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Post by jimexotic on Mar 18, 2023 18:24:56 GMT
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 18, 2023 19:25:56 GMT
Feel a bit torn about the squad. Overall feeling positives but there are areas we've failed to address imo We've only included 1 left footed player for LCB, LB & LWB. Sorba, Burns and Neco have all been playing on the right this season. Very imbalanced to me. Davies injury highlights my concerns about this squad we've picked. Whenever I post my chosen squad on here I always pick it with contingencies in mind, "what if we get an injury here, or a couple of injuries/suspensions there?" To me it feels like Page hasn't done this and that concerns me. Sure, we can call someone in now, but what if the Davies injury happened against Croatia, we'd be stuck without a plan B We only have one left footer in the entire squad now (Wilson) and he plays on the right! For me it's criminal for any professional squad to contain less than 3 or 4 left footers, to at least have orthodox options We have options playing at a decent level too, no excuse for it. We're now going to be (more than likely) completely limited down one side of the pitch fielding a lineup of 11 right footers. Expecting something like this; Ward Mepham-Lockyer-Rodon Roberts-Ampadu-Morrell-Neco Ramsey Brennan-Moore |
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Post by cadno on Mar 18, 2023 19:44:49 GMT
Feel a bit torn about the squad. Overall feeling positives but there are areas we've failed to address imo We've only included 1 left footed player for LCB, LB & LWB. Sorba, Burns and Neco have all been playing on the right this season. Very imbalanced to me. Davies injury highlights my concerns about this squad we've picked. Whenever I post my chosen squad on here I always pick it with contingencies in mind, "what if we get an injury here, or a couple of injuries/suspensions there?" To me it feels like Page hasn't done this and that concerns me. Sure, we can call someone in now, but what if the Davies injury happened against Croatia, we'd be stuck without a plan B We only have one left footer in the entire squad now (Wilson) and he plays on the right! For me it's criminal for any professional squad to contain less than 3 or 4 left footers, to at least have orthodox options We have options playing at a decent level too, no excuse for it. We're now going to be (more than likely) completely limited down one side of the pitch fielding a lineup of 11 right footers. Expecting something like this; Ward Mepham-Lockyer-Rodon Roberts-Ampadu-Morrell-Neco Ramsey Brennan-Moore One left footer in the squad is absolutely mental! And four players that are used to playing a traditional CM role for their clubs, one of them J James has never been capped for us and is in and out of the Birmingham team!! Bring Fox and Hedges in now FFS. Are our management even aware of our player pool or only under 21s?? |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 18, 2023 20:32:00 GMT
cadno yep that's another really strange call. Given that we're likely to play 3 in midfield you'd expect at least 5 options there Yet for our 2 wide positions (which might actually be 0 if we play 3-5-2), we've called up Wilson, Brennan, DJ, Burns, Sorba & Broadhead - 6 players! I hope I'm proven wrong but I've dropped my expectations now after Davies's injury
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Post by fiveattheback on Mar 18, 2023 20:34:21 GMT
cadno yep that's another really strange call. Given that we're likely to play 3 in midfield you'd expect at least 5 options there Yet for our 2 wide positions (which might actually be 0 if we play 3-5-2), we've called up Wilson, Brennan, DJ, Burns, Sorba & Broadhead - 6 players! I hope I'm proven wrong but I've dropped my expectations now after Davies's injury I think, rather worryingly, that Page sees Wilson as a midfield option |
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Post by manulike on Mar 18, 2023 21:07:20 GMT
What do you have to produce in order to collect tickets from FAW in Split and what ID documentation is required at the stadium? Is photocopy of passport acceptable? Anyone received any information and guidance from FAW yet? Thanks in advance for any response provided. Just had a look at my email and it states that information regarding pick up will be sent closer to the match date. I suspect it could be driving licence and hopefully not passport. From memory of Ossijek, they initially insisted on original passports only and took an absolute age checking every passport against the tickets! As time went on, and people got irritated... they allowed driving licences and eventually, even allowed copies of other people's passports ... Still, the papers had a massive field day, and said that up to 150 people didn't get in ... |
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Post by surge on Mar 18, 2023 21:13:34 GMT
I think we just need to ride it out best we can without losing our heads to be honest. That means fans showing up big to help get across the line.
Injuries to RND, Matondo's injury and stuttering growth as footballer, and Jonny Williams retirement has highlighted there is a slight shortage of naturally left-sided players in Welsh set-up. It's something I commented about in youth thread before coming to the conclusion that players comfortable with both feet is more important than which foot is dominant - that's the longer term fix to our issues.
In the short term, I don't think calling up Hedges who (according to Whoscored) has started just two games on left side this season is necessarily the answer to left-sided concerns. I don't know enough about Fox or Hughes to make a comment about them, but I'd love to see when there names were last mentioned on this site as players who should be called up.
Managers are paid to make decisions and that starts from who is invited to the camp. There will be pros and cons for each decision and I'm partially reminded of Warren Gatland's decision to call up Geography 6 for 2017 Lions (the point where Welsh reserves were called up from training camp to be bodies in training sessions/give rest to actual Lions in minor tour games) which was major point of contention at that time. Think it's fair to say the the knifes were sharpening for those players and Gatland if series had gone against the side and was mostly forgotten with moderately successful series outcome. But should assessment of the call be so outcome based?
I much prefer Coleman's one game at a time approach but understand Page feels need to inject some more excitement into things with his statements. I am reminded that Giggs' sole successful campaign started slowly before finishing strongly - there is more than one way to qualify.
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Post by surge on Mar 18, 2023 21:26:19 GMT
cadno yep that's another really strange call. Given that we're likely to play 3 in midfield you'd expect at least 5 options there Yet for our 2 wide positions (which might actually be 0 if we play 3-5-2), we've called up Wilson, Brennan, DJ, Burns, Sorba & Broadhead - 6 players! I hope I'm proven wrong but I've dropped my expectations now after Davies's injury I think, rather worryingly, that Page sees Wilson as a midfield option Burns is the one I didn't really understand but he did reasonably well in Nations League games and probably more sound defensively than Sorba Thomas - he's more likely to cover RB given that Neco was and now is increasingly needed for left side. I'm relaxed about Wilson being seen as CM (in a three, not a two) option given that i) right sided attacking players is a position we have most depth in, ii) CM is a position we're a bit short in, iii) Wilson's defensive game is improving, iv) Will Vaulks aside, I can't think of anyone who was close to call-up for CM slot but missed out, v) Wilson's too good and too experienced at international football to be left out of the squad. |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 18, 2023 21:37:13 GMT
I definitely now favour 4-2-3-1 without Davies
Ward
Connor-Mepham-Lockyer-Neco
Ampadu-Morrell
Wilson-Rambo-Brennan
Moore
I still don't really like it and the squad feels lacking
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Post by vaulksthrowfanclub on Mar 18, 2023 22:10:31 GMT
I definitely now favour 4-2-3-1 without Davies Ward Connor-Mepham-Lockyer-Neco Ampadu-Morrell Wilson-Rambo-Brennan Moore I still don't really like it and the squad feels lacking I’d go something similar Ward Connor Meps Rodon Neco Amps Morrell Brennan Rambo DJ Moore I get that DJ is in poor form (if you can call not playing form at all) but I don’t quite trust Neco as a fullback just yet. I feel we can use James’ work-rate to help him out defensively, and his pace on the counter. Brennan’s most effective in the inside right channel too imo |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 18, 2023 22:21:59 GMT
I definitely now favour 4-2-3-1 without Davies Ward Connor-Mepham-Lockyer-Neco Ampadu-Morrell Wilson-Rambo-Brennan Moore I still don't really like it and the squad feels lacking I’d go something similar Ward Connor Meps Rodon Neco Amps Morrell Brennan Rambo DJ Moore I get that DJ is in poor form (if you can call not playing form at all) but I don’t quite trust Neco as a fullback just yet. I feel we can use James’ work-rate to help him out defensively, and his pace on the counter. Brennan’s most effective in the inside right channel too imo Think I'd prefer Broadhead to DJ atm, I just think we've seen what happens when we start players who aren't getting games and it's not good. Even if DJ was in and out at Fulham that would be fine, but no game time at all so I can't trust him to match the work rate or have the sharpness to do that job |
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Post by dai on Mar 18, 2023 22:30:40 GMT
I’d go something similar Ward Connor Meps Rodon Neco Amps Morrell Brennan Rambo DJ Moore I get that DJ is in poor form (if you can call not playing form at all) but I don’t quite trust Neco as a fullback just yet. I feel we can use James’ work-rate to help him out defensively, and his pace on the counter. Brennan’s most effective in the inside right channel too imo Think I'd prefer Broadhead to DJ atm, I just think we've seen what happens when we start players who aren't getting games and it's not good. Even if DJ was in and out at Fulham that would be fine, but no game time at all so I can't trust him to match the work rate or have the sharpness to do that job If going on that logic, Bradshaw > Moore ?? |
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Post by iot on Mar 18, 2023 22:35:52 GMT
I definitely now favour 4-2-3-1 without Davies Ward Connor-Mepham-Lockyer-Neco Ampadu-Morrell Wilson-Rambo-Brennan Moore I still don't really like it and the squad feels lacking Think that would leave us far too vulnerable, can't see us getting a result with that back 4. I'd go with 532: Ward Roberts Meps Rodon Lockyer/Cabango Neco Ampadu Rambo Morrell Brennan Moore |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 18, 2023 22:45:13 GMT
Think I'd prefer Broadhead to DJ atm, I just think we've seen what happens when we start players who aren't getting games and it's not good. Even if DJ was in and out at Fulham that would be fine, but no game time at all so I can't trust him to match the work rate or have the sharpness to do that job If going on that logic, Bradshaw > Moore ?? I wouldn't be against it at all The only reason I favour Moore is that his position requires less athleticism/work rate, and in a game where we will feed on scraps it will help us to have a big man for set pieces. Personally I'd go for Moore for 60, Bradshaw for 30 |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 18, 2023 22:46:54 GMT
I definitely now favour 4-2-3-1 without Davies Ward Connor-Mepham-Lockyer-Neco Ampadu-Morrell Wilson-Rambo-Brennan Moore I still don't really like it and the squad feels lacking Think that would leave us far too vulnerable, can't see us getting a result with that back 4. I'd go with 532: Ward Roberts Meps Rodon Lockyer/Cabango Neco Ampadu Rambo Morrell Brennan Moore I think we are vulnerable no matter what. 5-3-2 just feels like we will get pinned back and be, unable to play out down one side of the pitch |
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Post by dai on Mar 18, 2023 22:49:25 GMT
I definitely now favour 4-2-3-1 without Davies Ward Connor-Mepham-Lockyer-Neco Ampadu-Morrell Wilson-Rambo-Brennan Moore I still don't really like it and the squad feels lacking Think that would leave us far too vulnerable, can't see us getting a result with that back 4. I'd go with 532: Ward Roberts Meps Rodon Lockyer/Cabango Neco Ampadu Rambo Morrell Brennan Moore The very formation thats left us badly exposed and over run in midfield against most quality opponents? Whats the persistance with choosing something that fails us often? I’ve come to realise that Neco and Roberts are not very good WB’s compared to others that play in that formation. Roberts plays mostly as a right back at Burnley and Neco is used mostly further up tbe pitch by Cooper now. I dont think we have the personnel to carry out the formation at the moment. However we dont actually have a LB (if Bens out) atm either. |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 18, 2023 23:03:38 GMT
Think that would leave us far too vulnerable, can't see us getting a result with that back 4. I'd go with 532: Ward Roberts Meps Rodon Lockyer/Cabango Neco Ampadu Rambo Morrell Brennan Moore The very formation thats left us badly exposed and over run in midfield against most quality opponents? Whats the persistance with choosing something that fails us often? I’ve come to realise that Neco and Roberts are not very good WB’s compared to others that play in that formation. Roberts plays mostly as a right back at Burnley and Neco is used mostly further up tbe pitch by Cooper now. I dont think we have the personnel to carry out the formation at the moment. However we dont actually have a LB (if Bens out) atm either. I know I'm repeating myself, but the last sentence sums things up. We have no left back, which makes me think Page will persist with 3-5-2 |
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Post by iot on Mar 18, 2023 23:08:59 GMT
Think that would leave us far too vulnerable, can't see us getting a result with that back 4. I'd go with 532: Ward Roberts Meps Rodon Lockyer/Cabango Neco Ampadu Rambo Morrell Brennan Moore The very formation thats left us badly exposed and over run in midfield against most quality opponents? Whats the persistance with choosing something that fails us often? I’ve come to realise that Neco and Roberts are not very good WB’s compared to others that play in that formation. Roberts plays mostly as a right back at Burnley and Neco is used mostly further up tbe pitch by Cooper now. I dont think we have the personnel to carry out the formation at the moment. However we dont actually have a LB (if Bens out) atm either. It's the formation that's produced the best performances for us in recent years against good opposition. Contrary to the common perception, we played better with this system at the world cup than with a back 4. Equally, I'm not suggesting we should play in the same way we did at the world cup. We got our shape wrong within the system. Ampadu was left all on his own far too often. Morrell has been playing very well recently at Portsmouth after moving to a slightly more advanced position (an '8'), so this suits him. With him in instead of Wilson, and Ramsey instructed to play deeper, I think the formation can be deployed a lot better than we saw at the world cup, and more in line with what we saw in those games against Czech, Belgium and the Dutch. |
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Post by dai on Mar 18, 2023 23:10:11 GMT
The very formation thats left us badly exposed and over run in midfield against most quality opponents? Whats the persistance with choosing something that fails us often? I’ve come to realise that Neco and Roberts are not very good WB’s compared to others that play in that formation. Roberts plays mostly as a right back at Burnley and Neco is used mostly further up tbe pitch by Cooper now. I dont think we have the personnel to carry out the formation at the moment. However we dont actually have a LB (if Bens out) atm either. I know I'm repeating myself, but the last sentence sums things up. We have no left back, which makes me think Page will persist with 3-5-2 Even Giggs noticed we were weak in the left area of defence, which he tried to rectify with James Lawrence. Right idea, but completely wrong personnel whe we had Hughes and Fox playing in the championship. How on earth Lawrence got in over those two is bonkers. |
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Post by iot on Mar 18, 2023 23:12:37 GMT
Think that would leave us far too vulnerable, can't see us getting a result with that back 4. I'd go with 532: Ward Roberts Meps Rodon Lockyer/Cabango Neco Ampadu Rambo Morrell Brennan Moore I think we are vulnerable no matter what. 5-3-2 just feels like we will get pinned back and be, unable to play out down one side of the pitch Well let's be honest, we're likely to get pinned back no matter what happens. At least with the 532, we can leave Brennan higher up to use his pace on the counter knowing that we have numbers further back. Also, it's not necessarily a defensive formation - we would have the two up top, Morrell and Ramsey would be expected to drive forward at the right times, and the wing backs would be expected to push up too. So that's 6 players providing an attacking threat at different points in the game. |
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Post by talyfan on Mar 19, 2023 0:01:02 GMT
Think we dropped a ball in the world cup by shoehorning Wilson to play centre mid. Morrell should give us better balance in that three.
You watch some of the games back and when we were building up play from our half to the opponents', Wilson and Ramsey were almost in line with our strikers with Connor and Neco high and wide too.
Out of possession defensively too because Ramsey and Wilson were so high up the pitch Ethan had to commit further forward which in turn led to the back line having to committ to challenging further forward and if they didn't get it right we were caught on the counter no bother. Which happened a hell of a lot.
Think 532 would work for us to be honest. Just hope wing backs and centre mids don't get injured! As we're a bit light in quality off the bench there.
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Post by marsvolta on Mar 19, 2023 0:42:26 GMT
I know I'm repeating myself, but the last sentence sums things up. We have no left back, which makes me think Page will persist with 3-5-2 Even Giggs noticed we were weak in the left area of defence, which he tried to rectify with James Lawrence. Right idea, but completely wrong personnel whe we had Hughes and Fox playing in the championship. How on earth Lawrence got in over those two is bonkers. Lawrence at the time was playing for Anderlecht in the top division of the Belgian league and playing in Europe. At the same time, Hughes was still at Peterborough and Fox was in and out of the Sheffield Wed side and struggling with injuries. Lawrence turned out not to be good enough but it wasn’t a bonkers decision at the time (and I’m sure if we looked back at the Lawrence thread on here when he was first called up,we wouldn’t see many calls for us to ignore a Champions League player for some League 1 players) |
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Post by surge on Mar 19, 2023 10:54:10 GMT
Think we dropped a ball in the world cup by shoehorning Wilson to play centre mid. Morrell should give us better balance in that three. You watch some of the games back and when we were building up play from our half to the opponents', Wilson and Ramsey were almost in line with our strikers with Connor and Neco high and wide too. Out of possession defensively too because Ramsey and Wilson were so high up the pitch Ethan had to commit further forward which in turn led to the back line having to committ to challenging further forward and if they didn't get it right we were caught on the counter no bother. Which happened a hell of a lot. Think 532 would work for us to be honest. Just hope wing backs and centre mids don't get injured! As we're a bit light in quality off the bench there. In lead up to the World Cup Morrell had: i) been on bench in Pompey's game against Morecombe (game immediately before travel and thus starting things in reverse order) ii) played 45 minutes in Pompey's cup game against Wimbledon (penultimate game before travel) iii) played 24 minutes against Shrewsbury in the league iv) stayed on the bench against FGR in the league v) played 90 mins in losing effort against Charlton in the league Before this, if we continue to look at it, he had 198 minutes across three games for Pompey and then we're back in September's Nations League games against Poland and Belgium. Morrell was unlucky to miss out on starting place. He has a far stronger claim now playing regularly for Pompey than he did going into the World Cup. |
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Post by jimbo82 on Mar 20, 2023 9:35:18 GMT
Any recommendations for things to do in Split? Looking at going round the old town but beyond that I have no clue. If you head to the harbour there are various boat trips you can do. Not sure if there are as many options in March as there are in summer though. Another boat option is a day trip to the island of Hvar which is pretty nice. |
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Post by dragonsoccer on Mar 20, 2023 12:07:20 GMT
Call ups Fox and King (both were on standby)
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Post by CrackityJones on Mar 20, 2023 12:32:39 GMT
Knew it was coming but still a blow
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Post by dai on Mar 20, 2023 12:42:00 GMT
Massive loss. So we've lost potentially our starting LCB and LWB in Davies and RND.
I wouldn't expect anything against Croatia atm.
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Post by iot on Mar 20, 2023 12:47:19 GMT
Yeah, I think the best we should be hoping for is a respectable performance and a win against Latvia. That would constitute success in my view. The disparity in quality between our squad and Croatia is just too big.
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Post by cadno on Mar 20, 2023 12:47:57 GMT
Why add an extra goalie? We need an extra central midfielder ffs 😄
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Post by welshrover on Mar 20, 2023 12:50:18 GMT
Why add an extra goalie? We need an extra central midfielder ffs 😄 Perhaps we are going to play two in goal to give us a chance 😊 |
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