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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 23, 2023 17:04:30 GMT
Atman sounds like he's an up and coming player for Finland.
"In the Euro 2024 Qualifiers, Antman scored three goals in five games, including the winning goal in a 0–1 away victory against Kazakhstan. He missed the four last qualifying games due to an injury."
Their campaign went off the rails when he got injured. If he's back from injury he'll be one to keep an eye on.
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Post by morg on Nov 23, 2023 17:29:36 GMT
Ah. Due respect for all but no fear. I doubt anyone including Ukraine had us as the preferable draw. We 'just' need to make sure we turn up.
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Post by iantov on Nov 23, 2023 17:56:14 GMT
Ah. Due respect for all but no fear. I doubt anyone including Ukraine had us as the preferable draw. We 'just' need to make sure we turn up. Twice! |
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Post by iot on Nov 23, 2023 18:18:31 GMT
Assuming everyone's available, what would people's first choice be? Think I'd go with:
Ward
Mepham Rodon Davies
Roberts James Ampadu Neco
Rambo Wilson
Johnson
I suspect Pukki is still going to be thier main threat, and he makes brilliant runs in behind. So although I think Todon is probably better at RCB, and I think Locyer played well, I have a feeling we'll need Rodon's pace at CCB.
Roberts hang on to his spot despite several ropey performances because of how well Neco's done at LWB and I wouldn’t want to chuck in a Huggins for example in such an important game.
Don't think everyone will agree, but I would bring Rambo back in without any equivocation. Obviously will depend on his fitness and form going into the games.
The choice between Johnson and Moore is the most difficult one. Obviously Moore's the safer option, but I think we need to just back Johnson now
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Post by iantov on Nov 23, 2023 18:30:57 GMT
Poland have also had lots of good results in the last couple of years, including draws with Spain, England, and the Netherlands, but they had a shocker in the qualifiers just gone - particularly away from home where they lost 3 of their 4 games (including against Moldova and Albania). www.google.com/search?q=poland+results&sca_esv=584838229&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBGB1048GB1048&sxsrf=AM9HkKlOLbmsU5qgQ_nGjkuIDYnyO2aPeg%3A1700738693048&ei=hTZfZYTAAumihbIPsq2zuA0&ved=0ahUKEwjElp6tgdqCAxVpUUEAHbLWDNcQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=poland+results&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiDnBvbGFuZCByZXN1bHRzMhUQABiABBgUGIcCGLEDGIMBGEYY_QEyBhAAGAcYHjIGEAAYBxgeMgUQABiABDIGEAAYBxgeMgYQABgHGB4yBhAAGAcYHjIGEAAYBxgeMgYQABgHGB4yBhAAGAcYHkjPIlDTDFj5HnACeAGQAQCYAZQBoAGYBaoBAzUuMrgBA8gBAPgBAcICChAAGEcY1gQYsAPCAg0QABiABBiKBRiwAxhDwgINEAAYgAQYDRixAxiDAcICBxAAGIAEGA3iAwQYACBBiAYBkAYK&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#sie=t;/m/03b6j8;2;/m/0zdsnbj;mt;fp;1;;;They still probably have more quality than us though, Lewandowski's still around and they have plenty of other players - Szczesny is still first choice at Juventus, Kiwior plays for Arsenal, Zalewski for Roma, Zielinski for Napoli, Matty Cash is a very good player at Aston Villa, and then they've got players in other top leagues around Europe. Not all starting - so similar to us in a way, but a lot more players playing for top teams Don't think this is by any means easy. I'd say it's 50/50. On balance, though not as onerous a prospect as the WC playoffs were? It is though the very best we could have hoped for. 5 day turnaround works in our favour too with no travelling. Play like we did against Croatia and in parts against Turkey and we have every chance. Hopefully no major injuries and a match fit squad!....and the ref to be anyone apart from Matej 'the Mug' Jug. |
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 23, 2023 18:34:32 GMT
Assuming everyone's available, what would people's first choice be? Think I'd go with: Ward Mepham Rodon Davies Roberts James Ampadu Neco Rambo Wilson Johnson I suspect Pukki is still going to be thier main threat, and he makes brilliant runs in behind. So although I think Todon is probably better at RCB, and I think Locyer played well, I have a feeling we'll need Rodon's pace at CCB. Roberts hang on to his spot despite several ropey performances because of how well Neco's done at LWB and I wouldn’t want to chuck in a Huggins for example in such an important game. Don't think everyone will agree, but I would bring Rambo back in without any equivocation. Obviously will depend on his fitness and form going into the games. The choice between Johnson and Moore is the most difficult one. Obviously Moore's the safer option, but I think we need to just back Johnson now A lot depends on game time between now and the playoffs. If Ramsey is getting regular game time and Brooks isn't then we go with Ramsey, but under all other circumstances I'd prefer Brooks. If Johnson is playing regularly I'd go for him ahead of Moore. I expect he will have improved his pressing by then. Good points about the centre backs, and I don't have strong views on it. But is Lockyer that slow? Against a 35 year old Pukki? I really liked the look of our defence against Turkiye, so my preference is to stick with what we have. |
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 23, 2023 18:49:32 GMT
Only the goalie and Kamara play for clubs of any distinction. The defence in particular looks very weak. We really should beat Finland.
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Post by allezlesrouges on Nov 23, 2023 18:49:33 GMT
I think we need to look at what Finland's strengths are as that might determine how we go about playing them
Last time we played them at the CCS we looked like this;
Ward
Mepham-Rodon-Lawrence
Roberts-Ampadu-Morrell-RND
Bale-Wilson-DJ
I seem to remember that fluid front 3 working quite well against them, so I do think that might be the way to go. Moore did come on at HT to score in that game but that's cos we were a man up. He did also score in the away match but I remember that being a bit of a dull game without much impact from Moore otherwise
So I think I would go for;
Ward
Rodon-Lockyer-Davies
Roberts-Ampadu-JJ-Neco
Wilson-Brennan-Ramsey
Forward line could change, a lot of football between now & then. In future I want to see us test Neco on the right & Dasilva on the left, but don't think we need to rock the boat before important games like this
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Post by allezlesrouges on Nov 23, 2023 18:51:29 GMT
I can't see any way of getting past Poland. It should go without saying they've got well-established talent in all positions, regularly playing top-flight football in Europe's best leagues and have been unlucky in qualification. Anyone who thinks we're in with a reasonable chance against them with our half-fit squad needs to put the crackpipe down. Roll on 2026. Unlucky? They were the top seed and ended up missing out by 4 points having failed to beat Moldova. Not sure that's unlucky. Also not sure how anyone can write us off so blatantly like this when we're down as the bookies favourites. Someone's wrong! |
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 23, 2023 18:57:17 GMT
Looking at the club's the Polish team play for isn't that impressive either. Apart from Szczęsny and Lewandowski the rest play for middle ranking sides. The defence in particular is nothing to write home about.
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 23, 2023 19:00:46 GMT
I can't see any way of getting past Poland. It should go without saying they've got well-established talent in all positions, regularly playing top-flight football in Europe's best leagues and have been unlucky in qualification. Anyone who thinks we're in with a reasonable chance against them with our half-fit squad needs to put the crackpipe down. Roll on 2026. Well established talent in all positions? Care to name a few? |
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 23, 2023 19:02:25 GMT
OK, I forgot about Zielinski. But apart from the aforementioned 3, they're no great shakes. It will be tough, but there's nothing much to fear.
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 23, 2023 19:11:35 GMT
Poland shaded our Nations League encounter in Cardiff, but we had Cabango and RND in centre defence and Levitt and Morrell in the DM positions. Hopefully we will be much stronger come March.
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Post by allezlesrouges on Nov 23, 2023 21:50:28 GMT
Poland shaded our Nations League encounter in Cardiff, but we had Cabango and RND in centre defence and Levitt and Morrell in the DM positions. Hopefully we will be much stronger come March. Yeah and they didn't create much at all. I think we may surprise them. Lewandowski also 35 now and don't get me wrong he can finish his dinner, but I don't think he's quite the same player in terms of all round play. Need to try and limit their opportunities near our box |
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Post by saturn9 on Nov 23, 2023 22:16:59 GMT
Poland shaded our Nations League encounter in Cardiff, but we had Cabango and RND in centre defence and Levitt and Morrell in the DM positions. Hopefully we will be much stronger come March. The away game in the NL against the Poles was also very encouraging, largely with a second string side out. |
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Post by jimexotic on Nov 23, 2023 23:39:29 GMT
I appreciate that it's important not to get carried away, in the last two qualification groups we've drawn and scraped a 1-0 with Estonia, scraped a 1-0 with Latvia, drawn and lost to Armenia and been hammered by Turkey and inbetween we had an incredibly disappointing World Cup display, I really think we have the quality to do this though and I'm encouraged by the development of a number of players, central midfield and central defence seems a lot better than it did a year ago. I think Page and the players are learning too, we're getting there, nothing is ever going to be easy for us given our resources but I see progression and the future isn't half as bleak as it could have been.
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Post by quetzal on Nov 24, 2023 19:23:33 GMT
Tickets booked!!!! I’m over for the play offs. Can’t wait!!!
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Post by melynwy on Nov 24, 2023 19:32:01 GMT
Poland shaded our Nations League encounter in Cardiff, but we had Cabango and RND in centre defence and Levitt and Morrell in the DM positions. Hopefully we will be much stronger come March. Yeah and they didn't create much at all. I think we may surprise them. Lewandowski also 35 now and don't get me wrong he can finish his dinner, but I don't think he's quite the same player in terms of all round play. Need to try and limit their opportunities near our box I think Lewandowski is as good as he's ever been! La Liga top scorer last year, and likely to be there or thereabouts this year too! |
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 24, 2023 19:59:03 GMT
Kamara partnering Ampadu in midfield with Rodon and James also starting.
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Post by bobbyghoul on Nov 24, 2023 20:07:30 GMT
Kamara partnering Ampadu in midfield with Rodon and James also starting. Who the Jeff is Kamara? |
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Post by winsumluzsum on Nov 24, 2023 20:10:11 GMT
Glen Kamara, previously one of Rangers' better players and Finnish. One of the Finns better players too.
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Post by allezlesrouges on Nov 24, 2023 20:54:02 GMT
Yeah and they didn't create much at all. I think we may surprise them. Lewandowski also 35 now and don't get me wrong he can finish his dinner, but I don't think he's quite the same player in terms of all round play. Need to try and limit their opportunities near our box I think Lewandowski is as good as he's ever been! La Liga top scorer last year, and likely to be there or thereabouts this year too! He's not quite going at the same rate this season. Still scoring plenty but he's not as imperious as he was 2-3 seasons ago |
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Post by bobbyghoul on Nov 24, 2023 22:58:31 GMT
Glen Kamara, previously one of Rangers' better players and Finnish. One of the Finns better players too. Thanks but why us he partnering Ampadu in your original post? I'm thoroughly confused tonight. |
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Post by jimbo82 on Nov 24, 2023 23:24:43 GMT
Glen Kamara, previously one of Rangers' better players and Finnish. One of the Finns better players too. Thanks but why us he partnering Ampadu in your original post? I'm thoroughly confused tonight. Might be a Leeds player? Seems like a key detail which the OP omitted for some reason.. |
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Post by iantov on Nov 25, 2023 4:29:28 GMT
Thanks but why us he partnering Ampadu in your original post? I'm thoroughly confused tonight. Might be a Leeds player? Seems like a key detail which the OP omitted for some reason.. Correct. He's a Leeds player and the original poster is alluding to the connection between Leeds / Wales / Finland. |
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Post by morg on Nov 25, 2023 7:12:13 GMT
Think 3 games in 6 days with quite a bit of travelling took its toll on Ethan. He was ok but looked jaded unsurprisingly. Nearly gifted Rotherham a winner with a poor back header. It was Kamara they subbed off though.
Rodon looked solid and won everything in the air. His distribution was fine too with 1 or 2 blips.
Dan James played 85 minutes which was surprising. Again not his most notable game but showed usual effort and played a fantastic 30 yard cross field pass which his team mate should have done better from. Also had there been VAR likely to have won a penalty from an awful challenge which could have been a leg breaker. He was fine afterwards.
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Post by allezlesrouges on Nov 27, 2023 14:26:43 GMT
Players that need moves/game time in January;
Kieffer - Move back to Cardiff
Ward - Sign for a low end Championship club, whoever is looking for a GK
Neco - Loan to Southampton?
Brooks - Permanent move to Leicester? I think that would be good for him, good club on the way back up
L.Harris - Any senior football would be good. Loan to League Two would be a good place to start
Colwill - Any chance he gets regular minutes at Cardiff? If not a move away is probably best
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Post by fiveattheback on Nov 27, 2023 14:55:31 GMT
Annoyingly Fulham blocked a loan move for Harris in the summer and proceeded to not play him
Colwill is getting more minutes and more influential at the moment, may change when Ramsey's back
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Post by quetzal on Nov 27, 2023 16:59:25 GMT
Just watched on YouTube a documentary about the Australia Iran World Cup play off heartbreak for the Aussies. I thought there would be parallels with Wales Romania but not really on the basis that Australia genuinely should have been 3-0 up in the first 15 minutes and in our game Romania were the dominant team. They eventually went two up but after some loon invaded the pitch and tore down the net Iran came back and won on away goals.
Now I watched this because Terry Venables passed away R.I.P. and I was looking over his career. Rhondda mum and all that. But the Aussie players didn’t use the invader as an excuse. Their big reason was HARDLY ANYONE WAS PLAYING FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL IN THE TEAM and faded as the game went on. Food for thought. We got to get the boys playing.
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Post by morg on Nov 27, 2023 17:25:26 GMT
Just watched on YouTube a documentary about the Australia Iran World Cup play off heartbreak for the Aussies. I thought there would be parallels with Wales Romania but not really on the basis that Australia genuinely should have been 3-0 up in the first 15 minutes and in our game Romania were the dominant team. They eventually went two up but after some loon invaded the pitch and tore down the net Iran came back and won on away goals. Now I watched this because Terry Venables passed away R.I.P. and I was looking over his career. Rhondda mum and all that. But the Aussie players didn’t use the invader as an excuse. Their big reason was HARDLY ANYONE WAS PLAYING FIRST TEAM FOOTBALL IN THE TEAM and faded as the game went on. Food for thought. We got to get the boys playing. Mullin's playing every week. Dim problem |
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