FT: ROMANIA 2 - 1 WALES. Match thread

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

I think his personality shows through, tinged with a bit of media training and probably trying a little too hard to sound clever, although he's not they type I can get than angry about it I'm honest. I quite like him, even though he dresses like a 20 year old, although I suppose he can get away with it

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Being a Wales football pundit is quite niche and the bar isn't set too high. On a side note, how many ex-players truly understand the game anyway? The number who make it into management and coaching is pretty low, and some of those make a complete mess of it.

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Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

Being a Wales football pundit is quite niche and the bar isn't set too high. On a side note, how many ex-players truly understand the game anyway? The number who make it into management and coaching is pretty low, and some of those make a complete mess of it.

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In my opinion,i don't think that many footballers study the game or actually care about it, it's a job The few i know or knew have little interest in football after playing.

One thing i will say is that an ex pro can see what a player is trying to do, or when a team mate doesn't do something to help the person in possession. A situation where us as fans may blame the player with the ball, but in fact, his team mate didn't make the run needed or didn't pull a defender away etc I suppose that any one of us who do a job for a long period of time will understand it better than those that don't.

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

In my opinion,i don't think that many footballers study the game or actually care about it, it's a job The few i know or knew have little interest in football after playing.

One thing i will say is that an ex pro can see what a player is trying to do, or when a team mate doesn't do something to help the person in possession. A situation where us as fans may blame the player with the ball, but in fact, his team mate didn't make the run needed or didn't pull a defender away etc I suppose that any one of us who do a job for a long period of time will understand it better than those that don't.

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The players drill a lot on the training pitch these days and they are given tactical charts to study, etc. A simple pass may baffle some people, but it's usually part of a more complex move.

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Originally Posted by Wales-Bales

The players drill a lot on the training pitch these days and they are given tactical charts to study, etc. A simple pass may baffle some people, but it's usually part of a more complex move.

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Stuff like that is beyond me, i wouldn't have been able to understand it when i played, that's probably why i played at such a low level and never really had the inclination to push on, same as loads of others i know. Very good players understand these things, have the ability to take on information and think and process tactics, The game has changed massively over the past 20 years.

I sometimes wonder if the more creative players are held back by this type of stuff? The instinctive side of the game must still be within them, and coaches surely can't attempt to take that away from them in order to follow the plan? I would hope not.