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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2010 23:22:39 GMT
The forthcoming European qualifiers, potentially, represent Wales' best chance at qualification since the 1970's. The false idols of England is disarray, and otherwise solid but unremarkable sides that are likely to take points off each other throughout. Wales key problem seems, as ever, to be player availability. Long term or niggling injuries to some of our most important core threaten, once again, to derail our efforts at qualification. But, hypothetically, if all our players were fit and playing regularly, who would make your first team and substitutes bench?
My XI (4-3-3)
--------------------------C.Evans-----------------------------------------------
Cotterill-------------------------------------------------Bellamy---------------
---------------Allen----------------------Ramsey------------------------------
--------------------------Williams-----------------------------------------------
Bale---------J.Collins-------------Nyatanga--------Gunter-----------------
-------------------------Hennessey--------------------------------------------
Subs:
Myhill(GK)
Ribeiro
Collison
N.Taylor
A.Matthews
Church
D.Blake
Obviously, and necessarily, speculative. But, on sheer ability, the team I would choose. Who will play in the absence of Ramsey, Allen and Collison is anyones guess, but all 3 look likely to return sooner than previously expected. Having seen Giggs dominate Celtic including Joe Ledley in pre-season I am less sceptical than I was about a potential return for the first games of the campaign, but it is most likely we will have to plan for his absence.
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Post by walrus on Jul 19, 2010 9:04:58 GMT
Plenty of pace and some of the better technical players picked. An attacking 433 (4123) rather than the 4231 that has been espoused on here and in the Fail. Not bad.
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Post by Tim P on Jul 19, 2010 10:43:26 GMT
........................................ched evans
..............collisson.............................................bellamy
..........................................ramsey
.................................ledley......................stock
................bale..............collins..................blake............gunter
...........................................hennessey
subs:
GK myhill
2 a williams
3 j allen
4 s vokes
5 a matthews
6 cotterill
7 edwards
bale: i've always been an advocate of keeping him in D, but recently i've come round to him playing Offense. however, i cannot justify leaving out collisson or bellamy to include him.
ledley & stock: what this WC and also Guardiola's Barca Project has shown is that you don't need Vieria or Essien in there. ledley and stock has the industry and the ball skills required to do well together.
blake: blake is better on the ball than williams. collins is a better defender than williams. i have a feeling that blake will have a big season also.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2010 10:53:14 GMT
( 4-1-3-2 )
----------------------------------- Evans
---------------Bellamy
---Bale--------------------Ramsey----------------------Allen
---------------------------Williams------------------------------
---Ricketts--------Collins----------Nyatanga-----------Gunter
-------------------------Hennessey------------------------------
Subs : Myhill
Collison
Mathews
Church
Davies
Ledley
Gabbidon
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2010 11:57:11 GMT
........................................ched evans ..............collisson.............................................bellamy ..........................................ramsey .................................ledley......................stock ................bale..............collins..................blake............gunter ...........................................hennessey subs: GK myhill 2 a williams 3 j allen 4 s vokes 5 a matthews 6 cotterill 7 edwards bale: i've always been an advocate of keeping him in D, but recently i've come round to him playing Offense. however, i cannot justify leaving out collisson or bellamy to include him. ledley & stock: what this WC and also Guardiola's Barca Project has shown is that you don't need Vieria or Essien in there. ledley and stock has the industry and the ball skills required to do well together. blake: blake is better on the ball than williams. collins is a better defender than williams. i have a feeling that blake will have a big season also. Good lad Trendy, nice to see some people havent forgotten about Stock!  ;D He showed in the Russia game that he can keep possession against good opposition so I think he has a role to play alongside Ramsey in the way that spain control possession using Xavi/Iniesta. Okay, a poor comparison I know but if we are to learn from this world cup then I guess we have to look at the likes of Spain and imagine how we can make their way of playing work for us. In all seriousness watching Xavi during the world cup I got to thinking that I could see lots of similarities with Ramsey and think Ramsey could be as good as him in a few years provided he comes back well from his injury. Pity the players he has around him are not likely to be on his wavelength though. |
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Post by flynnfan on Jul 19, 2010 12:19:39 GMT
I've said ever since seeing Rambo and Allen play together in midfield aged 16 and 17 vs France U21 that they are like a junior Welsh version of Xavi and Ienesta! That comment about the players around him not being on the same wavelength is very negative and unfair RD. Did you not see the Scotland game? Did you not see the way he combined with Ricketts and Edwards for the first goal? Did you not see the way he combined with Ledley for the 2nd ( those two have got such a good understanding btw- I'm shocked anyone would leave Joe out of our best 11) Did you not see how he combined with Church in the U21 games v England? None of those players I've mentioned are particularly celebrated (even by us Welsh fans) but Rambo is so good, he makes them better players. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddkENW437AAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvk4oQjnD4I&feature=relatedwww.youtube.com/watch?v=OAJSsBEGiks&feature=related |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2010 12:58:22 GMT
I've said ever since seeing Rambo and Allen play together in midfield aged 16 and 17 vs France U21 that they are like a junior Welsh version of Xavi and Ienesta! That comment about the players around him not being on the same wavelength is very negative and unfair RD. Did you not see the Scotland game? Did you not see the way he combined with Ricketts and Edwards for the first goal? Did you not see the way he combined with Ledley for the 2nd ( those two have got such a good understanding btw- I'm shocked anyone would leave Joe out of our best 11) Did you not see how he combined with Church in the U21 games v England? None of those players I've mentioned are particularly celebrated (even by us Welsh fans) but Rambo is so good, he makes them better players. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddkENW437AAwww.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvk4oQjnD4I&feature=relatedwww.youtube.com/watch?v=OAJSsBEGiks&feature=related Those other lads are 'try-ers' at best. Im not convinced Collison is going to be a world beater, more a peripheral prem player in the same way that Edwards is. So what I mean is that these players ability wont hold a candle to the ability of Ramsey so with the best will in the world he is going to be able to play passes for runs that our players cant even see. They did link up well against Scotland as you say, however Scotland at that time were poor opposition, it wont be so easy against even mediocre sides. Sorry for the negativity, just as I see it we have a couple of real diamonds for the future in Bale and Ramsey, possibly Allen and the rest make up the numbers. I hope Im proved wrong but is that going to be enough to get us to a finals? Hmm...not so sure. |
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Post by flynnfan on Jul 19, 2010 13:31:00 GMT
You're talking absolute rubbish RD, and I've just chucked 3 pieces of evidence your way as proof. 'he is going to be able to play passes for runs that our players cant even see'- watch the way Ledley and Church actually POINT to where they want him to pass the ball for those goals against Scotland and England U21 - looks like they are on the same wavelength to me. This is the great thing about what's happened at youth level under Brian Flynn. Players have come through together- they know each others games.
As for Scotland being a poor side- yes, perhaps, although they did have a champions league winner playing in central midfield. They are ranked 43 places above us in the FIFA rankings (!!!!!) They are ranked higher than our forthcoming opponents Bulgaria and Montenegro. Football is a bit of a national obsession in Scotland ( I think only Albania has more fans who go to games per head of population in Europe). I wish people wouldn't be so dismissive of that performance.
As for, 'it won't be easy against even mediocre sides' Of course it won't be easy!!! who said it would? It wasn't even easy for Spain in the world cup- the only team they beat by more than one goal was Honduras.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2010 15:54:31 GMT
You're talking absolute rubbish RD, and I've just chucked 3 pieces of evidence your way as proof. 'he is going to be able to play passes for runs that our players cant even see'- watch the way Ledley and Church actually POINT to where they want him to pass the ball for those goals against Scotland and England U21 - looks like they are on the same wavelength to me. This is the great thing about what's happened at youth level under Brian Flynn. Players have come through together- they know each others games. As for Scotland being a poor side- yes, perhaps, although they did have a champions league winner playing in central midfield. They are ranked 43 places above us in the FIFA rankings (!!!!!) They are ranked higher than our forthcoming opponents Bulgaria and Montenegro. Football is a bit of a national obsession in Scotland ( I think only Albania has more fans who go to games per head of population in Europe). I wish people wouldn't be so dismissive of that performance. As for, 'it won't be easy against even mediocre sides' Of course it won't be easy!!! who said it would? It wasn't even easy for Spain in the world cup- the only team they beat by more than one goal was Honduras. Facts speak for themselves- there was no clamour to sign Ledley and there dont appear to be anyone clamouring to sign Church either. Fair enough, Ramsey knows their abilities having played with them for the under 21s. But if they were top players with good footballing brains then they wouldnt be playing for Celtic and Reading. Especially Ledley who was on a free and wasnt even deemed worthy of the token development fee which surely would have been seen as a pittance if he was that good. Ramsey is head and shoulders above the rest of our players and that has to be a concern, we have seen it before with Giggs where he has been better than the players around him and we havent got the best out of him. And I'm sorry but I dont think there is any way of talking up Scotland. Things may be different now they have a new management team but they were an absolute shambles against us. Just imagine what we would be saying if we had defended like that! Montenegro may be below them in the rankings but I think its fair to say that player for player they have more quality than the scots. They are a new nation so have not reached their true spot in the rankings. If you offered me a swap I would gladly take Scotland in our group instead of Montenegro!! |
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Post by flynnfan on Jul 19, 2010 18:51:14 GMT
Scotland won their last game, vs Czech Republic. Montenegro lost their last game, at home to Alabania. I'd rather not swap, thanks.
As for Ledley going to Celtic because nobody else wanted him, have a look at the way Henrik Larsson went there for about 600,000 grand. Probably the biggest bargain in British football since Cantona to Man Utd. It wasn't like premiership and la liga clubs were queing up to take him from Feyanord at that time. Went on to play for Barca and Man U though.
I'm more into judging players by their Wales performances, than how big the club they play for is. Ivor Allchurch spent most of his career with Swansea Town in the 2nd tier. He's still easily one of our greatest ever players though. I haven't actually seen much of someone like David Edwards, for example, actually play club football, but right from the start of his full international career he's impressed me with his attitude, shooting, energy, timing of his runs..
And I disagree with your statement about Ramsey being head and shoulders above the rest of our players. What about Bale? What about Bellamy? What about Simon Davies scoring excellent goals in both the final and semi-final of the Europa cup? And I think Tosh was quoting Bill Shankley ( a man who knew a thing or two about football) when he's said ' A football team's a bit like a piano- you need 8 people to carry it and 3 who can play the bloody thing' Well, Ramsey, Bale and Bellamy can certainly play. By the time Bellamy retires I reckon someon like Collison or Allen will be in that category too.
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Post by welshiron on Jul 20, 2010 16:34:58 GMT
My team
Hennasey/Myhill
Gunter
Bale
Williams (or a fit and in form Gabbidon)
Collins
Davies
Ledley
Collison
Ledley
Ramsey
Bellamy
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Post by welshiron on Jul 20, 2010 16:50:06 GMT
subs from
GK, nyatanga, blake, matthews, edwards, allen, evans, vokes, cotterill, ricketts, stock, church, riberio
nice squad of 24.
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Post by walrus on Jul 21, 2010 9:26:26 GMT
The key to success in this campaign is to have a tight squad who keep relatively injury free. We need combinations to develop. We need a first xi to start picking itself. But first is this massive hurdle to overcome without Rambo and Collison. Can Stock and Joe Allen step up? Can Sean McDonald break into the swans 1st team? Will Adam Matthews mature this year? Is Darcy Blake going to kick on. Cotterill to regain his mojo? Interesting times?
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;D
