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Post by welshrover on Jun 9, 2024 22:09:01 GMT
Ward. 0 Gives me the willies every time he plays. Easy to see why no-one wants to sign him.
Stephens 3. Looked better going forward than as a defender. Offered very little support by the midfield.
DaSilva 3. Steady.
Ampadu 3. Looked all over the place.
Cabango 4. Made some blocks and clearances.
James, J. 1. Despite all the hype no-one has come in for him. His lack of pace and late tackles will see more and more cards. I am not convinced he is as good as people make out.
Sheehan 3. Took some set pieces, tidy beard.
Johnson 1. I think there is only one way his career is going.
Broadhead 3. Did some chasing around but never really had the ball under control.
Moore 1. What is the point of playing him to chase through balls when he is clearly not mobile enough anymore.
James, D. 3 Did what he could with limited assistance, nice head band.
The turd singing the anthem 0. Why?
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Post by davefishwick on Jun 9, 2024 23:19:18 GMT
It's been a long season for Ampadu, he must have played over 60 games or close to it. It's no wonder a lot of the players completely checked out, which is a pattern for a lot of countries in these June friendlies and has happened in the past
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Post by wirralwelsh on Jun 10, 2024 0:12:59 GMT
Frustrating from the start to see Broadhead, who is a natural wide left player, shoehorned in at number 10 just so Page can accommodate D James and Brennan together. DJ is effective only in his natural role. We have a surplus of right wingers but that's tough, you can't play them all. James is a better player than Broadhead I think but Broadhead is a better left winger. Neither of them are 10's but James would have been better in that role I think. Aside from that our main problem is exposed....lack of depth. If these were serious games most players wouldn't have called off so its hard to evaluate where we are really. Ultimately they haven't achieved anything useful. Just an opportunity to cap Koumas and Crew perhaps?
Dasilva wasn't bad but I think Owen Beck has a lot more potential....and also not just togging out for us because he'd finally given up home on an England career either after about 60 junior caps!
So going ahead I'd like to see Williams and Beck as the two wing backs. Rest of the team picks itself by now if all fit. Rambo and DJ as sub options.
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Post by ddirpytnop on Jun 10, 2024 7:55:49 GMT
Frustrating from the start to see Broadhead, who is a natural wide left player, shoehorned in at number 10 just so Page can accommodate D James and Brennan together. DJ is effective only in his natural role. We have a surplus of right wingers but that's tough, you can't play them all. James is a better player than Broadhead I think but Broadhead is a better left winger. Neither of them are 10's but James would have been better in that role I think. Aside from that our main problem is exposed....lack of depth. If these were serious games most players wouldn't have called off so its hard to evaluate where we are really. Ultimately they haven't achieved anything useful. Just an opportunity to cap Koumas and Crew perhaps? Dasilva wasn't bad but I think Owen Beck has a lot more potential....and also not just togging out for us because he'd finally given up home on an England career either after about 60 junior caps! So going ahead I'd like to see Williams and Beck as the two wing backs. Rest of the team picks itself by now if all fit. Rambo and DJ as sub options. Agreed. Da Silva is technically sound but Beck is much the better player on the basis of what I have seen. Hugely disappointing that injury robbed of the chance to show that in these two games. Both are a vastly better than Stevens though. I have n3ver seen him at club level but watching him for the u21s, at no point have I ever thought he looks like making it with the senior mens. Maybe he'll improve with time but I think these games have proven that now it not the time for him. |
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Post by ddirpytnop on Jun 10, 2024 8:02:41 GMT
Ward. 0 Gives me the willies every time he plays. Easy to see why no-one wants to sign him. Stephens 3. Looked better going forward than as a defender. Offered very little support by the midfield. DaSilva 3. Steady. Ampadu 3. Looked all over the place. Cabango 4. Made some blocks and clearances. James, J. 1. Despite all the hype no-one has come in for him. His lack of pace and late tackles will see more and more cards. I am not convinced he is as good as people make out. Sheehan 3. Took some set pieces, tidy beard. Johnson 1. I think there is only one way his career is going. Broadhead 3. Did some chasing around but never really had the ball under control. Moore 1. What is the point of playing him to chase through balls when he is clearly not mobile enough anymore. James, D. 3 Did what he could with limited assistance, nice head band. The turd singing the anthem 0. Why? I think you being way too harsh on JJ. He allowed his frustration to get the better of him and there's no excuse for that - but at least it looked like he cared. Overall, I thought he was ok and showed some really classy touches at times. There are plenty of older, more experienced players who performed far worse. I don't think he's that slow either. He has a reasonable turn of pace for a player in his position. |
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Post by talyfan on Jun 10, 2024 8:03:07 GMT
Beck needs to play at a better level regularly first before being looked at in my opinion. Think unless you're playing for the Old Firm difficult to gauge what level a player is at outside of it.
Call up Morgan Fox and Andrew Hughes. Dependable Championship players first until Beck reaches or exceeds them.
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Post by allezlesrouges on Jun 10, 2024 8:19:42 GMT
Yeah I think I'd rather Dasilva than Beck just based on what I've seen. We know at club level Dasilva has been a steady Championship player for a while, and all we've seen from Beck so far is that he's good in the SPL
I'd actually like to see us try Dasilva as a LWB with Neco at RWB in the Nations League and see how that does. Connor Roberts hasn't been the best recently so it would be a welcome change, and would be good to have 2 orthodox wing backs as an option. There were flashes that Dasilva & James were developing a good understanding together
Beck just need to see how he develops, certainly an option but would like to see him in the Championship and see how he gets on
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Post by ddirpytnop on Jun 10, 2024 8:33:18 GMT
Beck needs to play at a better level regularly first before being looked at in my opinion. Think unless you're playing for the Old Firm difficult to gauge what level a player is at outside of it. Call up Morgan Fox and Andrew Hughes. Dependable Championship players first until Beck reaches or exceeds them. Both the wrong side of 30 though. To start your international career at that age, I think you have to be doing something exceptional at club level. I am not aware that either are. This week has proven that we need to be developing depth by bringing through young players with the right potential. I suspect that both Hughes and Fox would end up occupying squad places at the expense of that goal. My problem with including Fin Stevens, for example, is not his age but my assessment of his potential. |
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Post by iot on Jun 10, 2024 8:58:29 GMT
Frustrating from the start to see Broadhead, who is a natural wide left player, shoehorned in at number 10 just so Page can accommodate D James and Brennan together. DJ is effective only in his natural role. We have a surplus of right wingers but that's tough, you can't play them all. James is a better player than Broadhead I think but Broadhead is a better left winger. Neither of them are 10's but James would have been better in that role I think. Aside from that our main problem is exposed....lack of depth. If these were serious games most players wouldn't have called off so its hard to evaluate where we are really. Ultimately they haven't achieved anything useful. Just an opportunity to cap Koumas and Crew perhaps? Dasilva wasn't bad but I think Owen Beck has a lot more potential....and also not just togging out for us because he'd finally given up home on an England career either after about 60 junior caps! So going ahead I'd like to see Williams and Beck as the two wing backs. Rest of the team picks itself by now if all fit. Rambo and DJ as sub options. I'm not sure that's accurate. Broadhead's played a fair bit centrally for Ipswich this season and one of his main strengths is to receive the ball on the turn, which suits the 10 role. He's certainly much more suited to the 10 role than DJ, who's much more of a classic winger. In fact, DJ failed to produce anything when he was shifted into the middle in the second half after a really strong performance out left first half. I've seen nothing to suggest that Broadhead is a better option on the left than DJ. |
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Post by allezlesrouges on Jun 10, 2024 9:27:28 GMT
Also strange that he saw today as "an opportunity to try a back 4" after the pressure coming from the last result. Misjudgment on his part as we looked really vulnerable with that. He should have gone for a back 5 to try and a result that would get more fans on side. This game has just turned more against him if anything! It was a plan "coming into camp" to play a back 4, its the supposed the system going forward into the UNL Understandable to test it, I've been calling for it actually. I just think with the personnel missing and the amount of pressure after a poor performance vs Gibraltar maybe a back 5 would have served us better last night A narrow win/draw would have been better for momentum going into the NL. Can always try a back 4 with full strength in the NL as well |
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Post by winsumluzsum on Jun 10, 2024 9:37:58 GMT
The lack of positional discipline from a number of players cost us big time yesterday. For the opening goal Sheehan dropped into the back line when it wasn't necessary. Once that happened James then allowed himself to be attracted to the ball, but ends up in no man's land, allowing an easy pass to the goalscorer, in acres of space. Ward's non-attempt at a save was truly pathetic.
With the second goal JJ gets sucked out wide but doesn't get close to the player crossing the ball. Cabango is in no man's land and Ampadu switches off, allowing the Slovakian to steal a march on him. Ward, again, was rooted to the spot.
The third goal, DJ makes no effort to close tge space to the player crossing the ball. Tge goal itself was rather fortunate given that the bicycle kick was heading wide.
Fourth goal. Terrible pass from Ampadu. What was he thinking? Ward again rooted to the spot.
So many elementary mistakes. The players let themselves, the manager and the fans down. The fact that it's been several weeks since the end of the season and I suspect many will have been on their hols probably played a part, but that's being generous.
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Post by allezlesrouges on Jun 10, 2024 9:41:03 GMT
Assessing our depth/hierarchy in each position (capped players only):
GK: No depth
RCB/CB: Mepham, Rodon, Cabango, Low, Poole
LCB: Davies
RWB: Neco, Connor, Stevens, Burns
LWB: Neco, Dasilva
CM: Ampadu, JJ, Morrell, Sheehan, Savage
FWs: Wilson, Brooks, James, Ramsey, Broadhead, Koumas
ST: Brennan, Moore
Capped players not included are simply because I wouldn't trust them in a qualifier. E.g Cullen, Matondo, Crew, Levitt, Bradshaw
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Post by 1gwaunview on Jun 10, 2024 9:57:02 GMT
Another very poor performance. Lacklustre, going through the motions game again. Never been impressed with Brennan Johnson in a Wales shirt, it looks like he doesn't want to be with us. Where do we go from here? On last night's shambles Page looks to have lost the dressing room (no fight or enthusiasm). Troubling times ahead after these friendlies. Page's only saving grace really was the number of absentees, but a 3rd eleven should have defeated Gibraltar.
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Post by CrackityJones on Jun 10, 2024 10:01:10 GMT
Assessing our depth/hierarchy in each position (capped players only): GK: No depth RCB/CB: Mepham, Rodon, Cabango, Low, Poole LCB: Davies RWB: Neco, Connor, Stevens, Burns LWB: Neco, Dasilva CM: Ampadu, JJ, Morrell, Sheehan, Savage FWs: Wilson, Brooks, James, Ramsey, Broadhead, Koumas ST: Brennan, Moore Capped players not included are simply because I would trust them in a qualifier. E.g Cullen, Matondo, Crew, Levitt, Bradshaw You could add Harris to the ST position, lets see how he gets on back in the second tier. I think he's going to hit the ground running now he's settled and the main man up top |
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Post by iot on Jun 10, 2024 10:03:19 GMT
Beck needs to play at a better level regularly first before being looked at in my opinion. Think unless you're playing for the Old Firm difficult to gauge what level a player is at outside of it. Call up Morgan Fox and Andrew Hughes. Dependable Championship players first until Beck reaches or exceeds them. I don't really get that point. He made the SPL team of the season (so by definition viewed as having performed better than the Old Firm left backs) and Celtic made queries about a £2m bid for him in January. That said, given his failed loan spells in Portugal and with Bolton the previous year, there's no harm in waiting to see how he does in English football first with Da Silva given the nod for now. He definitely has a far higher ceiling than Da Silva, and I feel reasonably confident that he'll have a good loan spell at Championship level in the next year or two, so I think there's a good chance he'll be our starting LWB come the WC qualifiers, but Da Silva should be given the nod in these first NL games. |
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Post by morg on Jun 10, 2024 10:04:56 GMT
Really finding it hard to understand why Mullin was excluded from these friendlies... Disastrous as the games were, at least Da Silva and Koumas emerged as genuine options. What would have been the down side for affording Mullin the same opportunity? We're largely not playing to Kieffer's strengths any more, so it's arguable whether he's worth selecting? Mullin is a goal poacher but also effective way outside the box. Keep thinking that the likes of Giggs would have tried him by now... Can't see Page picking him...
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Post by surge on Jun 10, 2024 10:05:08 GMT
Assessing our depth/hierarchy in each position (capped players only): GK: No depth RCB/CB: Mepham, Rodon, Cabango, Low, Poole LCB: Davies RWB: Neco, Connor, Stevens, Burns LWB: Neco, Dasilva CM: Ampadu, JJ, Morrell, Sheehan, Savage FWs: Wilson, Brooks, James, Ramsey, Broadhead, Koumas ST: Brennan, Moore Capped players not included are simply because I would trust them in a qualifier. E.g Cullen, Matondo, Crew, Levitt, Bradshaw I do think this needs to be considered and that Page has brought Brennan Johnson through as second striker option more successfully than Giggs' attempt in having Bale play there. (He also has brought JJ through better than Giggs bringing through Levitt and Smith, although this just may be JJ being superior player). But what I don't get is Page saying this camp was a success in trying a different formation. Cullen as a lone striker or 90 mins of Moore when he's in the autumn of his career - what did we learn from this? I agree with using this camp positively (Stevens, Da Silva each getting key minutes is big plus, Sheehan sadly struggled in his big opportunity and Colwill/Matondo still need to grow up a bit) but the choice of formation tried baffles me a little bit. Teams don't look as good when so fatigued or when 11 new faces playing together and I hope this is considered too, while also looking at away record recently. |
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Post by CrackityJones on Jun 10, 2024 10:08:05 GMT
I suppose we learned Cullen isn't up to it so Page needs other options...namely Mark Harris if he continues his good form
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Post by winsumluzsum on Jun 10, 2024 10:12:45 GMT
Hopefully the likes of Will Evans will be playing at Championship level next season, so he could be another option. He could surprise a few with his quality.
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wft
savage
It's gone out for a throw in.
Posts: 111
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Post by wft on Jun 10, 2024 10:22:36 GMT
Really finding it hard to understand why Mullin was excluded from these friendlies... Disastrous as the games were, at least Da Silva and Koumas emerged as genuine options. What would have been the down side for affording Mullin the same opportunity? We're largely not playing to Kieffer's strengths any more, so it's arguable whether he's worth selecting? Mullin is a goal poacher but also effective way outside the box. Keep thinking that the likes of Giggs would have tried him by now... Can't see Page picking him... Interesting point of view. |
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Post by iot on Jun 10, 2024 10:26:43 GMT
Assessing our depth/hierarchy in each position (capped players only): GK: No depth RCB/CB: Mepham, Rodon, Cabango, Low, Poole LCB: Davies RWB: Neco, Connor, Stevens, Burns LWB: Neco, Dasilva CM: Ampadu, JJ, Morrell, Sheehan, Savage FWs: Wilson, Brooks, James, Ramsey, Broadhead, Koumas ST: Brennan, Moore Capped players not included are simply because I would trust them in a qualifier. E.g Cullen, Matondo, Crew, Levitt, Bradshaw Hopefully RND will get himself back fit and firing next season, thereby acting as the main backup at LCB and LWB. Beck will hopefully be a good option (potentially first choice) at LWB too if he builds on a really good season, and impresses in the Championship soon. Agreed that Sheehan hasn't done enough to jump ahead of Morrell in the pecking order. Obviously Crew is the big hope there, despite the really poor cameo against Gibraltar where he was way off it, but he's very highly thought of. |
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Post by neverever on Jun 10, 2024 10:38:14 GMT
Why is Tom Lawrence continually overlooked when to be fair he is by far a better player than both Cullen & Broadhead.
And why is Chris Maxwell continually over looked.
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Post by iot on Jun 10, 2024 10:41:46 GMT
Really finding it hard to understand why Mullin was excluded from these friendlies... Disastrous as the games were, at least Da Silva and Koumas emerged as genuine options. What would have been the down side for affording Mullin the same opportunity? We're largely not playing to Kieffer's strengths any more, so it's arguable whether he's worth selecting? Mullin is a goal poacher but also effective way outside the box. Keep thinking that the likes of Giggs would have tried him by now... Can't see Page picking him... I don't necessarily disagree, although there's a few obvious things holding Mullin back - his age, the fact that League 2 is the highest level he's ever tested himself at, and the fact that he appears to do his best work playing off a target man. There's a big question mark around how effective he is as a lone striker - Phil Parkinson made that point in the first documentary season, that in his words he needed a big lump to play off. That's why they brought in Ollie Palmer. So we'd probably need to play two up top to get the best out of him. Then you look at the alternative options, and in Mark Harris and Aaron Collins you've got players with several seasons in League 1 or higher behind them and decent goalscoring records in League 1 too. We know what Mark Harris can do for us and his limitations, so I imagine that going back to him would be generally unpopular and used as another stick to beat Page with. Paul Mullin is an unknown quantity in a Welsh shirt and Welsh fans generally haven't become accustomed to his limitations yet, so there's much more scope to romanticise about what he could do for us. I think there's a good chance that had he been given the opportunity that Cullen has in this window, that he would have struggled to make much of an impression too. It would have been nice to see him given that opportunity - as a reality check for a lot of fans if nothing else. |
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Post by wirralwelsh on Jun 10, 2024 10:42:56 GMT
Yeah I think I'd rather Dasilva than Beck just based on what I've seen. We know at club level Dasilva has been a steady Championship player for a while, and all we've seen from Beck so far is that he's good in the SPL I'd actually like to see us try Dasilva as a LWB with Neco at RWB in the Nations League and see how that does. Connor Roberts hasn't been the best recently so it would be a welcome change, and would be good to have 2 orthodox wing backs as an option. There were flashes that Dasilva & James were developing a good understanding together Beck just need to see how he develops, certainly an option but would like to see him in the Championship and see how he gets on Beck I'm mainly make my judgements on from seeing him in the Under-21's where he always tends to stand out as a plyer of senior potential, which is rare. Dasilva has shown he's never going to be more than a mediocre CHampionship player....even got released a year ago by Bristol City, which is why he's ended up playing for us. Then Beck as a lef back specialist releases Neco to play his best natural position too. |
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Post by wirralwelsh on Jun 10, 2024 10:46:24 GMT
Frustrating from the start to see Broadhead, who is a natural wide left player, shoehorned in at number 10 just so Page can accommodate D James and Brennan together. DJ is effective only in his natural role. We have a surplus of right wingers but that's tough, you can't play them all. James is a better player than Broadhead I think but Broadhead is a better left winger. Neither of them are 10's but James would have been better in that role I think. Aside from that our main problem is exposed....lack of depth. If these were serious games most players wouldn't have called off so its hard to evaluate where we are really. Ultimately they haven't achieved anything useful. Just an opportunity to cap Koumas and Crew perhaps? Dasilva wasn't bad but I think Owen Beck has a lot more potential....and also not just togging out for us because he'd finally given up home on an England career either after about 60 junior caps! So going ahead I'd like to see Williams and Beck as the two wing backs. Rest of the team picks itself by now if all fit. Rambo and DJ as sub options. I'm not sure that's accurate. Broadhead's played a fair bit centrally for Ipswich this season and one of his main strengths is to receive the ball on the turn, which suits the 10 role. He's certainly much more suited to the 10 role than DJ, who's much more of a classic winger. In fact, DJ failed to produce anything when he was shifted into the middle in the second half after a really strong performance out left first half. I've seen nothing to suggest that Broadhead is a better option on the left than DJ. Maybe as a Manchester United fan I'm biased as whenever DJ turned out on the left for Man U he was fairly terrible, whereas on the right wing he could make an impact. Wilson is always going to be out best number 10 option,now Rambo is getting on. I would have been good to see Harris given a chance in this window though as he's the most natural number 10 we have. Inexplicalbe why he was excluded after an encouraging loan spell? |
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Post by iot on Jun 10, 2024 10:50:16 GMT
Why is Tom Lawrence continually overlooked when to be fair he is by far a better player than both Cullen & Broadhead. And why is Chris Maxwell continually over looked. There's a classic phenomenon in football whereby the reputations of players not involved in a game / a run of games get enhanced by virtue of not playing when the team is performing poorly. I think Lawrence is a good example of that. I was never a big fan of his when he was in and around the first team under Coleman and Giggs - he was just so streaky and could never be relied upon. He had the odd worldie in him, but when not producing the goods would typically spend games running down blind alleys. His record for Wales is 3 goals in 23 games, and he's suffered with a lack of form and fitness this season scoring just 3 goals in 31 games for Rangers. I really don't think he's part of the answer, and I wouldn't put him ahead of Broadhead or Burns, never mind Johnson, James, Brooks and Wilson. |
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Post by winsumluzsum on Jun 10, 2024 10:55:12 GMT
Really finding it hard to understand why Mullin was excluded from these friendlies... Disastrous as the games were, at least Da Silva and Koumas emerged as genuine options. What would have been the down side for affording Mullin the same opportunity? We're largely not playing to Kieffer's strengths any more, so it's arguable whether he's worth selecting? Mullin is a goal poacher but also effective way outside the box. Keep thinking that the likes of Giggs would have tried him by now... Can't see Page picking him... I don't necessarily disagree, although there's a few obvious things holding Mullin back - his age, the fact that League 2 is the highest level he's ever tested himself at, and the fact that he appears to do his best work playing off a target man. There's a big question mark around how effective he is as a lone striker - Phil Parkinson made that point in the first documentary season, that in his words he needed a big lump to play off. That's why they brought in Ollie Palmer. So we'd probably need to play two up top to get the best out of him. Then you look at the alternative options, and in Mark Harris and Aaron Collins you've got players with several seasons in League 1 or higher behind them and decent goalscoring records in League 1 too. We know what Mark Harris can do for us and his limitations, so I imagine that going back to him would be generally unpopular and used as another stick to beat Page with. Paul Mullin is an unknown quantity in a Welsh shirt and Welsh fans generally haven't become accustomed to his limitations yet, so there's much more scope to romanticise about what he could do for us. I think there's a good chance that had he been given the opportunity that Cullen has in this window, that he would have struggled to make much of an impression too. It would have been nice to see him given that opportunity - as a reality check for a lot of fans if nothing else. All good points. However when Kieffer was first selected the expectations weren't that great. Some players thrive in the international environment, others struggle to replicate their club form. It would have been good to have seen the likes of Collins, Mullin and Evans given a few minutes against Gibraltar to see whether they showed signs of fitting in at international level. In an ideal world you would want to drip feed new caps into the squad rather than introduce them en masse. It's not surprising we fall short with so many new caps playing together for the first time. For instance, had Sheehan played alongside Ampadu in the two games rather than a complete rookie in Savage, and still very young JJ, it would have given a fairer platform for him to demonstrate his capabilities. Morrell, in contrast, has always had quality beside and in front of him. |
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Post by morg on Jun 10, 2024 11:07:51 GMT
Really finding it hard to understand why Mullin was excluded from these friendlies... Disastrous as the games were, at least Da Silva and Koumas emerged as genuine options. What would have been the down side for affording Mullin the same opportunity? We're largely not playing to Kieffer's strengths any more, so it's arguable whether he's worth selecting? Mullin is a goal poacher but also effective way outside the box. Keep thinking that the likes of Giggs would have tried him by now... Can't see Page picking him... I don't necessarily disagree, although there's a few obvious things holding Mullin back - his age, the fact that League 2 is the highest level he's ever tested himself at, and the fact that he appears to do his best work playing off a target man. There's a big question mark around how effective he is as a lone striker - Phil Parkinson made that point in the first documentary season, that in his words he needed a big lump to play off. That's why they brought in Ollie Palmer. So we'd probably need to play two up top to get the best out of him. Then you look at the alternative options, and in Mark Harris and Aaron Collins you've got players with several seasons in League 1 or higher behind them and decent goalscoring records in League 1 too. We know what Mark Harris can do for us and his limitations, so I imagine that going back to him would be generally unpopular and used as another stick to beat Page with. Paul Mullin is an unknown quantity in a Welsh shirt and Welsh fans generally haven't become accustomed to his limitations yet, so there's much more scope to romanticise about what he could do for us. I think there's a good chance that had he been given the opportunity that Cullen has in this window, that he would have struggled to make much of an impression too. It would have been nice to see him given that opportunity - as a reality check for a lot of fans if nothing else. Absolutely. May not work out but give him a chance! When's the next opportunity? At 29, we could still get 3/4 years out of him? Not sure I agree with him having to play off a target man? Parkinson plays pretty limited football at Wrexham? Think he's the one who likes a big lump up front.. From what I've seen Mullin comes very deep when required and scores goals from those positions as well as being a poacher. Could work well in a mobile forward line? Just think he deserves the chance others have had. |
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Post by fiveattheback on Jun 10, 2024 11:15:10 GMT
I suppose we learned Cullen isn't up to it so Page needs other options...namely Mark Harris if he continues his good form Harris is a more physical presence than Cullen as well - makes far more sense as a backup option than Cullen |
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Post by iot on Jun 10, 2024 11:20:09 GMT
I don't necessarily disagree, although there's a few obvious things holding Mullin back - his age, the fact that League 2 is the highest level he's ever tested himself at, and the fact that he appears to do his best work playing off a target man. There's a big question mark around how effective he is as a lone striker - Phil Parkinson made that point in the first documentary season, that in his words he needed a big lump to play off. That's why they brought in Ollie Palmer. So we'd probably need to play two up top to get the best out of him. Then you look at the alternative options, and in Mark Harris and Aaron Collins you've got players with several seasons in League 1 or higher behind them and decent goalscoring records in League 1 too. We know what Mark Harris can do for us and his limitations, so I imagine that going back to him would be generally unpopular and used as another stick to beat Page with. Paul Mullin is an unknown quantity in a Welsh shirt and Welsh fans generally haven't become accustomed to his limitations yet, so there's much more scope to romanticise about what he could do for us. I think there's a good chance that had he been given the opportunity that Cullen has in this window, that he would have struggled to make much of an impression too. It would have been nice to see him given that opportunity - as a reality check for a lot of fans if nothing else. All good points. However when Kieffer was first selected the expectations weren't that great. Some players thrive in the international environment, others struggle to replicate their club form. It would have been good to have seen the likes of Collins, Mullin and Evans given a few minutes against Gibraltar to see whether they showed signs of fitting in at international level. In an ideal world you would want to drip feed new caps into the squad rather than introduce them en masse. It's not surprising we fall short with so many new caps playing together for the first time. For instance, had Sheehan played alongside Ampadu in the two games rather than a complete rookie in Savage, and still very young JJ, it would have given a fairer platform for him to demonstrate his capabilities. Morrell, in contrast, has always had quality beside and in front of him. "when Kieffer was first selected the expectations weren't that great. Some players thrive in the international environment, others struggle to replicate their club form." Yeah completely agree and I wouldn't discount it entirely, but for every Kieffer Moore, David Healy or Kyle lafferty, you'll have 10 Liam Cullens where their limitations at club level are also apparent in internationals. I think there's a much higher probability that Mullin wouldn't be up to the standard, but we won't know until he's given the chance. Page chose to give that chance to Cullen instead, who further suggested that he certainly isn't up to the required standard. "It would have been good to have seen the likes of Collins, Mullin and Evans given a few minutes against Gibraltar to see whether they showed signs of fitting in at international level." The trouble is you can't give them all an opportunity at the same time. Page has to make a call on which of the fringe players he thinks has the highest chance of offering something. |
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