end product we probably would have won that.

[dai]

In addition to the poor deliveries in the final third, I'd like to know why are our players so scared of shooting!? Instead of passing back and forth on the edge f the box, just someone take a punt - look what happened with the Jonny Williams goal. Just have a dig.

[insertname]

Jun 1, 2022 18:51:34 GMT dai said:

In addition to the poor deliveries in the final third, I'd like to know why are our players so scared of shooting!? Instead of passing back and forth on the edge f the box, just someone take a punt - look what happened with the Jonny Williams goal. Just have a dig.

Might be related to the way the game is going these days- it’s been said during commentary in Man City games how top coaches like Pep are discouraging players from shooting from distance because statistically it has a much lower chance of success than supporters think so keeping possession is pretty much always the best option unless it’s a clear unobstructed chance of a shot.

It’s a concern for me that the new data explosion and the drive to play perfect football is going to make it sterile and take the fun out of it for spectators.

[melynwy]

Jun 1, 2022 18:51:34 GMT dai said:

In addition to the poor deliveries in the final third, I'd like to know why are our players so scared of shooting!? Instead of passing back and forth on the edge f the box, just someone take a punt - look what happened with the Jonny Williams goal. Just have a dig.

We took too many speculative pot shots for my liking as it was, almost all of them off target. It’s just a way of giving the ball back to the opposition. Relying on fluking a 25 yard wonder goal is no way to play football.

Jonny’s shot was on though, he did well to take it.

[dai]

Jun 1, 2022 19:02:05 GMT melynwy said:

Jun 1, 2022 18:51:34 GMT dai said:

In addition to the poor deliveries in the final third, I'd like to know why are our players so scared of shooting!? Instead of passing back and forth on the edge f the box, just someone take a punt - look what happened with the Jonny Williams goal. Just have a dig.

We took too many speculative pot shots for my liking as it was, almost all of them off target. It’s just a way of giving the ball back to the opposition. Relying on fluking a 25 yard wonder goal is no way to play football.

Jonny’s shot was on though, he did well to take it.

Problem is, we don't tend to walk balls into the net either......

[welshrover]

There's a bloke at Derby with a pretty good shot on him 😊

[bobbyghoul]

Jun 1, 2022 19:08:10 GMT welshrover said:

There's a bloke at Derby with a pretty good shot on him 😊

Rooney? Think he's more Irish than Welsh tbh.

[iot]

Good performance overall. The defence was all over the lace at times, even in the first half, although that's completely understandable given the personnel. I thought individually they were good, particularly Burns and RND who I really like as a LCB, but they just lacked cohesion as a unit at times (again understandable).

I thought Gunter let us down unfortunately, he was just so passive for their first goal when he didn't need to be. He was also very poor in the Czech friendly, so it looks like it's getting to the point where we can't rely on him as a dependable, albeit limited back-up anymore. Matt Smith was good. He got done for the first goal, but he was playing a completely new position and was knackered by that point - Page definitely should have taken him off.

Pleased to see us pose such a threat and played some nice football. On the balance of chances created Poland just about deserved it, but we can certainly be pleased with how our second string performed

[quetzal]

Listened to game on the radio. I’m proud of Wales. It sounded like a very good performance that deserved a draw. Shame but it’s all about Sunday.

[allezlesrouges]

I do agree re: Gunter. Until recently he's always been solid & dependable, but I do feel he struggled today, especially for their first goal. I do think we should be looking at Regan Poole to play that role in the squad of utility defender. Wes Burns today shows just how good League One players can be. Poole is of a similar level & feel regular football at that level beats out what Gunter has to offer moving forwards

That being said, if we qualify for the World Cup I'm fine with Gunter going. His service earns him a place in the squad for such a historic achievement. After that though time for him to finish

[iot]

Jun 1, 2022 20:57:43 GMT allezlesrouges said:

I do agree re: Gunter. Until recently he's always been solid & dependable, but I do feel he struggled today, especially for their first goal. I do think we should be looking at Regan Poole to play that role in the squad of utility defender. Wes Burns today shows just how good League One players can be. Poole is of a similar level & feel regular football at that level beats out what Gunter has to offer moving forwards

That being said, if we qualify for the World Cup I'm fine with Gunter going. His service earns him a place in the squad for such a historic achievement. After that though time for him to finish

Yeah, Gunter should definitely go to the WC if we qualify. But unless things drastically change for him at club level, this will probably be his last campaign

[iot]

Don't understand why we didn't bring Rodon on at all. I was calling for him to come on instead of Smith around the 60min mark with gunter shuffling across. Would have been good prep for him to play in that type of intensity before the final. Hopefully it doesn't mean he's carrying a knock!

[robin1864]

Jun 1, 2022 19:02:05 GMT melynwy said:

Jun 1, 2022 18:51:34 GMT dai said:

In addition to the poor deliveries in the final third, I'd like to know why are our players so scared of shooting!? Instead of passing back and forth on the edge f the box, just someone take a punt - look what happened with the Jonny Williams goal. Just have a dig.

We took too many speculative pot shots for my liking as it was, almost all of them off target. It’s just a way of giving the ball back to the opposition. Relying on fluking a 25 yard wonder goal is no way to play football.

Jonny’s shot was on though, he did well to take it.

Bale made a name for himself by taking "speculative pot shots". It catches the opposition completely off-guard because they've built themselves around us trying to either walk the ball in or from a set-piece, and it looks f**king amazing when it comes off. West Ham, Scotland 2012, Serbia 2016, to name a few.

The more the merrier IMO.

[hooky]

On Gunter - totally disagree with playing a player when his best days are behind him
Its not a packaged holiday. Its picking the best squad to win games.

Why should he go to the WC if we qualify? His contribution was his shaky games vs. Belarus which almost cost us.

I know I am harsh but enough is enough. When someone is not up to it then its time to move on and forget sentiment. Loyalty should not buy you continual involvement when you don't merit it. He is not even a division 2 player anymore for goodness sake.

[allezlesrouges]

Player ratings;

Ward 8 - Fantastic save from Lewandowski 1 on 1, and went off with a clean sheet to his name. Glad to see him in good form ahead of Sunday

Gunter 5 - Unfortunately when a player of his type becomes less dependable and solid it doesn't bode well. His strength is cutting out things like their first goal and today he failed to do that. I don't think he was awful, just that when a limited but reliable player is unreliable you're not left with a lot of saving grace

Mepham 7 - Lewandowski was fairly quiet today aside from that one chance. Didn't notice Mepham especially, and when you don't notice a CB it normally means they played well. No clear errors and a quiet Lewandowski means he deserves a good score

RND 7 - On the ball I felt he was our best CB today. Got turned inside out by Lewandowski for his one-on-one and you could tell he had positioned his body wrong to stop him, and he got a bit unlucky with the deflection for the goal. Aside from that I thought he was great, and brought the ball-forward well. I think his emergence is the death knell of James Lawrence's role in the squad as a left footed defender. He's the perfect understudy to Ben Davies now - but that does leave a wing back vacancy....

Burns 7 - Thought he took to international football like a duck to water. Explosive, positive & dynamic are words that spring to mind. His volley was on target as well, if he'd found the back of the net it would have been a perfect debut. I wish he'd have stayed on and Smith had come off instead. I'm more than happy to have Connor, Neco, Sorba & Burns as the wing back options moving forwards - that's a good group of 4

Smith 5.5 - I feel bad marking him that low, as at times he did well especially considering he was played out of position. Ultimately though I have to judge him on the fact that the swing in the game came from his side of the pitch, which Poland seemed to be targeting. Page's mistake was keeping him on today, but I don't want to be too harsh on his performance all things considered. I do wonder where he will go from here, Allen, Ampadu, Morrell, Levitt, Ramsey & Wilson are all ahead of him for CM spots, and the four wing backs will be ahead of him too. You expect younger players to also push on. With only 2 League One appearances last season you do wonder if his spot will soon be claimed by another

Levitt 7 - Really enjoyed his performance, thought his composure stood out against a good and experienced midfield. The loan has done him plenty of good, and I think it's time he joined a Championship club that play good football. Conversely he would do well to join Celtic or Rangers in Scotland if he's fancied up there. He's a different type to Allen/Morrell, but I feel he could be key for us in the future with his passing range

Morrell 6.5 - A very Morrell performance, not much else to say. Did his job well as usual

Jonny 7.5 - Might have rated him higher if his goal got us a draw or win, but it was a fantastic goal regardless. There are a lot of naysayers about his place in the squad, and what I'd say to them is that today has shown them that you can't accurately assess a player by googling the level their club play at. Not only did he get the goal today, he didn't look like a player that plays in tier 4, he looked like an international class player - which he is. He's one where you do think younger players will eventually make him redundant. However, we still have occasions like these where we need to rotate, and you always feel glad to see him in the team as you know you can trust him. Happened in Bulgaria away, happened today as well! As long as he keeps performing I'm happy for him to be selected

Moore/James 6.5 - Thought overall they did their jobs well, looked dangerous, and were the outlets we needed them to be. But I have knocked them down a bit because I felt their play should have resulted in a goal in the first half but it didn't. I think Moore was the better of the two, and showed some classy touches, he also didn't really have a clear chance. James squandered his chances, and ultimately being dangerous only takes you so far if you don't bury your chances

A few quick words on some of the subs;

Wayne - Felt he shouldn't have dived to the ground for the second goal, if he stays on his feet maybe he saves it
Matondo - Has definitely improved, and he did well today, but won't push for the starting lineup until he becomes more clinical. Until then he's useful in these type of games and friendlies
Harris - He does make clever/well-timed runs into the channels, he's reminiscent of HRK in that sense. It's certainly a quality that can be useful, as we saw against Belarus. Aside from that though he isn't much of a threat as a number 9, and certainly at the top levels that isn't enough to warrant game time. Unless he really picks up his goalscoring I feel he will lose his place to someone
Sorba - He needs to be on the pitch at the same time as Moore really, because his crosses are so good, but we didn't have a target for them when he came on

[iot]

Jun 1, 2022 21:57:08 GMT hooky said:

On Gunter - totally disagree with playing a player when his best days are behind him
Its not a packaged holiday. Its picking the best squad to win games.

Why should he go to the WC if we qualify? His contribution was his shaky games vs. Belarus which almost cost us.

I know I am harsh but enough is enough. When someone is not up to it then its time to move on and forget sentiment. Loyalty should not buy you continual involvement when you don't merit it. He is not even a division 2 player anymore for goodness sake.

For me, it's not about sentiment. It's purely thinking about what gives the squad the best chance of success. Selection decisions are not 100% about ability. It's a big part of it, but there are other considerations. Gunter's one of the most popular members of the squad and is a leader. If we do qualify, it would be much better for squad morale that he's a part of it, even though he won't play. I think that's a better choice than selecting a better player such as Lockyer, who is also 90% unlikely to play. So I think selecting Gunter would give a better chance of success. 

If we don't qualify, however, I do think it will be time to move on. 

[hooky]

Just think I would rather be giving someone with a future opportunities than a limited defender who is now arguably a bit of a liability against good opposition. Also what if we lost 2 full backs or centre backs in a competition and ended up with him?

Gunter is a top bloke but I just have a very clinical view where my country and sport is concerned!

I wondered if Joniesta should be anywhere near the squad. However, his commendable consistency for Wales shoves those thoughts down my throat and so I put my hand up and say I have been wrong. However, with Gunter - that is at least the last 2 games he has been shaky in defence?

Anyway - you have heard enough from me on this topic and he is a top bloke as I say!

[1gwaunview]

Da iawn Cymru 'B'. Very unlucky not to come home with at least a point.

[morg]

Jun 2, 2022 8:13:11 GMT hooky said:

Just think I would rather be giving someone with a future opportunities than a limited defender who is now arguably a bit of a liability against good opposition. Also what if we lost 2 full backs or centre backs in a competition and ended up with him?

Gunter is a top bloke but I just have a very clinical view where my country and sport is concerned!

I wondered if Joniesta should be anywhere near the squad. However, his commendable consistency for Wales shoves those thoughts down my throat and so I put my hand up and say I have been wrong. However, with Gunter - that is at least the last 2 games he has been shaky in defence?

Anyway - you have heard enough from me on this topic and he is a top bloke as I say!

If we make it to Qatar, take him as part of the coaching staff. All the pluses about him being involved still apply but squad place goes to someone more "effective"

[saturn9]

Czechs 2-1up on the Swiss. If they hold out, just goes to show how difficult our WC qualifying group was.

[welwyn]

Think the thing Page could have done was that he could have brought Denham on for Smith. Would have solved the Smith problem whilst also having a look at not only Denham but also another look at RND at LWB plus given Burns a chance to impress even more at RWB (seeing as the Ipswich fans I know said he hasn't played on the left at all this season).

[welrus]

My flight back from Poland cancelled today, had a horrendous hour when I was struggling to find a way back in time but found a way now. Anybody else affected?

[bluephill]

Jun 4, 2022 12:37:19 GMT welrus said:

My flight back from Poland cancelled today, had a horrendous hour when I was struggling to find a way back in time but found a way now. Anybody else affected?

Where did you fly from?

[welrus]

Jun 4, 2022 16:19:47 GMT bluephill said:

Jun 4, 2022 12:37:19 GMT welrus said:

My flight back from Poland cancelled today, had a horrendous hour when I was struggling to find a way back in time but found a way now. Anybody else affected?

Where did you fly from?

It was a return flight from Poznan to Luton