FT: WALES 2 - 4 BELGIUM. Match thread

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...int_source=nba

Walesonline ratings. Largely fair. Thomas given 7 and star man is bonkers. Awful back pass , not back tracking deserved a 5. DaSilva all he did was be hopeless for the 4th should have been a n/a or 1 or 2

James lucky to get 5 as well.

I think he likes Mark Harris because hes busy and is a nuisance for defenders, runs the channels, will win you some corners.etc but ultimately, his statistics show there is no end product there. None whatsoever. Never has been.

I think its a sorry state for Welsh football when you consider some of the great forward players in the last 40-50 years that Mark Harris is deemed number 1 selection for the national team.

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Originally Posted by Hilts

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/...int_source=nba

Walesonline ratings. Largely fair. Thomas given 7 and star man is bonkers. Awful back pass , not back tracking deserved a 5. DaSilva all he did was be hopeless for the 4th should have been a n/a or 1 or 2

James lucky to get 5 as well.

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Thomas had a good first half but a dreadful second period. Rodon our best player imo. No way was Brooks worth a 6. He created nothing and moves often broke down with him.

To concede one penalty for ball to hand is a VAR disgrace, to deliberately handball for a second is careless.

I thought it was a good performance for the majority of the game. Doku was playing a different game to everyone else ,but for the first 20 mins I thought playing Harris was a good move, Johnson wouldn't have put in anywhere near the same effort and Moore forces a very different style of play. Belgium were caught cold with the pace and passing and it's a shame that a poor referee decision let them catch their breath.

Until the second penalty killed it I also fancied Wales to equalise (and probably be down again within a minute). Put me down as a hopeless optimist.

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Originally Posted by olderblue

If he thinks that Harris up front is the best option, he’s never going to make it as a good coach
Ben Davies getting turned inside out, Cabango poor, and Ampadu non existent in midfield

Meanwhile we watched as Moore spent around the best part of the second half running up and down the line waiting to come on???
Half time was the time for changes


While I’m on one, does every village in North Wales send its Man Utd supporting idiot down the big city for these games?
I think we had the worst one sat near us, what a muppet

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I suppose a lot depends on the definitions of a coach and a manager. Good coaches often don't make good managers.

While I'm on one, I wasn't at the game but the crowd and atmosphere came across as very underwhelming. After we scored, we should have been singing and dancing but all that came across was fear, tension and anticipation of the inevitable.

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Originally Posted by olderblue

If he thinks that Harris up front is the best option, he’s never going to make it as a good coach
Ben Davies getting turned inside out, Cabango poor, and Ampadu non existent in midfield

Meanwhile we watched as Moore spent around the best part of the second half running up and down the line waiting to come on???
Half time was the time for changes


While I’m on one, does every village in North Wales send its Man Utd supporting idiot down the big city for these games?
I think we had the worst one sat near us, what a muppet

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Ampadu did well considering he was left totally exposed by Wilson & James for much of the game

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Originally Posted by caerkid

To concede one penalty for ball to hand is a VAR disgrace, to deliberately handball for a second is careless.

I thought it was a good performance for the majority of the game. Doku was playing a different game to everyone else ,but for the first 20 mins I thought playing Harris was a good move, Johnson wouldn't have put in anywhere near the same effort and Moore forces a very different style of play. Belgium were caught cold with the pace and passing and it's a shame that a poor referee decision let them catch their breath.

Until the second penalty killed it I also fancied Wales to equalise (and probably be down again within a minute). Put me down as a hopeless optimist.

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The first penalty totally swung the momentum

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Remember when Bellamy said the performance in his first game, Turkey, was as bad as things would get? The truth is that we’re a worse team now than we were then..

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I remember it well, unfortunately the best Welsh performance on the pitch last night came from a rat, although it may have hitched a ride from Belgium in some of the luggage!

Johnson, is not, never will be, a winger.

Looks like a lost boy stuck out on the touchline

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

I think he likes Mark Harris because hes busy and is a nuisance for defenders, runs the channels, will win you some corners.etc but ultimately, his statistics show there is no end product there. None whatsoever. Never has been.

I think its a sorry state for Welsh football when you consider some of the great forward players in the last 40-50 years that Mark Harris is deemed number 1 selection for the national team.

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Harris is a poor footballer, he does have end product, but it's at league 1 level. That should tell us all we need to know about that division.

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

Hes getting more David Brent with every interview.

I think he must have gone to the same media training as Anthony Joshua.

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He always was a bit 'Brent' plenty of the new coaches are in my opinion. Bellamy is honest, shows his vulnerable side when he's talking. Football fans seem to lap it up, but the cynic in me sees it as a bit calculated, a deflection from criticism and his own short comings. I actually don't mind how he sets up and plays, although i'm not particularly bothered about the National side so it's more about being entertained and seeing a side attempting to win a game of football. It's strange in respect that we have a clutch of younger more modern coaches in the game whose tactics display a puerile edge, they're not for changing at any cost. I wouls have been all for it a couple of years a go, but not know, especially when the players are limired.

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

He always was a bit 'Brent' plenty of the new coaches are in my opinion. Bellamy is honest, shows his vulnerable side when he's talking. Football fans seem to lap it up, but the cynic in me sees it as a bit calculated, a deflection from criticism and his own short comings. I actually don't mind how he sets up and plays, although i'm not particularly bothered about the National side so it's more about being entertained and seeing a side attempting to win a game of football. It's strange in respect that we have a clutch of younger more modern coaches in the game whose tactics display a puerile edge, they're not for changing at any cost. I wouls have been all for it a couple of years a go, but not know, especially when the players are limired.

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He has always spoken with his heat on his sleeve, but I defo reckon hes had some kind of media training to try and reinvent himself. The softly slower speaking, the smiles, its trying to get away from his aggressive image as a player. Even in podcatss hes done where hes talking about his life in general or days as a footballer rather than as a coach / manager disecting the game hes been doing the same and its starting to get a bit nauseating tbh. I feel he is putting a bit of a mask on and it will slip soon enough if the media piut enough pressure on him.

I thought he was an excellent pundit when he first went onto Sky, I thought I could listen to him talk about football all day, but recently hes really starting to grind my gears.

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

He has always spoken with his heat on his sleeve, but I defo reckon hes had some kind of media training to try and reinvent himself. The softly slower speaking, the smiles, its trying to get away from his aggressive image as a player. Even in podcatss hes done where hes talking about his life in general or days as a footballer rather than as a coach / manager disecting the game hes been doing the same and its starting to get a bit nauseating tbh. I feel he is putting a bit of a mask on and it will slip soon enough if the media piut enough pressure on him.

I thought he was an excellent pundit when he first went onto Sky, I thought I could listen to him talk about football all day, but recently hes really starting to grind my gears.

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I messaged on this after his 18 minute press conference following the England defeat. The press are treading on egg shells around him. There is no pressure - not one question about selection, a player, the goals conceded, the ‘shapes’ etc. it was all generic, safe nonsense. I learned nothing from it. Haven’t heard the Belgium press conference yet.

Did anyone ask why Kieffer Moore only came on with about 5-10 mins left?

I presume hes got an injury!

I'm not really sure what people expect from this Wales squad. It doesn't contain a Gareth Bale, or anyone even close to his level. The only strikers currently available are Championship level at best, and one of them has managed just one goal in 2025. The midfielders are ordinary on a good day and the defence is far from great.

Perhaps different tactics would yield slightly better results, but that's doubtful. The current squad just isn't very good. In my opinion, it's not much more complicated than that.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

I'm not really sure what people expect from this Wales squad. It doesn't contain a Gareth Bale, or anyone even close to his level. The only strikers currently available are Championship level at best, and one of them has managed just one goal in 2025. The midfielders are ordinary on a good day and the defence is far from great.

Perhaps different tactics would yield slightly better results, but that's doubtful. The current squad just isn't very good. In my opinion, it's not much more complicated than that.

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Northern Ireland, a team without anyone remiotely like a Gareth Bale gave Germany a much tougher time o9f it than Wales gave Belgium last night - what odds Wales now bein g the worst of the four home nations?

Bellamy’s Wales in crisis?

Wales have conceded fifteen goals in their last three competitive games with Belgium.

https://mauveandyellowarmy.net

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Northern Ireland, a team without anyone remotely like a Gareth Bale gave Germany a much tougher time of it than Wales gave Belgium last night - what odds Wales now being the worst of the four home nations?

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Swings and roundabouts. They lost. They're third in their group. So did Wales. And so are Wales.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

I'm not really sure what people expect from this Wales squad. It doesn't contain a Gareth Bale, or anyone even close to his level. The only strikers currently available are Championship level at best, and one of them has managed just one goal in 2025. The midfielders are ordinary on a good day and the defence is far from great.

Perhaps different tactics would yield slightly better results, but that's doubtful. The current squad just isn't very good. In my opinion, it's not much more complicated than that.

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Keepers bang average too, Trott would have probably saved the last one at least with his foot.

They gave it a go, but it is a weak squad. Wilson is decent, but we need another ten at that level.

As soon as Keiffer came on we scored.Harris just runs around.Belgium's one fraility was high balls into the box.I really don' know what Bellemy's game plan was.

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Originally Posted by J R Hartley

He has always spoken with his heat on his sleeve, but I defo reckon hes had some kind of media training to try and reinvent himself. The softly slower speaking, the smiles, its trying to get away from his aggressive image as a player. Even in podcatss hes done where hes talking about his life in general or days as a footballer rather than as a coach / manager disecting the game hes been doing the same and its starting to get a bit nauseating tbh. I feel he is putting a bit of a mask on and it will slip soon enough if the media piut enough pressure on him.

I thought he was an excellent pundit when he first went onto Sky, I thought I could listen to him talk about football all day, but recently hes really starting to grind my gears.

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Agree with most of that. Bellamy is still a very capable pundit, and considering the squad he has to work with, he’s doing a reasonable job, although as many have said, I don't think Mark Harris should start either.

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Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman

Swings and roundabouts. They lost. They're third in their group. So did Wales. And so are Wales.

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Wales are combining amateurish off field decisions that are not making it any easier to achieve their playing targets with very a naive defensive approach when they take on sides ranked higher than them.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Wales are combining amateurish off field decisions that are not making it any easier to achieve their playing targets with very a naive defensive approach when they take on sides ranked higher than them.

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You can disagree with the tactics but calling Bellamy "amateurish" is absurd. Even those who criticise his personality say how professional he was / is and praise him for the standards he sets and demands, both as a player and a coach.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Wales are combining amateurish off field decisions that are not making it any easier to achieve their playing targets with very a naive defensive approach when they take on sides ranked higher than them.

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To a degree, I can understand what you've said about the England friendly, but why was Canada a problem?

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

Wales are combining amateurish off field decisions that are not making it any easier to achieve their playing targets with very a naive defensive approach when they take on sides ranked higher than them.

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Yep this is my view. We are not going to outscore the better sides when we leave ourselves so wide open.
I do think that first pen was a huge momentum swing though as we started so well and Belgium hadn't had a look in