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Post by njdragon on Mar 29, 2023 10:08:01 GMT
I actually think we did try to play with tempo up until the 60th minute and did it reasonably well, but I see your point. The trouble is, when you have a few players in your side who just don't have that level on the ball, it makes it difficult and affects the rhythm of the whole side. I think there was a clear gulf between players who could play progressive passes through the lines and the ones that couldn't. Of the starting xi yesterday, Ramsey can obviously do it, as can Wilson. Roberts and Neco can do it, and mepham to a lesser extent. Ampadu is ok at it, although I felt he could have been a bit more progressive yesterday. For all the praise morrell gets, I felt there were quite a few occasions yesterday where the likes of Wilson and Ramsey had worked space for themselves in dangerous positions and were screaming for the ball, but you had some players like Morrell and Rodon who either wouldn't look for it or didn't have the confidence to play the ball. I think that's a significant factor in why we sometimes lack that cutting edge. 100% agree, I think the tempo was good enough until 60, but still could have been better. But you're right not everyone can do it. It's not really Morrell's game and that's the difference between him and Allen you say he's hardly played for the last 3 years?? funny that - its from your source btw 24 Mar 2021 Belgium v Wales L 3-1 FIFA World Cup Europe group E 02 Jun 2021 France v Wales L 3-0 International Friendly 05 Jun 2021 Wales v Albania D 0-0 International Friendly 12 Jun 2021 Wales v Switzerland D 1-1 UEFA European Championship Group A 16 Jun 2021 Turkey v Wales W 0-2 UEFA European Championship Group A 20 Jun 2021 Italy v Wales L 1-0 UEFA European Championship Group A 26 Jun 2021 Wales v Denmark L 0-4 UEFA European Championship Finals - Round of 16 05 Sep 2021 Belarus v Wales W 2-3 FIFA World Cup Europe group E 08 Sep 2021 Wales v Estonia D 0-0 FIFA World Cup Europe group E 08 Oct 2021 Czech Republic v Wales D 2-2 FIFA World Cup Europe group E 11 Oct 2021 Estonia v Wales W 0-1 FIFA World Cup Europe group E 13 Nov 2021 Wales v Belarus W 5-1 FIFA World Cup Europe group E 16 Nov 2021 Wales v Belgium D 1-1 FIFA World Cup Europe group E 24 Mar 2022 Wales v Austria W 2-1 FIFA World Cup Semi-final play-off 05 Jun 2022 Wales v Ukraine W 1-0 FIFA World Cup Final play-off 11 Jun 2022 Wales v Belgium D 1-1 UEFA Nations League League A Group A4 25 Nov 2022 Wales v Iran L 0-2 FIFA World Cup Group B 29 Nov 2022 Wales v England L 0-3 FIFA World Cup Group B |
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Post by iot on Mar 29, 2023 10:09:28 GMT
He was there for ukraine and Austria June 22 - less than a year ago. He was fit for the euros. He's been our midfield playmaker for the past 10 years Don't forget the backroom staff have changed too Austria was March 22. Since covid, not including friendlies - - Missed all 6 Nations League games in Autumn 2020 - Missed 2 WCQs (not including him playing v Belgium as he came off very early on) - Missed 5 of the 2022 Nations League games and went off injured in the sixth. - Didn’t play v USA and came on very late v Iran, so call it missed 2 WC games. Played in 4 Euro games, 6 WCQs, the 2 play offs and 1 World Cup game. Played in 13. Missed 15. Source www.11v11.com/players/joe-allen-226384/ You're missing the point - 11 of the 15 games missed were nations league games, and as we all know we basically treated them as friendlies last June - we only played our first 11 in one of the 4 games. We all considered him to be a crucial part of the side, you're just being deliberately obtuse in an attempt to back up your point. But it's a poor point to make. You're basically not willing to accept that there has been some major changes to the national set up in recent months and that our performances should be considered in that context. You're wrong. |
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Post by eppingblue1 on Mar 29, 2023 10:17:36 GMT
Tbh, I'm not surprised we didn't score more goals, just concerned about the manner of the performance in the second half and the lack of energy due to players' fatigue. I had my money on Latvia replicating what we did to Croatia. But Croatia made 3 changes in the middle stages of the second half. It didn't stop them falling to our sucker punch at the end. What they needed and what we needed last night and that was a second goal. Our conservative approach in both games probably paid off. Kept us in the game in Split and kept us in the lead last night. I wonder if the Croatian fans are frustrated at the substitution of Modric a minute before our goal. They take off the old wise head and eyes of Croatian football and within a minute leave a player in miles of space just 3 feet off the line. |
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Post by jbt95 on Mar 29, 2023 10:18:06 GMT
Austria was March 22. Since covid, not including friendlies - - Missed all 6 Nations League games in Autumn 2020 - Missed 2 WCQs (not including him playing v Belgium as he came off very early on) - Missed 5 of the 2022 Nations League games and went off injured in the sixth. - Didn’t play v USA and came on very late v Iran, so call it missed 2 WC games. Played in 4 Euro games, 6 WCQs, the 2 play offs and 1 World Cup game. Played in 13. Missed 15. Source www.11v11.com/players/joe-allen-226384/ You're missing the point - 11 of the 15 games missed were nations league games, and as we all know we basically treated them as friendlies last June - we only played our first 11 in one of the 4 games. We all considered him to be a crucial part of the side, you're just being deliberately obtuse in an attempt to back up your point. But it's a poor point to make. You're basically not willing to accept that there has been some major changes to the national set up in recent months and that our performances should be considered in that context. You're wrong. Well of course he’s missed mainly Nations League games when there were no group stage qualifiers in 2020 or 2022. We certainly did not treat the 2020 Nations League as friendlies, we won promotion. We were also competitive in all six 2022 League A games. |
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Post by manulike on Mar 29, 2023 10:23:50 GMT
Looks like we might need to start saving up our deutschemarks :+)
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Post by foxmulder on Mar 29, 2023 10:26:21 GMT
It was a weird game. The players were individually good, but the game plan was frustrating.
The ball was constantly being passed to wide positions where it was clear that going through the middle was most effective.
We clearly needed subs at the 60 hour mark. Ramsey worked his socks off but looked knackered by then.
Is Bradshaw ever going to be given a proper chance?
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Post by eppingblue1 on Mar 29, 2023 10:27:14 GMT
Only complaint is the lack of substitutions. I felt we were screaming out for fresh legs and think we might have got a 2nd with the right subs Overall though there's no point complaining as this is an absolute dream start. We'd have all bitten a hand off for 4 pts wouldn't we? Especially with Turkey losing at home to Croatia Armenia is the game I'm most worried about as they are better than Latvia but equally organised It’s a dream start on paper but not from the performance, tactics or vision etc. If we had played any other pot 1 side on Saturday they would’ve hammered us. Croatia don’t score many goals, they had two 0-0 draws in the WC group stage and their knock out games went to extra time. If Perisic shot that hit the crossbar goes in we lose the game. Some fluky goal at the end of injury time doesn’t mean Page is a genius. He treated the game like a friendly. He clearly has favourites, the line up was predictable for both games. Broadhead only came on v Latvia because he scored v Croatia. Latvia pushed us at the end and he didn’t do anything like bringing on a defender or somebody to sit in the middle of the park. Another side would’ve beaten us. Broadhead only came on v Latvia because he scored v Croatia. What's that supposed to mean ? Of course his well taken goal against Latvia was going to push him up the pecking order. |
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Post by morg on Mar 29, 2023 10:34:58 GMT
Ratings out of 10: Ward - 7: really good showing across the two games Roberts - 5: Very poor in both games, with mistakes leading to a couple of Croatian chances, lost the ball several times against Latvia, and his crossing was poor. He's absolutely killing it at Brunley, but we're never going to play like Burnley and perhaps this just shows his limitations in a conventional FB/WB position Rodon&Meps - 7: Slightly shaky start from both I felt who struggled with the big CFs, but grew into the game and had a good battle with them in the end. Won plenty of challenges and were improved on the ball Neco - 8: his best game for Wales in a while. He was our main attacking threat for a while. He's a key player for us. Morrel and Amps - 7: similar level of performance where they did the basics well - Ampadu better at breaking down attacks and Morrell better at showing for the ball and keeping us ticking over. I would like to see Ampadu showing for the ball more often (I sometimes feel he doesn't really have the positional awareness of a midfielder to find space) and I think Morrell could do better in looking for the progressive option a little more often. Those improvements would make us a significantly improved side. Ramsey - 6: I thought he was decent, put in one great cross for Kieffer and showed his quality on the ball, although probably didn't influence the game as much as he would have hoped. Wilson - 8.5 (MOTM): His best game for us in a very long time. I thought he was brilliant, and to be honest I really wasn't expecting that performance from him. More of the same please. James - 7.5: Excellent in the first half. I've seen some complaints about his end product (we all know he struggles there), but he created the goal with an excellent cross, and created two other chances. Any winger would be pleased with that in a half of football. Faded in the second half before being subbed. Moore - 7.5: Didn't make the most of some early chances, but his header was brilliant and he had a good effort from just outside the box (which I didn't know he was capable of). Battled to the end, but looked knackered for the last 15/20. Page - 6: Got the team selection and tactics spot on initially, but disappointing to see the conservative approach in the last 30 where we should have pressed on. Probably should have made more substitutions too. But some of the criticism he's received is both ridiculous and predictable from people who have made their minds up well before this game. Bit harsh on Ramsey I think. Seems to be playing with a lot more composure and is benefitting those around him. Can see him compensating for Allen as our midfield metronome. |
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Post by iot on Mar 29, 2023 10:39:53 GMT
Ratings out of 10: Ward - 7: really good showing across the two games Roberts - 5: Very poor in both games, with mistakes leading to a couple of Croatian chances, lost the ball several times against Latvia, and his crossing was poor. He's absolutely killing it at Brunley, but we're never going to play like Burnley and perhaps this just shows his limitations in a conventional FB/WB position Rodon&Meps - 7: Slightly shaky start from both I felt who struggled with the big CFs, but grew into the game and had a good battle with them in the end. Won plenty of challenges and were improved on the ball Neco - 8: his best game for Wales in a while. He was our main attacking threat for a while. He's a key player for us. Morrel and Amps - 7: similar level of performance where they did the basics well - Ampadu better at breaking down attacks and Morrell better at showing for the ball and keeping us ticking over. I would like to see Ampadu showing for the ball more often (I sometimes feel he doesn't really have the positional awareness of a midfielder to find space) and I think Morrell could do better in looking for the progressive option a little more often. Those improvements would make us a significantly improved side. Ramsey - 6: I thought he was decent, put in one great cross for Kieffer and showed his quality on the ball, although probably didn't influence the game as much as he would have hoped. Wilson - 8.5 (MOTM): His best game for us in a very long time. I thought he was brilliant, and to be honest I really wasn't expecting that performance from him. More of the same please. James - 7.5: Excellent in the first half. I've seen some complaints about his end product (we all know he struggles there), but he created the goal with an excellent cross, and created two other chances. Any winger would be pleased with that in a half of football. Faded in the second half before being subbed. Moore - 7.5: Didn't make the most of some early chances, but his header was brilliant and he had a good effort from just outside the box (which I didn't know he was capable of). Battled to the end, but looked knackered for the last 15/20. Page - 6: Got the team selection and tactics spot on initially, but disappointing to see the conservative approach in the last 30 where we should have pressed on. Probably should have made more substitutions too. But some of the criticism he's received is both ridiculous and predictable from people who have made their minds up well before this game. Bit harsh on Ramsey I think. Seems to be playing with a lot more composure and is benefitting those around him. Can see him compensating for Allen as our midfield metronome. Potentially. There's a very good chance when I watch the game back that I'll have a different view of his performance - it's always the case when watching on TV vs at the ground! I just felt he was nice and tidy in what he did, but didn't get on the ball that much (might be wrong there) and didn't really play a telling ball other than the cross to Moore. We all know he's capable of playing that type of ball, but he didn't really do it yesterday, which is the rationale for that score. |
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Post by jbt95 on Mar 29, 2023 10:43:13 GMT
It’s a dream start on paper but not from the performance, tactics or vision etc. If we had played any other pot 1 side on Saturday they would’ve hammered us. Croatia don’t score many goals, they had two 0-0 draws in the WC group stage and their knock out games went to extra time. If Perisic shot that hit the crossbar goes in we lose the game. Some fluky goal at the end of injury time doesn’t mean Page is a genius. He treated the game like a friendly. He clearly has favourites, the line up was predictable for both games. Broadhead only came on v Latvia because he scored v Croatia. Latvia pushed us at the end and he didn’t do anything like bringing on a defender or somebody to sit in the middle of the park. Another side would’ve beaten us. Broadhead only came on v Latvia because he scored v Croatia. What's that supposed to mean ? Of course his well taken goal against Latvia was going to push him up the pecking order. It means that if we lost 1-0, that sub wouldn’t have happened. |
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Post by dai on Mar 29, 2023 10:53:19 GMT
Ratings out of 10: Ward - 7: really good showing across the two games Roberts - 5: Very poor in both games, with mistakes leading to a couple of Croatian chances, lost the ball several times against Latvia, and his crossing was poor. He's absolutely killing it at Brunley, but we're never going to play like Burnley and perhaps this just shows his limitations in a conventional FB/WB position Rodon&Meps - 7: Slightly shaky start from both I felt who struggled with the big CFs, but grew into the game and had a good battle with them in the end. Won plenty of challenges and were improved on the ball Neco - 8: his best game for Wales in a while. He was our main attacking threat for a while. He's a key player for us. Morrel and Amps - 7: similar level of performance where they did the basics well - Ampadu better at breaking down attacks and Morrell better at showing for the ball and keeping us ticking over. I would like to see Ampadu showing for the ball more often (I sometimes feel he doesn't really have the positional awareness of a midfielder to find space) and I think Morrell could do better in looking for the progressive option a little more often. Those improvements would make us a significantly improved side. Ramsey - 6: I thought he was decent, put in one great cross for Kieffer and showed his quality on the ball, although probably didn't influence the game as much as he would have hoped. Wilson - 8.5 (MOTM): His best game for us in a very long time. I thought he was brilliant, and to be honest I really wasn't expecting that performance from him. More of the same please. James - 7.5: Excellent in the first half. I've seen some complaints about his end product (we all know he struggles there), but he created the goal with an excellent cross, and created two other chances. Any winger would be pleased with that in a half of football. Faded in the second half before being subbed. Moore - 7.5: Didn't make the most of some early chances, but his header was brilliant and he had a good effort from just outside the box (which I didn't know he was capable of). Battled to the end, but looked knackered for the last 15/20. Page - 6: Got the team selection and tactics spot on initially, but disappointing to see the conservative approach in the last 30 where we should have pressed on. Probably should have made more substitutions too. But some of the criticism he's received is both ridiculous and predictable from people who have made their minds up well before this game.Are you in love with Page or something? |
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Post by iot on Mar 29, 2023 11:05:03 GMT
Ratings out of 10: Ward - 7: really good showing across the two games Roberts - 5: Very poor in both games, with mistakes leading to a couple of Croatian chances, lost the ball several times against Latvia, and his crossing was poor. He's absolutely killing it at Brunley, but we're never going to play like Burnley and perhaps this just shows his limitations in a conventional FB/WB position Rodon&Meps - 7: Slightly shaky start from both I felt who struggled with the big CFs, but grew into the game and had a good battle with them in the end. Won plenty of challenges and were improved on the ball Neco - 8: his best game for Wales in a while. He was our main attacking threat for a while. He's a key player for us. Morrel and Amps - 7: similar level of performance where they did the basics well - Ampadu better at breaking down attacks and Morrell better at showing for the ball and keeping us ticking over. I would like to see Ampadu showing for the ball more often (I sometimes feel he doesn't really have the positional awareness of a midfielder to find space) and I think Morrell could do better in looking for the progressive option a little more often. Those improvements would make us a significantly improved side. Ramsey - 6: I thought he was decent, put in one great cross for Kieffer and showed his quality on the ball, although probably didn't influence the game as much as he would have hoped. Wilson - 8.5 (MOTM): His best game for us in a very long time. I thought he was brilliant, and to be honest I really wasn't expecting that performance from him. More of the same please. James - 7.5: Excellent in the first half. I've seen some complaints about his end product (we all know he struggles there), but he created the goal with an excellent cross, and created two other chances. Any winger would be pleased with that in a half of football. Faded in the second half before being subbed. Moore - 7.5: Didn't make the most of some early chances, but his header was brilliant and he had a good effort from just outside the box (which I didn't know he was capable of). Battled to the end, but looked knackered for the last 15/20. Page - 6: Got the team selection and tactics spot on initially, but disappointing to see the conservative approach in the last 30 where we should have pressed on. Probably should have made more substitutions too. But some of the criticism he's received is both ridiculous and predictable from people who have made their minds up well before this game.Are you in love with Page or something? Yes, I'm in love with Page which is why I've just scored him a 6/10 for his role yesterday, criticised his handling of the Johnson fiasco and the lack of bravery in the second half yesterday, and expressed some concerns going forward. This might be an alien concept to you, but it's possible to look at the good and the bad - it doesn't need to be all in one direction. There's just no balance to some people's comments and no appreciation for the wider context. The people who are extremely OTT are the ones who are overly critical of everything, which is why I find myself in the position of defending Page quite often, despite having my own reservations on some aspects of his management. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2023 11:06:48 GMT
Doesn't make you overly excited about a potential Euro tournament how we perform currently. It wouldn't go very well.
But consistently getting to tournaments is probably having a big impact on football in wales that isn't plain to see.
I think by hook or by crook they just want to get to tournaments & won't take any risks in regard to changing style of play or looking too far forward
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Post by iot on Mar 29, 2023 11:22:04 GMT
Doesn't make you overly excited about a potential Euro tournament how we perform currently. It wouldn't go very well. But consistently getting to tournaments is probably having a big impact on football in wales that isn't plain to see. I think by hook or by crook they just want to get to tournaments & won't take any risks in regard to changing style of play or looking too far forward We have to be realistic about the quality we have available. I personally see no issue with the playing style in those two games (other than the ultra-conservative approach in the last 30 yesterday). Yes we were very compact, but we also did play a lot of good football in the first 60 yesterday. We tried a much more open approach in the world cup and were ripped to shreds - that certainly was no fun watching! |
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Post by jbt95 on Mar 29, 2023 11:27:42 GMT
I can’t believe there are people out there who were happy to see us throw away the Croatia away game? We had no ambition in that game whatsoever. A stronger finishing team would’ve killed us.. The result masks over the fact.
Many have said the last 30 mins yesterday was too conservative. That’s putting it lightly. Why did we not try and get a second goal?!
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Post by foxmulder on Mar 29, 2023 11:41:34 GMT
I'm never negative. The negativity on this forum really winds me up sometimes. To the extent I need to take a break for a while.
But Page's tactics are worrying. We're going to receive a Serbia-style hiding soon.
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Post by redwallnews on Mar 29, 2023 12:01:03 GMT
People calling for Page out. Ha bloody ha. Some jokers in this fan base.
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Post by cadno on Mar 29, 2023 12:12:05 GMT
People calling for Page out. Ha bloody ha. Some jokers in this fan base. Needs to work on his communication & how he talks to the media, he doesn’t help himself at all! To be fair to him he’s surrounded himself with good staff since the WC & had a good start to the qualifiers in terms of results! Do things feel as good as under Speed & Cookie? Not for me, something isn’t quite right. Is it an improvement on the WC performances? Yes, moving in the right direction |
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Post by redwallnews on Mar 29, 2023 12:13:54 GMT
People calling for Page out. Ha bloody ha. Some jokers in this fan base. Needs to work on his communication & how he talks to the media, he doesn’t help himself at all! To be fair to him he’s surrounded himself with good staff since the WC & had a good start to the qualifiers in terms of results! Do things feel as good as under Speed & Cookie? Not for me, something isn’t quite right. Is it an improvement on the WC performances? Yes, moving in the right direction Yeah agree mate still learning in the job so to speak but people calling for him to go is mental at this stage. |
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Post by njdragon on Mar 29, 2023 12:23:19 GMT
Needs to work on his communication & how he talks to the media, he doesn’t help himself at all! To be fair to him he’s surrounded himself with good staff since the WC & had a good start to the qualifiers in terms of results! Do things feel as good as under Speed & Cookie? Not for me, something isn’t quite right. Is it an improvement on the WC performances? Yes, moving in the right direction Yeah agree mate still learning in the job so to speak but people calling for him to go is mental at this stage. its crazy we just got a draw in Croatia and people were calling for his head. Be careful what you wish for i think,Page has steadied to ship and taken us to 2 tournaments. No welsh manager has ever achieved this. We had a dip before and during the world cup - i think everyone just breathed a sigh of relief that we had got there But to come back from that with 2 good results is fantastic - our heads haven't dropped and its a great start! |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 29, 2023 12:23:46 GMT
I can’t believe there are people out there who were happy to see us throw away the Croatia away game? We had no ambition in that game whatsoever. A stronger finishing team would’ve killed us.. The result masks over the fact. Many have said the last 30 mins yesterday was too conservative. That’s putting it lightly. Why did we not try and get a second goal?! We didn't throw away the Croatia game, we won an incredible point. You're getting very upset over something that didn't happen |
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Post by cadno on Mar 29, 2023 12:24:36 GMT
Needs to work on his communication & how he talks to the media, he doesn’t help himself at all! To be fair to him he’s surrounded himself with good staff since the WC & had a good start to the qualifiers in terms of results! Do things feel as good as under Speed & Cookie? Not for me, something isn’t quite right. Is it an improvement on the WC performances? Yes, moving in the right direction Yeah agree mate still learning in the job so to speak but people calling for him to go is mental at this stage. He’ll get there hopefully , be nice to see him loosen up a bit and let the players play , maybe with time… it’s not an easy gig tbf |
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Post by talyfan on Mar 29, 2023 12:38:08 GMT
Shame Jonny retired. He'd have been really useful last night I reckon
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Post by iot on Mar 29, 2023 12:40:33 GMT
I can’t believe there are people out there who were happy to see us throw away the Croatia away game? We had no ambition in that game whatsoever. A stronger finishing team would’ve killed us.. The result masks over the fact. Many have said the last 30 mins yesterday was too conservative. That’s putting it lightly. Why did we not try and get a second goal?! "A stronger finishing team would’ve killed us. The result masks over the fact." Think you're missing the point, again. Can't remember who said it (probably Page or Ramsey), but one of them said that they had looked through all of Croatia's results and picked up on the fact that there was almost always only 1 goal in it and often no goals at all. Thus, they clearly lacked strong finishing. That's why the strategy was to just keep it tight, stay in the game, knowing that in all likelihood Croatia wouldn't score more than once, and thereby giving us a chance to nick something. It was a clever strategy. As someone pointed out, Turkey took a completely different approach and took the game to Croatia. I bet it looked much more pleasing on the eye and they could have scored a couple from what I've read, but what was the reward for their approach? What was the reward for our approach? It wasn't a fluke, it was an assessment of Croatia's strengths and weaknesses and worked out as planned. It was the best gameplan we had available to us. |
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Post by iot on Mar 29, 2023 12:43:04 GMT
I'm never negative. The negativity on this forum really winds me up sometimes. To the extent I need to take a break for a while. But Page's tactics are worrying. We're going to receive a Serbia-style hiding soon. I really don't understand how you've come to that conclusion? Why do you think we're about to receive a hiding when all the evidence from these last two games shows we've become much more compact and difficult to break down since the world cup? Latvia had about 2 half chances yesterday, we had closer to 10. Croatia only had one chance from inside our box, the rest (including the goal) were long range efforts. |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Mar 29, 2023 13:12:03 GMT
My biggest complaint at the WC was that we were wide open. These past two games we've been anything but, which is pleasing. Yes we're still not wowing everyone with our attacking football but considering no Bale and no Johnson we've still managed to score twice and get 4 points - happy days!
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Post by bobbyghoul on Mar 29, 2023 13:19:40 GMT
I'm guessing you were born in 1995 if you've never felt like this before. Trust me, it can get a lot worse than this. Yes born in 95, tomorrow is my 20th anniversary of my first game v Azerbaijan and been to every home competitive game since, other than covid. Page is clueless. He talks a load of rubbish. Get him out. You must have felt like this before then. Or worse. |
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Post by pclaude on Mar 29, 2023 13:25:32 GMT
There was definitely a point on about the hour mark where there was an instruction from the bench and suddenly both full backs sat much further back. Interesting, that's the main thing Page got wrong for me. He should have been urging the team to up the ante at that point, not sit off. That's my main concern about him going forward. I have a lot more sympathy with the lack of subs than others, although understand the point around the difference in energy levels it led to. I think he got it wrong in that respect- I also noted that Ramsey was very vocal on the touchline and suspect he is the tactics guy. |
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Post by pclaude on Mar 29, 2023 13:28:51 GMT
Shame Jonny retired. He'd have been really useful last night I reckon This is bang on. The most baffling of retirements |
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Post by jbt95 on Mar 29, 2023 14:21:56 GMT
I can’t believe there are people out there who were happy to see us throw away the Croatia away game? We had no ambition in that game whatsoever. A stronger finishing team would’ve killed us.. The result masks over the fact. Many have said the last 30 mins yesterday was too conservative. That’s putting it lightly. Why did we not try and get a second goal?! "A stronger finishing team would’ve killed us. The result masks over the fact." Think you're missing the point, again. Can't remember who said it (probably Page or Ramsey), but one of them said that they had looked through all of Croatia's results and picked up on the fact that there was almost always only 1 goal in it and often no goals at all. Thus, they clearly lacked strong finishing. That's why the strategy was to just keep it tight, stay in the game, knowing that in all likelihood Croatia wouldn't score more than once, and thereby giving us a chance to nick something. It was a clever strategy. As someone pointed out, Turkey took a completely different approach and took the game to Croatia. I bet it looked much more pleasing on the eye and they could have scored a couple from what I've read, but what was the reward for their approach? What was the reward for our approach? It wasn't a fluke, it was an assessment of Croatia's strengths and weaknesses and worked out as planned. It was the best gameplan we had available to us. But we didn’t go to Croatia to try and get anything. We just hoped and prayed that they wouldn’t get a second and that somehow we could score with little experience up top. Okay it worked, but I’d say on the law of averages usually it would not. The plan was whatever the score to take off our 3 most experienced attacking players with 30 mins to go, followed by Ramsey 10mins later. If the scores were level or we were two down then fine, but not at one down. |
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