FT: WALES 1 - 0 LATVIA. Match thread

[SuperBluebirds91]

Great result for wales. It’ll be interesting because if they can take some points here and there in this group we will have a great chance of progressing through like in 15/2016!

[Robin Friday's Ghost]

I think they probably deserved a point more than we did against Croatia, Ward made a number of good saves

If we're counting missed chances in a desperate attempt to downplay the win then their keeper made more 🙄

[dembethewarrior]

Great result for wales. It’ll be interesting because if they can take some points here and there in this group we will have a great chance of progressing through like in 15/2016!

We definitely need points to progress.

[City123]

I think they probably deserved a point more than we did against Croatia, Ward made a number of good saves

They had a couple of half chances and Ward made a good save off of a corner, no chances as good as the one James missed in Croatia or the one we scored from

And as pointed out by another poster, we had plenty of chances against Latvia whose keeper pulld off some good saves

[cyril evans awaydays]

It was like a replay of the Estonia game in the WC qualifiers, except we won!. Latvia had a team of relative giants and we were vulnerable every time they had a set piece near our box. The No 20 was 6ft 6 ffs and a few not much taller. Thankfully we restricted them to few opportunities of that sort.

As others said, having over 70% possession means little if you do little with it. The speed of passing was so slow we rarely dragged them out of a disciplined shape. We looked best against that kind of opposition when the centre backs stepped forward and played through the middle of the field playing into Wilson and others at feet where there was more space than wide. We seemed reluctant to exploit that space though, taking safer options.

Kudos, because of this to Neco Williams, who had a poor game in Croatia that even though they double loaded the flanks he was our most threatening outlet.

[Baloo]

Tbf, we more or less predicted exactly what the game would be like in the pub beforehand.

[Wales-Bales]

As others said, having over 70% possession means little if you do little with it. The speed of passing was so slow we rarely dragged them out of a disciplined shape. We looked best against that kind of opposition when the centre backs stepped forward and played through the middle of the field playing into Wilson and others at feet where there was more space than wide. We seemed reluctant to exploit that space though, taking safer options.

We can't go from not being able to string a pass together to zipping the ball around the pitch in one game, it's a process that will take time, and I'd rather see Wales have possession of the ball than the opposition.

I agree about Neco, Croatia are very strong in that area of the pitch, but it was a good learning experience for him to come up against that type of football. I can't believe Modric is 37 and he is still that good.

[cyril evans awaydays]

We can't go from not being able to string a pass together to zipping the ball around the pitch in one game, it's a process that will take time, and I'd rather see Wales have possession of the ball than the opposition.

I agree about Neco, Croatia are very strong in that area of the pitch, but it was a good learning experience for him to come up against that type of football. I can't believe Modric is 37 and he is still that good.

I walked to the ground looking up the Latvian team. Almost all play in the their national league. Apart from seeing a few who looked more at home in a basketball team it should have been our easiest game. If Wilson scored early doors I think it would have been.

The idea that a competent team of international players can't move from managing a game away against superior opposition to controlling a game at home vs weak opposition in 90 minutes is laughable.

[Wales-Bales]

I walked to the ground looking up the Latvian team. Almost all play in the their national league. Apart from seeing a few who looked more at home in a basketball team it should have been our easiest game. If Wilson scored early doors I think it would have been.

The idea that a competent team of international players can't move from managing a game away against superior opposition to controlling a game at home vs weak opposition in 90 minutes is laughable.

Page's football philosophy went up in smoke in Qatar, so it's a new project and I expect to see improvements as we move forward.

[dembethewarrior]

Page's football philosophy went up in smoke in Qatar, so it's a new project and I expect to see improvements as we move forward.

Wherever you're all calling it we should score more than 1 against that lot. They drew with Andorra and got beat by Moldova.

[Wales-Bales]

Wherever you're all calling it we should score more than 1 against that lot. They drew with Andorra and got beat by Moldova.

I agree, but we've got 4 points and we are in a most favourable position compared to the other teams in our group. Let's judge the team when our key missing players are back and some of the youngsters break through. I am optimistic about the future once we have rejigged the midfield and settle on a style of play.

[cyril evans awaydays]

Page's football philosophy went up in smoke in Qatar, so it's a new project and I expect to see improvements as we move forward.

Interesting observation but what has that to do with your prognosis that a barely competent international team can't go from not being able to string a pass together to zipping the ball around the pitch in one game?

There are definitely teams I have seen in the FA Cup this year and in previous years that can't adjust. Usually they on a giant killers ground though.

Four points out of 6 is magic. The Turkey games will be pivotal., I agree with you that Page is not Cesar Minotti but if you look at the squad and bench last night it is difficult to see what different options he could have put on the pitch.

It was the slowness of passing that did me. It was so easy for Latvia to keep their shape even with 25% possession.

[Wales-Bales]

Interesting observation but what has that to do with your prognosis that a barely competent international team can't go from not being able to string a pass together to zipping the ball around the pitch in one game?

There are definitely teams I have seen in the FA Cup this year and in previous years that can't adjust. Usually they on a giant killers ground though.

Four points out of 6 is magic. The Turkey games will be pivotal., I agree with you that Page is not Cesar Minotti but if you look at the squad and bench last night it is difficult to see what different options he could have put on the pitch.

It was the slowness of passing that did me. It was so easy for Latvia to keep their shape even with 25% possession.

Mepham and Rodon need to be comfortable playing out from the back and they don't always inspire confidence, but it was good to see Ampadu interacting with them against Croatia. Our midfield also needs tweaking if we are going to play this kind of football, so hopefully the new coach is working on it. Having Johnson back should make a difference, as he is one of the better counter-attacking players in the PL. I'm not overly concerned with the current setup as there is definitely a path forward.

[Pearcey3]

Wherever you're all calling it we should score more than 1 against that lot. They drew with Andorra and got beat by Moldova.

Apart from Germany no one has thrashed Latvia over the past few years. In the WCQ’s two years ago they were beaten 2-0 and 1-0 by the Netherlands who are a better side than us. We won and deserved to win. Job done.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Apart from Germany no one has thrashed Latvia over the past few years. In the WCQ’s two years ago they were beaten 2-0 and 1-0 by the Netherlands who are a better side than us. We won and deserved to win. Job done.

We could easily have come a cropper as well. Learned lots, won, played well. Can't ask for more than that. If it was England they'd have complained why it wasn't more.

[blue matt]

Apart from Germany no one has thrashed Latvia over the past few years. In the WCQ’s two years ago they were beaten 2-0 and 1-0 by the Netherlands who are a better side than us. We won and deserved to win. Job done.

Please stop with your positivity, it has no place on here

[Harry Paget Flashman]

Interesting observation but what has that to do with your prognosis that a barely competent international team can't go from not being able to string a pass together to zipping the ball around the pitch in one game?

There are definitely teams I have seen in the FA Cup this year and in previous years that can't adjust. Usually they on a giant killers ground though.

Four points out of 6 is magic. The Turkey games will be pivotal., I agree with you that Page is not Cesar Minotti but if you look at the squad and bench last night it is difficult to see what different options he could have put on the pitch.

It was the slowness of passing that did me. It was so easy for Latvia to keep their shape even with 25% possession.

Its easy to have 75% possession when you knock it about between the back 3 and a holding midfielder. It was so boring.

I get that Wales aren't a force in international football but it was a shit game and if I never watch an international game again it wouldn't bother me.

[dembethewarrior]

I agree, but we've got 4 points and we are in a most favourable position compared to the other teams in our group. Let's judge the team when our key missing players are back and some of the youngsters break through. I am optimistic about the future once we have rejigged the midfield and settle on a style of play.

I think we have some decent kids, yes.

I just hope page doesn't ruin it.

[dembethewarrior]

Please stop with your positivity, it has no place on here

Isn't expecting better being positive as well then?

Depends on how you look at life I suppose.

I think Wales could be better. We aren't doing what I think we are capable of, which is scoring more than 1 against a poor team.
As soon as a team puts men behind the ball we pass it backwards and don't seem to know what we are doing.

[Barmy]

Not sure how many times you log in to this site Pearcey but my guess is it's not that frequent.
"The comments on here" are pretty much like this every game.

The final 10 minutes was squeeky bum time but, apart from maybe ten minutes in the first half, I thought we controlled the game pretty comfortably.
Two worldy saves by their keeper at crucial times from Wilson and my MoTM Nico kept it close. One of them goes in and it's game set and match.

It's been a good week but for some it's all about one man, the witch hunt for manager Page is well and truly under way.
We do love a manager witch hunt

I have to agree with this.
Seems very negative on here at times.