Reply With QuoteIf an illustration were needed, both ourselves and the Swiss could’ve taken invitational berths for the Copa America this year comfortably with the distance both squads have travelled for the Euros.
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An obscene format on a number of levels: sporting, environmental, public health, etc. One hopes this is the first and last time this format gets used. At the very least if you were to run with it then the home advantage that some countries have been handed simply shouldn’t be allowed.Originally Posted by Allez Allez Allez
If an illustration were needed, both ourselves and the Swiss could’ve taken invitational berths for the Copa America this year comfortably with the distance both squads have travelled for the Euros.
In footballing terms Wales were awful yesterday. Doesn't detract the overall achievements of our tiny nation, but that shouldn't blind us to the fact that we went out yesterday with a whimper - let's not forget Denmark's top scorer plus Errickson were absent.
far bigger player base than us , all over the pitch
I do feel we restricted ourselves with the squad selection too. To go with just one recognised striker in Moore - who has played a full season and ran himself into the ground for the city - without any real backup save Colwill, who was never going to get on the pitch, seemed a little suspect at the time and a little foolish now. Not meaning to single him out as it’s just one example and no offence to Colwill, I hope he comes on for us this year, but experience aside including him in the camp for the tournament seemed a waste. Get him in the upcoming squads for the qualifiers and NL but not a tournament camp.
I’m not saying HRK or Volkes are world beaters or guaranteed to change a game but they both still play at a decent level, have experience, and provide fresh legs in a position where we just didn’t have any during these games.
Relatedly, Page seemed very unwilling to make substituons or change things around until far too late in all of the games (save Italy where the relatively early card forced the issue).
While not an excuse, the distance the players have travelled in such a short time is certainly a mitigating factor.
No team, no matter how accomplished could perform consistently well if they have to travel large distances between games, change hotels, move to different training facilities etc etc. Even the fittest of athletes would suffer from such disruptions.
Platini has made many bad decisions in his time at the helm, but making some teams travel to Asia while others remain in their backyard is possibly the worst of the lot.
I am as proud of our team as much as I was in 2016. We are the smallest nation in the tournament, we qualified from a tough group and for the most part played as well as can be expected. Ultimately we met a very good footballing side who were too strong for us on the day. Just keep supporting the team and let's put this bad result behind us.
Page needs to go. We need a hungry, young European manager, one who is looking to improve his CV at international level, as there is no Welshman at managerial level who can take us forward.. Page managed at Port Vale and Northampton. Neither team under him pulled up trees, and it showed how out of his depth he is at international level. Kasper Hjulmand was streets ahead of Page last night.
Pity that some cant actually see the points you have made. This so called tournament was geared up for the favoured countries, Wales and Switzerland drew the short straws and it caught up with the side yesterday. We have a couple of players who can perform on the world stage, but in all fairness to them, games catch up with them. The others are just lower division standard, so at the end of the day achieving a last 16 round is an exemplary moment.
This as well
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57629385
To be fair to Page, he wasn’t employed to be manager. The so called manager has let the country down….again.
Kieffer Moore has obviously done a great job but I can't help but feel if we didn't have a big man option we'd be forced to play more on the ground and our possession, passing and ball retention would improve. Too many long balls, too much direct football is much easier to play against and slows everything down.
From a selfish point of view I was getting to the point that I’d never see us in a major tournament, whether in the flesh, like France, or on the telly like this one. So to have witnessed us take part in two of the last three major tournaments, play ten games, win 5, draw 1 and lose 4, scoring 13 & conceding 12 is ok for me. It means in the latter years of my life, I’ve seen Wales qualify twice and the City play in two major cup finals and top division. I’ve seen a lot more success for club & country than many, many other City & Wales fans, I’m reasonably happy with my lot.
How are we looking with regard to qualifying for the World Cup? Another one riddled with corruption in Qatar……I wonder if I will see us qualify for another major tournament when we lose Bale and Rambo…..
Surely the appointment of Azerbaijan's largest energy company as UEFA's major sponsor 3 months before the awarding of the Euros to .... Azerbaijan ...... must be coincidental..
This ^^^^
My lads first game was 2003 v Leeds, he’s only seen positives from City & Wales, not the drudge I watched for the previous 35 years
This.
Miserable pair of feckers
Page was out of his depth.
He showed in his substitutions in the group games thar he paints by numbers and not on instinct. We were doing well for 20mins and the Danish coach pushed Christensen into further forward to stop the supply.
Page did nothing to counteract that when he saw it nullified us.
A bad decision by the ref and a poor clearance cost us the second which was not his fault but he didn't go full on until the last 10 mins which was too late.
Also his faith in Morrell was mystifying.
1 decent game and 3 poor ones.
His passing completion rate was schoolboy stuff which you can't carry in international football.
I'm not a fan of Page before this and so I maybe a little biased.
The squad selection was bizarre as someone else has said. No back up striker, Vokes and HRK have been shit but they can occupy centre halves.
Vaulks, it's been done to death but he puts himself about, doesn't back out of a challenge and has the ability to score the incredible. That with an asset of a long throw and the fact he has actually performed better this season than any other central midfielder (Ramsey excluded).
He made the team up to play possession football, soon found out that although comfortable enough to a degree the other teams do it better so resorted to long balls where nobody was near Moore.
Refereeing was diabolic as well mind.
It's fine trying to outplay some international teams but you need to know your levels.
Page shouldn't have been there, that's not his fault but I certainly didn't see anything to make me think he deserves to stay.
How often, in previous World Cups and Euros, has the media made a big deal about where England are staying for the tournament? They give a run down of the base, the facilities, all sorts. We saw the same with the details of the Wales base in France 2016. Preparation is key, the media coverage of preparation details confirm that. How can Turkey, Switzerland and Wales prepare in the same way that England, Italy and Denmark were able to prepare?
Every tournament has one team that has the advantage of being a host. That's a given. Sometimes it is 2. In 2026 it will be 3. But, this tournament? The following teams had home advantage for all three group games.
Group A - Italy played 3 games in Rome
Group B - Denmark played 3 games in Copenhagen. Russia played 2 in St Petersburg
Group C - The Netherlands played 3 games in Amsterdam.
Group D - Scotland played 2 games in Glasgow. England played 3 in London. The Czechs and the Croatians benefitted from having two venues relatively close together
Group E - Spain played 3 games in Sevilla
Group F - Hungary played 2 games in Budapest. Germany played 3 games in Munich.
I am sure the English FA, players, coaches and media would have happily accepted seeing their team have to travel 5000 miles in a little over a week. I am not using it as an excuse, by the way, but I am pointing out that, unlike other tournaments with 1 host nation, Wales in effect played two host nations in their 4 games. I thought we looked tired mentally. Don't forget that there is a 2 hour time difference between Baku and Rome, and a three hour time difference between Baku and Cardiff. It's not THE reason we went out with a whimper, but it's showing the tournament has lost some integrity as the venues (far from benefitting smaller nations) have been benefitting the major nations.
Why couldn't venues be assigned to groups before the groups were drawn (as used to happen in world cups like 1990) ? Group A is London and Glasgow. Group B is Amsterdam and Munich. Group C is Rome and Sevilla. Group D is Copenhagen and St Petersburg. Group E is Bucharest and Budapest. Group F is Baku and St Petersburg.
Well done Germany, you are in group B, as number 1 seeds all three games are in Munich. Hard luck Italy, you are in group A, you won't be in Rome but will be in London and Glasgow and as number 1 seeds, all your games are in Wembley.
Reading such common sense makes me want to wring Platini's gallic neck even more !
Agree, but I would say three host nations - Turkey, Italy and Denmark fans were all in the huge majority in our matches. I bet this will be the only time it happens to any country in our lifetimes.
We were unlucky with the draw, or hugely disadvantaged by the system. It depends how generous you want to be with UEFA.
For me, I'm pretty pissed off about it.
Pretty much in a nutshell
I think Giggs would have been found out at the Euros too. Just my own thoughts and opinion ....
Excellent post
Think it's fair to say we struggled after Denmark changed formation and didn't have enough of a Plan B. This might be where losing a senior coaching figure really punished us.EURO 2020: How Denmark’s change of formation helped them cruise past Wales into the quarter-finals – tactical analysis
https://totalfootballanalysis.com/ma...alysis-tactics
But these are the situations we want to be in (forcing an opposition to change tactics because of our bright start) and we need to learn from it.
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