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Post by conwy10 on Jun 14, 2022 21:43:30 GMT
How did Roberts manage to get booked? Probably winding someone up when we scored. He is one of them 🤣 |
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Post by iot on Jun 14, 2022 21:44:10 GMT
So proud of our team but also so, so gutted! I bloody hate the Netherlands - they are truly our bogey team! Perhaps we get all the luck coming our way when we play them in the World Cup  Feel exactly the same. I was so desperate for us to hang on, just to get rid of that record more than anything, which is why I've been spamming this thread since the game! Need to stop now |
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Post by morg on Jun 14, 2022 21:44:22 GMT
They've been poor against all their Nations League opponents and totally lost it tonight. I won't say we'll beat them but will keep my eye out and see what they do in September but if they're not much improved from tonight, I won't be writing us off against them. They're already on holiday in a competition they don't see the point of, when it comes to the World Cup they'll be up for it. I do think we respect all the games we play in but England are a bit more selective. If they finish bottom is there a chance they'd be in second seeds for next Euro qualifiers? |
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Post by dai on Jun 14, 2022 21:44:36 GMT
To be honest I didn't think it was a penalty either. Connor had won the ball, moved it on way before the Dutch guy elbowed him. I do however believe it should have been a card for the assault. I think you are missing the point! You can't violently hurt someone after the ball has gone! That is why we got a penalty against Scotland away after Gunter was taken out after he played the ball. Its a stone wall penalty. I understand that he had flicked it on but its not the point! Otherwise you could have players knocking players out after the ball has gone without sanction! Sense at last. |
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Post by pendragon on Jun 14, 2022 21:46:05 GMT
They've been poor against all their Nations League opponents and totally lost it tonight. I won't say we'll beat them but will keep my eye out and see what they do in September but if they're not much improved from tonight, I won't be writing us off against them. They're already on holiday in a competition they don't see the point of, when it comes to the World Cup they'll be up for it. I do think we respect all the games we play in but England are a bit more selective. I don't think that's true. I haven't seen any evidence that any of the top sides view this as anything other than a serious competition. The England team looked visibly gutted tonight. I don't think any top side wants to be relegated to League B. |
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Post by cadno on Jun 14, 2022 21:52:48 GMT
My bad, I didn't mean 'lose easily'.... I said I think it's going to be very close (a goal either way to win it) but I can *easily* see us lose as well as win/draw. I'm just not filled with confidence, basically! I'm with you there, I've never once in my life felt confident before a game! But the way we're currently playing against these top sides, I'm starting to get there! Can't get this Welsh pessimism out of me 😂 luckily our players back themselves haha |
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Post by ddirpytnop on Jun 14, 2022 21:57:09 GMT
Good and not-so-good individual perfomances will have helped with the selection of the squad for the world cup. Can't see Matt Smith making it. Levitt is the better bet for that last midfield place in my opinion. Don't think Wes Burns will be there either (he struggled tonight) and I am not sure Sorba is quite at the required level either, although he did improve as the game went on. Everyone else involved tonight is likely to go - assuming that Gunter continues to exercise his Jedi mind control powers over the manager- 'this is the player you want in your squad'.
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Post by cadno on Jun 14, 2022 22:00:28 GMT
Good and not-so-good individual perfomances will have helped with the selection of the squad for the world cup. Can't see Matt Smith making it. Levitt is the better bet for that last midfield place in my opinion. Don't think Wes Burns will be there either (he struggled tonight) and I am not sure Sorba is quite at the required level either, although he did improve as the game went on. Everyone else involved tonight is likely to go - assuming that Gunter continues to exercise his Jedi mind control powers over the manager- 'this is the player you want in your squad'. You say that, but when it comes down to defending, give me Gunts as an option on the bench 10/10 ahead of Sorba or Wes Burns... |
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Post by walesgolfmadrid on Jun 14, 2022 22:10:23 GMT
I fancy us to beat Poland at home, hopefully with a fully fit squad raring to go.
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Post by pendragon on Jun 14, 2022 22:12:57 GMT
assuming that Gunter continues to exercise his Jedi mind control powers over the manager- 'this is the player you want in your squad'. 😅 Yeah, he's not my favourite RB I must say, particularly not at this level. |
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Post by ddirpytnop on Jun 14, 2022 22:14:30 GMT
Don't think Thomas and Burns are competing with Gunter for a place in the squad. He's unlikely to play at wing back again. And he was at fault for the final Dutch goal - but not the only one to be fair to him.
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Post by cadno on Jun 14, 2022 22:19:41 GMT
Don't think Thomas and Burns are competing with Gunter for a place in the squad. He's unlikely to play at wing back again. And he was at fault for the final Dutch goal - but not the only one to be fair to him. Extremely harsh to blame Gunter. Sorba loses out on the 1st header, Ben's header is quite clumsy + from the k.o 4 or 5 of the Dutch sprint towards our box, we know what's coming but half our team didn't drop back, when all 10 outfield players should've been a lot deeper! |
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Post by insertname on Jun 14, 2022 22:19:57 GMT
It's not a hill I'm going to die on, fair enough if I've got that wrong. I just saw it as both players going up for the ball and Connor getting there slightly earlier, with a bit of follow-through from the Dutch player. There are always collisions when 2 players compete in the air for the ball. I would have been very disappointed had that gone against us. But as I say, fair enough if I'm wrong. Having said that, the broader point I was trying to make is that the ref certainly didn't cost us that game, and I don't think we were hard-done by at all. I just don't like the mentality of always looking for excuses that can make us the victim every time things go wrong. To be honest I didn't think it was a penalty either. Connor had won the ball, moved it on way before the Dutch guy elbowed him. I do however believe it should have been a card for the assault. If someone gets an elbow in the face in the penalty area off the ball that’s still a penalty though surely? |
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Post by dai on Jun 14, 2022 22:28:41 GMT
What the hell are we all going to do until September now?
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Post by iot on Jun 14, 2022 22:30:05 GMT
Good and not-so-good individual perfomances will have helped with the selection of the squad for the world cup. Can't see Matt Smith making it. Levitt is the better bet for that last midfield place in my opinion. Don't think Wes Burns will be there either (he struggled tonight) and I am not sure Sorba is quite at the required level either, although he did improve as the game went on. Everyone else involved tonight is likely to go - assuming that Gunter continues to exercise his Jedi mind control powers over the manager- 'this is the player you want in your squad'. Agree with you on Levitt/Smith, I think Levitt has a lot more potential. My one gripe at Page is that he didn't give Levitt a chance to redeem himself after the poor performance against the Dutch at home. He deserved that after the Poland game. Now we're going to the world cup without having with big question marks over that backup midfield slot |
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Post by dai on Jun 14, 2022 22:37:05 GMT
Good and not-so-good individual perfomances will have helped with the selection of the squad for the world cup. Can't see Matt Smith making it. Levitt is the better bet for that last midfield place in my opinion. Don't think Wes Burns will be there either (he struggled tonight) and I am not sure Sorba is quite at the required level either, although he did improve as the game went on. Everyone else involved tonight is likely to go - assuming that Gunter continues to exercise his Jedi mind control powers over the manager- 'this is the player you want in your squad'. Agree with you on Levitt/Smith, I think Levitt has a lot more potential. My one gripe at Page is that he didn't give Levitt a chance to redeem himself after the poor performance against the Dutch at home. He deserved that after the Poland game. Now we're going to the world cup without having with big question marks over that backup midfield slot Smith > Levitt. Smith may not have been great today, but hasn't done half the amount of mistakes that Levitt has in previous games. Smith also isn't afraid to get stuck in and put in a shift - he chucked himself infront of two shots tonight, B Davies style, and put in quite a few decent tackles. I haven't seen Levitt putting himself about in the same way - seems a lot more 'scared' or 'timid' as a player. It's a tough call though, but personally I don't think Levitt is mentally nor physically there yet. |
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Post by quetzal on Jun 14, 2022 22:37:24 GMT
We won one game in five. The right one! Congrats to everyone involved. Now when is that Panini album out?
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Post by pendragon on Jun 14, 2022 22:44:09 GMT
What the hell are we all going to do until September now? Relax?! I, for one, am glad that this gruelling set of games is over and my stress levels can take a break for a few months 😅 |
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Post by iot on Jun 14, 2022 22:46:46 GMT
Agree with you on Levitt/Smith, I think Levitt has a lot more potential. My one gripe at Page is that he didn't give Levitt a chance to redeem himself after the poor performance against the Dutch at home. He deserved that after the Poland game. Now we're going to the world cup without having with big question marks over that backup midfield slot Smith > Levitt. Smith may not have been great today, but hasn't done half the amount of mistakes that Levitt has in previous games. Smith also isn't afraid to get stuck in and put in a shift - he chucked himself infront of two shots tonight, B Davies style, and put in quite a few decent tackles. I haven't seen Levitt putting himself about in the same way - seems a lot more 'scared' or 'timid' as a player. It's a tough call though, but personally I don't think Levitt is mentally nor physically there yet. I think you're looking at it the wrong way around. It shouldn't be who makes the least amount of mistakes, it should be what they both offer. Levitt had an absolute mare in his last game, but he's shown in plenty of other games that he has real quality on the ball when he plays well and can boss things in midfield. He can play through the lines as well as any of our other midfielders. Smith is a much more limited player. I think in 2 or 3 years we'll look back and laugh at any debate over levitt vs smith. |
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Post by dai on Jun 14, 2022 23:09:37 GMT
Smith > Levitt. Smith may not have been great today, but hasn't done half the amount of mistakes that Levitt has in previous games. Smith also isn't afraid to get stuck in and put in a shift - he chucked himself infront of two shots tonight, B Davies style, and put in quite a few decent tackles. I haven't seen Levitt putting himself about in the same way - seems a lot more 'scared' or 'timid' as a player. It's a tough call though, but personally I don't think Levitt is mentally nor physically there yet. I think you're looking at it the wrong way around. It shouldn't be who makes the least amount of mistakes, it should be what they both offer. Levitt had an absolute mare in his last game, but he's shown in plenty of other games that he has real quality on the ball when he plays well and can boss things in midfield. He can play through the lines as well as any of our other midfielders. Smith is a much more limited player. I think in 2 or 3 years we'll look back and laugh at any debate over levitt vs smith. I don't think I am, I'm looking at this from a practical point of view. I don't understand where you're getting this idea that he's 'shown plenty' of quality in other games? Are you basing that on his SPL season? He's had 12 caps for Wales now. He had a very good game against Finland in the first NL campaign, then afterwards, he's performed pretty badly in most matches until the Poland game. I watched that back last night, because I said on here I don't even remember him playing. Jury is still out for me tbh. He may have the quality, like you say, but he doesn't have the confidence to produce that on a regular basis - certainly not on the international stage, yet. Basically, and sorry for saying this crudely, but based on the matches I've seen, Levitt is much more likely to sh*t himself than Smith in an international game. And that's what you don't want in important WC, Euro, NL or qualifying matches. Aaanyway, neither will play in the WC, so no point getting worked up about it. |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Jun 14, 2022 23:28:27 GMT
I agree with Gruffudd sorry, without Bale + Ramsey we're quite average and more on Scotland's level. With the expansion of the Euros you'd hope we still have enough to qualify for 2024, but it ain't gonna be easy. Perhaps you mean something different by quite average to what I do? To me, quite average is a low League B/high League C level team, not god awful, but not close to qualifying for tournaments. See Greece, Northern Ireland, Armenia, Albania, Romania & Slovenia as examples of average teams Without Bale & Ramsey we've held our own in a tough group in League A, it's not as bad as you're making out. Brennan Johnson had scored our last two open play goals. Ampadu has been great, Neco great, lots of depth across the pitch. Champions League level CB. I just don't see us as verging on slipping down to the level of the teams above. I expect us to qualify for Euro 2024, if we get lucky and have a decent draw then I see no reason to expect that |
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Post by bale-droed on Jun 15, 2022 0:06:59 GMT
At the WC Ampadu has to play in a back 3 with Rodon and Davies. But hopefully in the next few seasons another quality CB can emerge and he can be a starting CM. Him in midfield would be great but at the moment he’s needed badly in the back
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Post by gruffudd on Jun 15, 2022 0:17:04 GMT
I agree with Gruffudd sorry, without Bale + Ramsey we're quite average and more on Scotland's level. With the expansion of the Euros you'd hope we still have enough to qualify for 2024, but it ain't gonna be easy. Perhaps you mean something different by quite average to what I do? To me, quite average is a low League B/high League C level team, not god awful, but not close to qualifying for tournaments. See Greece, Northern Ireland, Armenia, Albania, Romania & Slovenia as examples of average teams Without Bale & Ramsey we've held our own in a tough group in League A, it's not as bad as you're making out. Brennan Johnson had scored our last two open play goals. Ampadu has been great, Neco great, lots of depth across the pitch. Champions League level CB. I just don't see us as verging on slipping down to the level of the teams above. I expect us to qualify for Euro 2024, if we get lucky and have a decent draw then I see no reason to expect that 16 teams in league 1-3, 9 teams in league 4, 57 teams in Europe leagues. Top end B lower end C puts us at 30ish, quite average really. |
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Post by erasedcitizen on Jun 15, 2022 0:34:10 GMT
Davies, again.
He's better than this. His performances show he's better than this.
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Post by quetzal on Jun 15, 2022 4:25:00 GMT
Listened to game on the radio live. Just watched full 90 minutes. I feel a bit better now. The Dutch were worthy winners. The game had the feeling that they had 12 players to our 9 if you know what I mean. We did ok but seemed a struggle to pick a pass where as they were effortless. Live and learn
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Post by evans1282 on Jun 15, 2022 5:14:34 GMT
Perhaps you mean something different by quite average to what I do? To me, quite average is a low League B/high League C level team, not god awful, but not close to qualifying for tournaments. See Greece, Northern Ireland, Armenia, Albania, Romania & Slovenia as examples of average teams Without Bale & Ramsey we've held our own in a tough group in League A, it's not as bad as you're making out. Brennan Johnson had scored our last two open play goals. Ampadu has been great, Neco great, lots of depth across the pitch. Champions League level CB. I just don't see us as verging on slipping down to the level of the teams above. I expect us to qualify for Euro 2024, if we get lucky and have a decent draw then I see no reason to expect that 16 teams in league 1-3, 9 teams in league 4, 57 teams in Europe leagues. Top end B lower end C puts us at 30ish, quite average really. I think it depends if you're a glass half empty person or not,I think the performances of our weakened teams have for me been positive,If you call the top league A and the second B I would say we are a A-,or B+,type of team.Our full team I think could have taken something from Poland ,and at least a point should have been gained in both Netherlands games,so honestly don't get the negativity. |
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Post by evans1282 on Jun 15, 2022 5:16:51 GMT
To be honest I didn't think it was a penalty either. Connor had won the ball, moved it on way before the Dutch guy elbowed him. I do however believe it should have been a card for the assault. If someone gets an elbow in the face in the penalty area off the ball that’s still a penalty though surely? Exactly! |
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Post by conwy10 on Jun 15, 2022 6:17:31 GMT
They're already on holiday in a competition they don't see the point of, when it comes to the World Cup they'll be up for it. I do think we respect all the games we play in but England are a bit more selective. I don't think that's true. I haven't seen any evidence that any of the top sides view this as anything other than a serious competition. The England team looked visibly gutted tonight. I don't think any top side wants to be relegated to League B. It's just an opinion to be honest. I mean Southgate has got them to a semi final and a final, they're ruthless in qualifiers. Germany and Italy I can understand drawing but losing both games to Hungary and getting annihilated at home is just crazy. |
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Post by conwy10 on Jun 15, 2022 6:41:44 GMT
I think the match was a good learning experience for everyone, shame it was in a competition but we had bigger priorities this month and achieved them.
Back 3 was pretty much full strength and did struggle but had no protection at times. Burns just isn't up to standards. He's too old to be given the benefit of time too. When Thomas switched sides and Roberts came on did they even get a cross in from the right. Thomas I do think there's a player but giving away so many fouls when we're chasing the game was daft. Still yet to see his expert delivery.
I give Ramsey a hard time for his defensive work but when he came on we tightened up so much. Smith was awful, got a few last ditch blocks in but did absolutely nothing to stop them coming through. Complete rabbit in the headlights. Could do okay against Lithuania at home but not at the business end of a tournament.
Brennan and James is more of a pick one situation. Both are incredibly fast, Johnson seems to lack workrate and James an end product. With Bale in there who could feed them or a Moore they can build off I think they'd be OK. But as the duo to create and get goals it just won't happen and completely against their strengths.
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Post by morg on Jun 15, 2022 6:54:26 GMT
So current first XI?
Hennessey
Roberts
Ampadu
Rodon
Davies
Williams
Wilson
Allen
Ramsey
Bale
James/Johnson/Moore
with 2 of those plus Ward, Mepham, Morrel?, RND, Colwill and hopefully Brooks to bring trusted quality from the bench.
Think we're far further along after this intense period of games. Ramsey showing signs that he can still be a key player for us and Bale will get better if he finds a sympathetic environment before the WC.
Some concerns obviously but I'd say we're in decent shape.
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