Reply With QuoteThat’s unfair tonight. We drew with the WC finalists taking our 1st point of them in 5 attempts.Originally Posted by Wales-Bales
We were missing one of our best players.
They were dirty fuc*ets and the ref sided with them.
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I thought it was a gamble he had to take.
Not a bad game in the end. I don't know why he took off Moore at 86 minutes. He worked very hard, but he wasn't out of gas.
That’s unfair tonight. We drew with the WC finalists taking our 1st point of them in 5 attempts.
We were missing one of our best players.
They were dirty fuc*ets and the ref sided with them.
Agreed. Is Giggs coming good?
I hope so. He’s got to have more time anyway.
We can still qualify.
We need Ramsey back.
I agree, I thought we played well tonight in the aspects of the game that you wouldn't think a Giggs team would be good at - things like organisation, keeping your shape and being pragmatic enough to go for a more direct approach.
It is very rare i agree but you are spot on
Provided Slovakia don't win both of their games (and one of them is away at Croatia who themselves need a point to qualify) and Wales win both of theirs we can qualify.
We simply have to win both games and hope Croatia get their required point v Slovakia.
When I wrote that he hadn't done anything all evening to influence the game, he just sat on the bench looking bemused. The entire 1st half completely passed him by, and we were absolutely clueless until Bale scored against the run of play.
After a poor start that was a very good performance against thuggish opposition. The shape of the team was so much better. We remain very much in this group.
It was a lucky escape, we could have been 2-0 down after 12 mins. We hardly pressed them and their defenders were allowed to play out from the back unopposed. We were also playing sideways too often, which got the crowd on the players backs a few times. It was a good thing that Bale scored just before half-time, as that gave us something to play for after the break. Given the importance of the game, I just thought that we could have been a bit more competitive, especially out of the blocks. Anyway, we live to fight another day..
I think the crowd had an influence on our goal. We were well into injury time at the end of the first half and slowly passing the ball around at the back when the crowd almost in unison shouted to get the ball up there - I think it was Rodon who duly obliged , Moore competed for the ball, it stayed up there and 30 seconds or so later we scored.
A decent point and a hard working performance
Decent performance against the world cup finalists.
Our midfield is simply not good enough though. I think last night emphasised why Sarri never opted for Ampadu last season. He's got potential but he was technically out of his depth last night.
We were organised and defended really well but being in the stadium with Wales isn't what it was a couple of years ago.
I was at the game last night and so haven’t seen any replays yet but, were either of those challenges on firstly Dan James and then Ampadu, that resulted in lengthy medical treatment for head injuries, punished with yellow cards?
I not one for claiming that ref’s are ever biased but there were other very hefty tackles from the Croatians, especially in the second half, that might well have attracted yellow cards, whereas he seemed to be booking Wales players for pretty innocuous looking fouls. I recall Modric getting one for clattering Harry Wilson....
Very odd.
Ampadu has been a bit disappointing the last few times I've seen him. Still plenty of time for him though.
Tactically I thought we had it spot on. Yes they went ahead, and it could have been 2, but after that they never really troubled us.
Croatia are an extremely press-resistant team, with the number of technical players they have, as England found out, which I think is why we weren't trying to be all over them like a rash. That would have just left us likely to be played through.
Instead we bided our time and kept our shape until the right pressing opportunity.
Vida was booked for the collision with James, i'm not sure about the Ampadu one.
Like when Cardiff tried it at reading promotion year and went 2 down maybe?
I noticed Moore wasn’t pressing so it was obviously a tactical decision. Seems it worked.
Win the last 2 games and we will qualify ( can’t see Slovakia winning in Croatia and our point last night took away the concern of Slovakia picking up a point there). If we can’t win the last 2 games we don’t deserve to qualify but can’t help thinking it’s going to be a tough call in Baku, we’re not great at breaking the lower ranked teams down , definitely need Ramsey fit and firing for that one
I think he took a knock.
Was also at the game so not 100% but I thought the challenge on Amapdu got a booking. Weak refereeing though as a) they had already done it to James and b) it was clearly an instruction from the manager at half time to shake Wales up. You can see why Croatia have done so well in recent years by combining that level of skill with that level of general cynicism.
I really enjoyed the performance last night. Good to see that a Giggs team can dig in and show some grit.
Waiting to see a replay but it looked like a foul by Davies in the build up to the Bale goal. They can have no complaints (although of course they did) due to their own behaviour but it felt like a bit of a let off to me.
Although I think a lot of refs would have given a free kick, the tackle on Moore on the edge of the penalty area in the second half was more worthy of being penalised than Davies'.
I agree about the Azerbaijan match. Apart from one game, they been competitive throughout the group and let's not forget Croatia could only draw there recently - I'm more confident of us beating Hungary than I am in us winning in Baku.
Good performance last night, I think we were the better team 2nd half and coming back like that against a quality side like Croatia will do the youngsters the power of good, and instil a bit of confidence in the players in Giggs's methods. And that was without Mepham, Brooks and Ramsey, all of which would likely be guaranteed starters.
Agree that Azerbaijan is by no means a banker, and Hungary will be very very tough too but if we've got a full squad fit and firing, last night and the Slovakia game gave me hope that we can do it.
How was he technically out of his depth? His role was in front of the back four to close down opposition players, and break up play in what was a compressed Welsh formation.
Positioning was poor for their goal, and he seemed to give the ball away a bit trying to ping the ball about. Still have high hopes for him though
He was actually moving to close down their attacking full back who had just gone past a number of our players and was bearing down on goal. A lot of the players were out of position by that point, so I would say it was a group effort. We were very slow to realise the importance of the game, and the players seemed to be overawed during the first 15 minutes or so.
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