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Post by dai on Mar 27, 2024 17:28:45 GMT
We defended very well, no clear cut chances for Poland. Worth noting that our possession figures decreased progressively as the game progressed. 49% first half, 42% second, 39% 1st et, 24% 2nd et. Page should have noted this gradual deterioration and made more changes.Same old same old unfortunately, more of this ineptitude to come in the next 2 years sadly. |
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Post by surge on Mar 27, 2024 17:51:41 GMT
We defended very well, no clear cut chances for Poland. Worth noting that our possession figures decreased progressively as the game progressed. 49% first half, 42% second, 39% 1st et, 24% 2nd et. Page should have noted this gradual deterioration and made more changes. 2 Morgan Fox | QPR 10 Aaron Ramsey | Cardiff City 11 Rabbi Matondo | Rangers 16 Charlie Savage | Reading 18 Liam Cullen | Swansea City 19 Jay DaSilva | Coventry City 22 Josh Sheehan | Bolton Which of the above names are you bringing on late in the game? On paper you would say that it would go in order of: Da Silva (0 international caps), Charlie Savage (1 cap), Josh Sheehan (5 caps)...Rabbi Matondo? The main difference between the sides was the experience/confidence in penalties (including a goalie who had experience saving penalty against Messi at "his World Cup") and that their side was stronger having played half a game last Thursday instead of 90 minutes. But we have a few friendlies, a Nations League campaign and a year before the World Cup qualifiers start. Time to hopefully spent building depth and continuing to build the new leadership group which emerged in this campaign. |
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Post by ddirpytnop on Mar 27, 2024 18:08:46 GMT
We defended very well, no clear cut chances for Poland. Worth noting that our possession figures decreased progressively as the game progressed. 49% first half, 42% second, 39% 1st et, 24% 2nd et. Page should have noted this gradual deterioration and made more changes. 2 Morgan Fox | QPR 10 Aaron Ramsey | Cardiff City 11 Rabbi Matondo | Rangers 16 Charlie Savage | Reading 18 Liam Cullen | Swansea City 19 Jay DaSilva | Coventry City 22 Josh Sheehan | Bolton Which of the above names are you bringing on late in the game? On paper you would say that it would go in order of: Da Silva (0 international caps), Charlie Savage (1 cap), Josh Sheehan (5 caps)...Rabbi Matondo? The main difference between the sides was the experience/confidence in penalties (including a goalie who had experience saving penalty against Messi at "his World Cup") and that their side was stronger having played half a game last Thursday instead of 90 minutes. But we have a few friendlies, a Nations League campaign and a year before the World Cup qualifiers start. Time to hopefully spent building depth and continuing to build the new leadership group which emerged in this campaign. Broadhead could have been brought on much earlier. Da Silva should have been brought on to replace Roberts. I think Rambo/Sheehan could also have been brought on for JJ in extra time. And Matondo would have brought pace against tired defenders. The number of caps they have is immaterial - the only question is whether they offer something different - or at least more energy than the tired players they are replacing. |
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Post by zserty on Mar 27, 2024 18:13:16 GMT
100% agree, especially because Dasilva has plenty of experience and played at a tournament for England U21s I can see why he didn't he do it considering he's uncapped, but I agree I would have brought Dasilva on, it's not like he's a kid. He's a 25 year old with plenty of experience Page would rather waste our attacking talent at right back late in the game, than play Da Silva. Dont bother calling them up if you'd rather put a makeshift fullback in instead. |
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Post by quetzal on Mar 27, 2024 18:19:37 GMT
I can see why he didn't he do it considering he's uncapped, but I agree I would have brought Dasilva on, it's not like he's a kid. He's a 25 year old with plenty of experience Page would rather waste our attacking talent at right back late in the game, than play Da Silva. Dont bother calling them up if you'd rather put a makeshift fullback in instead. It’s the one even Page fans are puzzled. Panicked??? |
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Post by athenempadu on Mar 27, 2024 19:12:24 GMT
My guess is Page doesn't want to put on an uncapped LWB on in such a big game. Which is exactly why I wanted to see Dasilva capped before today, why didn't he come on for Neco in the Finland game for example? This is also one of the reasons I've been calling for us to try a back 4, insisting on a wing back system when we can't play round pegs in round holes is silly. Every single player in our squad plays a back 4 for their club Ward Neco-Mepham-Rodon-Davies JJ-Ampadu Brooks-Wilson-DJ Moore If we'd gone to that and then lost 1-0 I think people would have been less annoyed, as it's a more proactive change, and gives Poland something different to think about It's very hard to argue against that lineup once Roberts was injured. There was an opportunity to turn a difficult situation to our advantage. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but had he done this and it not worked out I don't think he'd be getting the criticism he's getting now. Even if we won, I would still think replacing Roberts with James was a mad idea. Moving to a back 4 idea makes perfect sense to me, or even Dasilva for Roberts. |
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Post by iot on Mar 27, 2024 19:39:49 GMT
We defended very well, no clear cut chances for Poland. Worth noting that our possession figures decreased progressively as the game progressed. 49% first half, 42% second, 39% 1st et, 24% 2nd et. Page should have noted this gradual deterioration and made more changes. That's an excellent stat, and pretty damning of the lack of substitutions I would suggest |
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Post by iot on Mar 27, 2024 19:46:04 GMT
We defended very well, no clear cut chances for Poland. Worth noting that our possession figures decreased progressively as the game progressed. 49% first half, 42% second, 39% 1st et, 24% 2nd et. Page should have noted this gradual deterioration and made more changes. 2 Morgan Fox | QPR 10 Aaron Ramsey | Cardiff City 11 Rabbi Matondo | Rangers 16 Charlie Savage | Reading 18 Liam Cullen | Swansea City 19 Jay DaSilva | Coventry City 22 Josh Sheehan | Bolton Which of the above names are you bringing on late in the game? On paper you would say that it would go in order of: Da Silva (0 international caps), Charlie Savage (1 cap), Josh Sheehan (5 caps)...Rabbi Matondo? The main difference between the sides was the experience/confidence in penalties (including a goalie who had experience saving penalty against Messi at "his World Cup") and that their side was stronger having played half a game last Thursday instead of 90 minutes. But we have a few friendlies, a Nations League campaign and a year before the World Cup qualifiers start. Time to hopefully spent building depth and continuing to build the new leadership group which emerged in this campaign. Towards the end of the 90 I was calling for Ramsey and Moore to come on for Wilson and Moore, who looked the most knackered to my eyes. I don't care if Ramsey wasn't completely fit, he would have been fitter than Wilson was and equally adept at penalties. Moore may have stayed on because of his penalty taking ability, but I don't think that tradeoff is worthwhile considering how ineffective he'd become. Also, I think Colwill could have had a good impact and is another good penaltytaker - so he would have been my next choice if Ramsey was never deemed fit enough to play any part. |
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Post by gwernybwch on Mar 27, 2024 20:01:52 GMT
Not assed about fans booing anthems to be honest, not something I would do personally but each to their own. However the excuse of "booing the flares" as a cover is hilarious. How precious are some of our fans. Its always the wild west in away ends. There were some right Herberts around me in the Canton screaming for page to be sacked immediately after DJ missed the pen. Thankfully plenty of fans were telling him to turn it in and he came back with the "I was here when only 4000 fans were here" bollocks. Precious? Hilarious? Let's not forget that one of our own died because some numpty thought that it was a good idea to smuggle in a flare into a crowded stadium and let it off. Even if you are too young to remember that, more recently there are Wales fans that have banning orders because they let off a flare in the streets of Cardiff. If we went to Poland and disrespected them and the laws of their land, I would expect them to return that disrespect back in bucketloads. |
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Post by conwy10 on Mar 27, 2024 21:01:53 GMT
We defended very well, no clear cut chances for Poland. Worth noting that our possession figures decreased progressively as the game progressed. 49% first half, 42% second, 39% 1st et, 24% 2nd et. Page should have noted this gradual deterioration and made more changes. 2 Morgan Fox | QPR 10 Aaron Ramsey | Cardiff City 11 Rabbi Matondo | Rangers 16 Charlie Savage | Reading 18 Liam Cullen | Swansea City 19 Jay DaSilva | Coventry City 22 Josh Sheehan | Bolton Which of the above names are you bringing on late in the game? On paper you would say that it would go in order of: Da Silva (0 international caps), Charlie Savage (1 cap), Josh Sheehan (5 caps)...Rabbi Matondo? The main difference between the sides was the experience/confidence in penalties (including a goalie who had experience saving penalty against Messi at "his World Cup") and that their side was stronger having played half a game last Thursday instead of 90 minutes. But we have a few friendlies, a Nations League campaign and a year before the World Cup qualifiers start. Time to hopefully spent building depth and continuing to build the new leadership group which emerged in this campaign. Hey, don't blame us for having no options on the bench. We didn't pick the squad. Or decided to only use about 16 players for the past 3 years resulting in very few people having caps. |
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Post by athenempadu on Mar 27, 2024 21:13:27 GMT
2 Morgan Fox | QPR 10 Aaron Ramsey | Cardiff City 11 Rabbi Matondo | Rangers 16 Charlie Savage | Reading 18 Liam Cullen | Swansea City 19 Jay DaSilva | Coventry City 22 Josh Sheehan | Bolton Which of the above names are you bringing on late in the game? On paper you would say that it would go in order of: Da Silva (0 international caps), Charlie Savage (1 cap), Josh Sheehan (5 caps)...Rabbi Matondo? The main difference between the sides was the experience/confidence in penalties (including a goalie who had experience saving penalty against Messi at "his World Cup") and that their side was stronger having played half a game last Thursday instead of 90 minutes. But we have a few friendlies, a Nations League campaign and a year before the World Cup qualifiers start. Time to hopefully spent building depth and continuing to build the new leadership group which emerged in this campaign. Hey, don't blame us for having no options on the bench. We didn't pick the squad. Or decided to only use about 16 players for the past 3 years resulting in very few people having caps. I'm amazed that some of the fringe players still turn up to be honest. The food must be good down at the Vale :/ |
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Post by conwy10 on Mar 27, 2024 21:21:46 GMT
Hey, don't blame us for having no options on the bench. We didn't pick the squad. Or decided to only use about 16 players for the past 3 years resulting in very few people having caps. I'm amazed that some of the fringe players still turn up to be honest. The food must be good down at the Vale :/ Even more amazed they're like 25/26/27 years old showing up knowing they'll only play friendlies as we don't have faith in their abilities. If they're that age they should be making an impact on the pitch. Toshack will be rolling in his Spanish villa if he was watching this. Might as well give the experience to the younger players if they aren't getting on either way. Feels like we're collecting deadwood. |
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Post by surge on Mar 27, 2024 21:23:22 GMT
I think past couple of comments are examples of OTT criticism disconnected from the facts as means of communicating disappointment.
We have tried to widen out player depth (Mark Harris, Cabango, Burns, Thomas, Lockyer, Norrington-Davies, Smith, Levitt, Colwill, Matondo, Sheehan more recently) but injuries and/or lack of form and/or other meant not available this window.
Plus facts are that past couple of years have been about qualifying for the World Cup, preparing to go and Euros qualification.
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Post by winsumluzsum on Mar 27, 2024 21:31:44 GMT
On X people are making the point that we actually played a lot better last night against Poland than we did against Ukraine, even though both opponents are at a similar level.
Watched the match back. Both defences were excellent, Ampadu especially so. There were so many close calls where if the ball had fallen kindly we would have scored. Fine margins indeed. I also didn't think Moore showed much sign of tiredness until the second half of extra time, where the entire Cymru team suffered and sat deep.
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Post by hooky on Mar 27, 2024 21:37:09 GMT
On cold reflection - Page really once again did not have a positive effect on things and if anything his decisions had a negative impact in my view
I stated before the match that Sorba Thomas should have been picked for the squad. He was in great form with many assists this season. He would have been an option to replace Conor Roberts. Jay Dasilva was another option to replace Conor. We could have then thrown Dan James in his natural forward position where he could cause damage with his pace against a tiring Polish defence.
Many here would say there is no way he would have got on and it is no surprise Jay did not come on as he had not started for us. WHY NOT? These are not kids - they are professional players - you need to have trust. A good manager does not play someone out of position and sacrifice his strongest point because other alternative replacements are playing at a lower level, etc. A confident manager - assesses what he has and uses his resources effectively. Sorba has one of the best deliveries from crosses in our squad and while Moore should not have been on the pitch so late in the game, he was and therefore Sorba's qualities could have been used to good effect off the bench. Why didn't Page at least call Sorba into his extended squad to have a look at him as an option? It very weird how he has been just ignored. Page seems so rigid - he just seems to get into a pattern of picking the same players regardless of their relative merits, form or how they could be a better option for certain games. If Page had the view he could leave Moore on for 120mins before the match (which he must have) then it is criminal he did not make sure he had several great crossers of the ball to hand. Neco and James are good crossers but having someone of Sorba's quality in that department would have surely been a wise move
James playing right back meant we did not have pace attacking the Polish defence when they were tiring
Brooks - if he was ill why on earth bring him on?
Colwill - why not have him on the bench as 'an option'. He is different to all our other players. I see Savage on the bench but there is no way I would put him on the pitch but Colwill has X factor. A better option than an ill Brooks too probably?
Why take off one of our best and most rapid players - Brennan Johnson and keep Moore on who was shattered after 60 mins. Moore did nothing wrong but could hardly move in extra time! Late on players tire - you want pace running at a tiring Polish defence. In an ideal world you would have James and Brennan running at them late on!
No attempt to influence the game. If Roberts did not get injured then Page would have gone through 90 minutes making just one change. He waited almost 10 mins when Poland were on top and pushing us back to bring Brooks on (echoes of Turkey and other matches). Again people may say he had his best team on the pitch but that is not the blooming point. A few of those subs can do a job and the Welsh players were shattered - an inferior player can make more of a contribution than a shattered superior player. That Polish bench was just as weak as ours but look how many they used
The Polish side were not great and their star striker was limited having lost a lot of his mobility. We had a massive chance and lost out to a truly mediocre side despite having so many cards stacked in our favour. A manager gets the most out of his team - did Page do that last night?
I like Page as a person but he is a poor manager and he failed badly in this campaign. In a professional world he would be replaced if we could get an upgrade because he must be in the worst 5% or so of coaches worldwide. We are not going to qualify for the WC with him in charge that is for sure! Even without him its a long shot but to do so the coach has to make a materially positive difference to how effective our team can be and lets be honest he doesn't. We all know when the Welsh job is gone he will probably settle no higher than as a manager in the first or second division
We are going to waste another 2 years and suffer this extreme inconsistency in performance and much as I like him I would rather see this Welsh side achieve the most it can. This could only happen to us!
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Post by winsumluzsum on Mar 27, 2024 22:09:08 GMT
Having watched the match back I can assure you that Moore was still contributing up to half time in extra time, at which point the whole Cymru team was suffering, not just Moore. It made sense at that point to keep him on for the penalties. James actually got forward quite a lot even as RWB, and if Szcezney's save from Davies' low cross had gone a foot to the right James would have scored the winner.
I think Sorba should have been in the squad, but to come on as an RWB? I don't think so. The really bold thing for Page to have done was go to a 4-2-3-1. Risky, but would have put round pegs in round holes and given us a better chance of taking the initiative late on.
I've got a feeling that the frustrations around Page are going to return, as there is no sign of progression from him when it comes to his Plan B limitations. Let's just hope that plan A is consistently better next campaign.
If an entire campaign can be boiled down to a single moment, with the benefit of hindsight, then it was when we had raced into an early lead at home to Armenia and it would have been smart to sit back and look to add to our tally on the counter. What happens? Our captain and DM, Ramsey goes on a wonder downfield leaving a gaping gap which Armenia exploited (thanks in no small part to Johnson failing to track his runner) to score an excellent, but entirely avoidable equaliser. Had we kept things tight we would have won that game and probably have gone on to qualify. So frustratingly avoidable.
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Post by jbt95 on Mar 27, 2024 23:20:17 GMT
On X people are making the point that we actually played a lot better last night against Poland than we did against Ukraine, even though both opponents are at a similar level. Watched the match back. Both defences were excellent, Ampadu especially so. There were so many close calls where if the ball had fallen kindly we would have scored. Fine margins indeed. I also didn't think Moore showed much sign of tiredness until the second half of extra time, where the entire Cymru team suffered and sat deep. I don’t think people actually remember the Ukraine game that well. While Ukraine had chances to equalise, we also had chances to make it 2-0, Ramsey, Johnson & Bale all in the second half. youtu.be/aS-OqSbaR4c?si=ZP9ymp0Ue7JJpMtnUkraine were far better than Poland. |
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Post by ddirpytnop on Mar 27, 2024 23:27:06 GMT
On X people are making the point that we actually played a lot better last night against Poland than we did against Ukraine, even though both opponents are at a similar level. Watched the match back. Both defences were excellent, Ampadu especially so. There were so many close calls where if the ball had fallen kindly we would have scored. Fine margins indeed. I also didn't think Moore showed much sign of tiredness until the second half of extra time, where the entire Cymru team suffered and sat deep. I don’t think people actually remember the Ukraine game that well. While Ukraine had chances to equalise, we also had chances to make it 2-0, Ramsey, Johnson & Bale all in the second half. youtu.be/aS-OqSbaR4c?si=ZP9ymp0Ue7JJpMtnUkraine were far better than Poland. Ukraine were better- and still are. Given the group the Poles will be in at the Euros, I think they'll struggle to be competitive. It would have been a huge challenge for us too of course - but I think we'd have had a better chance of being competitive. |
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Post by fourfourtwo on Mar 28, 2024 0:28:09 GMT
I'm afraid poor game management by the manager cost us against a bang average Polish side. Yes they were well organised defensively and difficult to break down, but they were also one dimensional and pedestrian.
With 20 minutes or so left of normal time, we should have been bolder and gone to a more attacking formation to try and get the breakthrough.
With two home play off fixtures we were handed a fantastic second chance to qualify but shot ourselves in the foot by not being positive enough and going for it, instead handing the initiative to our opponents.
With so much at stake, in terms of qualifying for a major tournament, I believe you need to be pro-active,change things up if it's not working and take some risks but Page's philosophy seems to be, just to keep plugging away and hope something falls your way (which to be fair,it did early on in his stewardship). This approach, however,only gets you so far, and sooner or later you get found out. And against the better organised sides, he is now getting found out regularly.
And we, as a nation, are now unfortunately paying the price for this blinkered approach.
Is he capable of changing his mindset?Time will tell, but I am not optimistic.
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Post by jimexotic on Mar 28, 2024 1:02:34 GMT
The way we ping the ball across to Neco and Connor, I don't trust the likes of DaSilva and Sorba to be able to deal with it like those two do, I can just see them miscontrolling it, choosing the wrong option, rushing it, especially on an occasion like last night. In time it will probably be different but I don't think either of them would have fared very well at attacking full back last night.
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Post by conwy10 on Mar 28, 2024 9:18:19 GMT
Having watched the match back I can assure you that Moore was still contributing up to half time in extra time, at which point the whole Cymru team was suffering, not just Moore. It made sense at that point to keep him on for the penalties. James actually got forward quite a lot even as RWB, and if Szcezney's save from Davies' low cross had gone a foot to the right James would have scored the winner. I think Sorba should have been in the squad, but to come on as an RWB? I don't think so. The really bold thing for Page to have done was go to a 4-2-3-1. Risky, but would have put round pegs in round holes and given us a better chance of taking the initiative late on. I've got a feeling that the frustrations around Page are going to return, as there is no sign of progression from him when it comes to his Plan B limitations. Let's just hope that plan A is consistently better next campaign. If an entire campaign can be boiled down to a single moment, with the benefit of hindsight, then it was when we had raced into an early lead at home to Armenia and it would have been smart to sit back and look to add to our tally on the counter. What happens? Our captain and DM, Ramsey goes on a wonder downfield leaving a gaping gap which Armenia exploited (thanks in no small part to Johnson failing to track his runner) to score an excellent, but entirely avoidable equaliser. Had we kept things tight we would have won that game and probably have gone on to qualify. So frustratingly avoidable. We were lucky to get to penalties, it was all Poland. Moore was giving it all but couldn't chase clearances, close down, nothing. No fault of his either he was just knackered. When they gave him that opportunity you could see he had nothing left. No power in his run, no power in his shot. If Broadhead was bought on for him maybe the defence could have had an extra 10 seconds to get a breather, maybe even keep the ball. Defending is so physically and mentally draining no wonder we were all on our feet. |
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Post by hooky on Mar 28, 2024 10:49:42 GMT
Poland trusted their bench and Page did not trust ours
Poland bench was at least as mediocre as ours if not worse in the top end options.
Who dictated play in extra time. I think we know the answer. If anyone was going to score in extra time (absent the one that almost fell to James) then it was clearly Poland. We were lucky they had little cutting edge up front.
We did not play badly - but this is where a good, confident manager makes a difference. Page has hit his ceiling - he knows this gig, he has been involved in the Welsh set up for a decade has he not? He is not going to develop into a good coach now. In the meantime any remote chance of qualifying for the WC is thrown away by backing him for another two and a half years. It is not a terrible decision by the FAW but I believe it will be proven to be a poor one in time given how effective Page's management has been shown to be. Our team are not world beaters but they were better than what they showed on Tuesday night, during most of this qualification and during over notable games under Page's reign.
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Post by hooky on Mar 28, 2024 10:56:38 GMT
and I still maintain - Sorba deserved on club form to be on the bench and Colwill should have been there too given his X-factor.
Page does not know how to use his bench and he does not have the confidence to do so in important matches.
Benches give you options and energy. He just sees a downgrade without taking into account the context and belatedly reacts rather than taking the initiative. Even in the second half - how long did it take him to make a change when Poland were applying constant pressure on us? If Poland were a better team then it would definitely have cost us.
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Post by iot on Mar 28, 2024 12:22:19 GMT
Poland trusted their bench and Page did not trust ours Poland bench was at least as mediocre as ours if not worse in the top end options. Who dictated play in extra time. I think we know the answer. If anyone was going to score in extra time (absent the one that almost fell to James) then it was clearly Poland. We were lucky they had little cutting edge up front. We did not play badly - but this is where a good, confident manager makes a difference. Page has hit his ceiling - he knows this gig, he has been involved in the Welsh set up for a decade has he not? He is not going to develop into a good coach now. In the meantime any remote chance of qualifying for the WC is thrown away by backing him for another two and a half years. It is not a terrible decision by the FAW but I believe it will be proven to be a poor one in time given how effective Page's management has been shown to be. Our team are not world beaters but they were better than what they showed on Tuesday night, during most of this qualification and during over notable games under Page's reign. Final para is OTT - he did qualify us for the most recent WC after all so to say 'any remote chance of qualifying for the WC is thrown away by backing him for another two and a half years' is slightly melodramatic. Yes we're without Bale, but I think we played at least as well if not better in the latter half of this campaign and playoffs to what we did in the corresponding WC fixtures, so all is not lost. That said, I agree with the criticisms in the first part of your post. Going into the game I felt they had the better team, but we had two main advantages - our defensive midfielders and an edge over them on the bench. I thought it would be really close up to the 60min mark, but thought James would come on and run them ragged over 30/60 minutes and potentially proving to be the difference-maker. While we were slightly hamstrung by Brooks' illness, Page certainly could have made better decisions which may have proved the difference in the final 30 / 60 (more subs, switch to a back 4, and keeping James in forward positions). As already mentioned, if we have a max £500k budget, we need to consider who we can realistically get for that fee which would represent an improvement - otherwise it's obviously pointless. If Cooper, Bellamy or Nathan Jones would be available and interested on those terms (I know many would be up in arms about the latter two), then I would be happy to see us making a change. Otherwise, we have to accept Page is the best bet for the next campaign imo |
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Post by iot on Mar 28, 2024 12:27:25 GMT
and I still maintain - Sorba deserved on club form to be on the bench and Colwill should have been there too given his X-factor. Page does not know how to use his bench and he does not have the confidence to do so in important matches. Benches give you options and energy. He just sees a downgrade without taking into account the context and belatedly reacts rather than taking the initiative. Even in the second half - how long did it take him to make a change when Poland were applying constant pressure on us? If Poland were a better team then it would definitely have cost us. Problem I have with this sort of thing is there's no nuance, so for me the valid underlying criticisms are clouded by over the top nonsense. There's been many occasions where the bench has been used effectively - Moore and James were brought on at a good time against Finland (although I would have liked further changes made too); he used the bench really well out in Prague when Harry Wilson came on at half time and we switched formation; he did it well against Croatia when James came on to really good effect for the last 30. That said, I think he could definitely improve that aspect of his management. |
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Post by bluebird68 on Mar 28, 2024 13:14:26 GMT
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Post by iot on Mar 28, 2024 13:33:12 GMT
Decent piece overall, but you have to laugh at this bit: 'Why didn’t we go four at the back with... Or if you wanted to persevere with a five put Ampadu back in defence, with Davies left wing back, Neco right wing back and bring Aaron Ramsey on into midfield. The game was crying out for a playmaker to conjure up a little magic to help Wales cross the line, but Rambo was nowhere to be seen... When queried post-match about why Ramsey wasn’t introduced Rob Page’s reply of ‘we needed two number sixes’, only exposed the manager’s tactical intransigence.' So in the writer's opinion, the fact that Page insisted on sticking with 2 number sixes exposed his tactical intransigence. Would be interesting to see what he had to say after the Armenia home defeat, where Page was absolutely ripped to shreds for playing Ramsey in that position and the cry from 99% was 'never again'. Now the fact he's learnt from that and won't make the same mistake again is used as a stick to beat him with. Also, you can criticise Page for many things, but his 'tactical tactical intransigence' shouldn't be one of them. He frequently flipped between a back 5 and 4 when he first came in. He went with a two no. 8 system with Wilson playing deeper in the WC playoffs and tournament. He then went to a back 4 and two no. 6s at the beginning of this campaign. He then took a risk after the criticism of us being too conservative at home to Latvia by playing Ramsey as one of the no. 6s, essentially having 5 forward-thinking players (7 if you count Neco and Roberts) on the field. Then he's transitioned to a back 5 with different formations for the front 3 up top. So he's been highly adaptable throughout his Wales career and made lots of big calls - some have worked really well, others have been disastrous. Although you could argue that he's too tactically intransigent within games I suppose. |
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Post by surge on Mar 28, 2024 13:35:55 GMT
I think two criticisms arguably can be made: I) not switching to 4-2-3-1 and ii) starting Kieffer and Brennan so trapping ourselves into laboured performance in extra time by one of them. Formation change? Maybe, maybe not. Arguments both ways. We are a team in transition due to big retirements and change of leadership group. Anyone who can't see that probably is self-employed, working alone. Rambo as part of the squad - makes sense given size of the event and his experience. Rambo on in extra time - did you see his 20 mins against Swansea recently? Oh, so we should obviously bring on a league one player instead...Colwill on the bench? But Broadhead is currently having a better season and has done more in a Wales shirt. James not taking a penalty? Man has scored a penalty for Man United against AC Milan - he's got the right stuff to score a big one. I'll step away now methinks. Just lots of the criticism is stuff I disagree with and think is OTT and unfair either as means of expressing disappointment or otherwise. |
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Post by bobbyghoul on Mar 28, 2024 14:58:57 GMT
A lot of us have completely lost a sense of perspective and balance.
Thank god we didn't have this board back in the 90s.
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Post by dai on Mar 28, 2024 15:03:17 GMT
A lot of us have completely lost a sense of perspective and balance. Thank god we didn't have this board back in the 90s. We also weren't as near as successful in the 90's, and expectations are higher now. |
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