Cymru friendlies 2023

[daearegwr]

Playing Gibraltar in Wales on the 11th October. Venue and KO tbc. Could be one for Liberty or Racecourse?

[cymroircarn]

Too early for Wrexham with the new stand being built?

[cogancoronation31]

Gibralter about as different from Argentina as it gets! One common thread: Gibralterians speak Spanish and English, Argentinians speak Spanish and Welsh (Other languages are available in both places, of course!)

Initial thought: Surely we can hammer Gibralter, wherever we play them?

[vvm]

We played Trinidad and Tobago at the racecourse in front of only 3 stands but gut tells me they might want to delay the next friendly up north until the new stand is built and make a big show of it.

Any space in the calendar for additional aways?

[bringbackelmo]

Just booked a hotel in Wrexham on the off-chance it ends up being there, would be nice to take it to a different ground.

[cogancoronation31]

That's the October friendly sorted then, opponent-wise at least.

What about September (pre- the Latvia away qualifier)?

There's been talk of Malta - why not welcome them to Wales?

[vaulksthrowfanclub]

Play the kids, start a few, or get a few closer to the magic 4. Perfect opposition imo.

[jbt95]

Bit of a rubbish friendly that. Reminds me of when we would play the likes of Luxembourg under Toshack in friendlies. Not a useful exercise.

[insertname]

Yeah, if Mullin is given a chance and scores a hat trick no-one will give a **** because “it’s only Gibraltar”.

There’s weaker opposition and there is opposition so weak you can’t really learn anything and in fact you can only diminish your confidence by not scoring anywhere near the goals you’re expected to. Gibraltar are definitely in the latter camp. Poor fixture imo

[bringbackelmo]

I'm not sure I'd agree with that, they had some reasonable results in the last NL and we are a side in transition, it's a useful chance to look at some other players.

More importantly its just before what could be a crucial qualifier with Croatia so I'd much prefer this to putting a second side out against stiff opposition that might just batter us.

[fiveattheback]

They finished bottom on 1 point conceding 18 from 6 games.

[erasedcitizen]

Feb 3, 2023 13:31:44 GMT cymroircarn said:

Too early for Wrexham with the new stand being built?

New, fancy floodlights though!

Would feel like a 'token' friendly for the North. We could do with a decent game up here for a change.

When was the last time we faced decent opposition in the North?

[allezlesrouges]

I want us to move to a model like Croatia where we feel comfortable moving around stadiums. I get the need to consistently be at the CCS to break out qualifying jinx. Now we've done it let's use the stadiums to our advantage like other countries do

Feels like in future we could play teams like Moldova/Andorra in a more intimate ground like a 15k sell out Racecourse, and use that to our advantage

Therefore my view is that the more games we play there the better, even if that means no Kop in place. Would rather see us use the Racecourse than shunting the game an hour down the road to the Liberty to be honest

Therefore it wouldn't be a tokenistic friendly for the north, it would be the beginning of a commitment for more games there, with the view to hosting Nations League and low level qualifying opponents there in future

[jimexotic]

Just no matches at Rodney Parade please!

[gwernybwch]

Feb 3, 2023 17:13:23 GMT allezlesrouges said:

I want us to move to a model like Croatia where we feel comfortable moving around stadiums. I get the need to consistently be at the CCS to break out qualifying jinx. Now we've done it let's use the stadiums to our advantage like other countries do

Feels like in future we could play teams like Moldova/Andorra in a more intimate ground like a 15k sell out Racecourse, and use that to our advantage

Therefore my view is that the more games we play there the better, even if that means no Kop in place. Would rather see us use the Racecourse than shunting the game an hour down the road to the Liberty to be honest

Therefore it wouldn't be a tokenistic friendly for the north, it would be the beginning of a commitment for more games there, with the view to hosting Nations League and low level qualifying opponents there in future

For some it would be shunting the game an hour closer to home.......

[fiveattheback]

Isn't our use of the CCS to our advantage?  Familiar ground, familiar training ground just down the road in the Vale of Glamorgan

I know it's not a particularly popular opinion amongst our online fans, but Cardiff makes the most sense for competitive matches and that's where they should stay imo.  I'm not a huge fan of teams important moving games around, I can't imagine it helps the team much.  As an aside, why shouldn't Moldova or Andorra be shown the same courtesy and respect as anyone else?  It's still a competitive game.  We're the first to complain if a bigger nation plays us in a smaller ground

I wouldn't be so dismissive of the Liberty, it's hardly a cakewalk to get from Swansea to Cardiff on matchdays, nevermind if you're a coming from, say, Aberystwyth or Carmarthen.  If games were to be moved around then west Wales should be considered as well

[allezlesrouges]

Feb 3, 2023 20:32:42 GMT gwernybwch said:

Feb 3, 2023 17:13:23 GMT allezlesrouges said:

I want us to move to a model like Croatia where we feel comfortable moving around stadiums. I get the need to consistently be at the CCS to break out qualifying jinx. Now we've done it let's use the stadiums to our advantage like other countries do

Feels like in future we could play teams like Moldova/Andorra in a more intimate ground like a 15k sell out Racecourse, and use that to our advantage

Therefore my view is that the more games we play there the better, even if that means no Kop in place. Would rather see us use the Racecourse than shunting the game an hour down the road to the Liberty to be honest

Therefore it wouldn't be a tokenistic friendly for the north, it would be the beginning of a commitment for more games there, with the view to hosting Nations League and low level qualifying opponents there in future

For some it would be shunting the game an hour closer to home.......

Yeah it would, but that won't interfere with many people's ability to attend

[bale-droed]

It’s so confusing seeing people say “new stand won’t be built at racecourse In time “ etc etc we played Trinidad and Tobago there w few years ago! This fixture is 100% going to be there.

Great opponents for us. I’d we underperform they’ll beat us so there’s pressure but not enough to be daunting. Good chance for something like Johnson and colwill to work on link up play again. Hopefully we try lots of young players in this fixture.

[aberbeeg]

What a rubbish fixture. Nothing to be gained from playing the whipping boys of Europe who are basically part timers ( ie San Marino etc). We win it will be “its only crappy Gibraltar” we don’t win comfortably then the critics will have a field day.
Can’t see the sense in a basic training exercise sold as a “competitive “ match.

[allezlesrouges]

Same was said about Trinidad & Tobago game, but I think that was a useful exercise ultimately

[vaulksthrowfanclub]

We play Croatia a few days later. If we play a shadow squad vs Gibraltar we’d be fresh for Croatia, who play Turkey on the 12th after we play Gibraltar on the 11th. It’s the perfect friendly for us imo.

[rushy]

Imagine losing 🤣

It's a fixture where if the plan is to introduce a host of new players and system then it would be a worthwhile exercise.

[jimexotic]

I never want us playing in the Royal Family stadium again, just stuck on the Rugby and you can hear a pin drop

[marsvolta]

I thought they were all going to ‘belt out Delilah louder than ever before’

[allezlesrouges]

Feb 4, 2023 13:24:39 GMT rushy said:

Imagine losing 🤣

It's a fixture where if the plan is to introduce a host of new players and system then it would be a worthwhile exercise.

If we lost, so what?

[allezlesrouges]

Feb 4, 2023 15:45:40 GMT marsvolta said:

Feb 4, 2023 14:26:47 GMT jimexotic said:

I never want us playing in the Royal Family stadium again, just stuck on the Rugby and you can hear a pin drop

I thought they were all going to ‘belt out Delilah louder than ever before’

Think that says more about the people the WRU attracts to watch the game than the stadium itself

[erasedcitizen]

Feb 4, 2023 14:26:47 GMT jimexotic said:

I never want us playing in the Royal Family stadium again, just stuck on the Rugby and you can hear a pin drop

I went. Could hear myself singing the anthem.

Incomparable to the football.

[allezlesrouges]

I had the same experience last time, the people in front of me were just chatting while the anthems played. They weren't even watching the game just chatting all game, missing the tries and popping to the bar every 20 mins

Frustrates me to no end when I hear people in work going on about "how good the anthem is at the rugby". These are the type of people who haven't even heard it at the CCS and seem incredulous when I tell them 35k easily sing it better at the football

[jimexotic]

As long we don't balls this up completely, in the next ten years I can see us properly overtaking rugby, we just need some more decent Welsh kids coming through, hopefully the whole Wrexham thing can help.

[manulike]

dragonsoccer
Any news about the September fixture?
Which teams are actually left and is it set to be home or away?