Bring in James Collins on Saturday?

[Bruce Foxton]

I don't have the exact figures, but an awful lot of Northern Ireland's goals in the last two years have come from set pieces. Our defence isn't the biggest and I can see the main danger for us being from free kicks and corners where McAuley, Cathcart and Evans can come forward.
Playing James Collins would help us in this regard and, thinking about it, maybe keeping Sam Vokes in the team would make sense from a defensive point of view, but I think the big Northern Irish defenders would be quite happy about having him to deal with, as opposed to someone like Robson-Kanu who would drag them into areas they wouldn't want to go.
Do you think Wales should make a change aimed at nullifying a possible domination at set pieces by Northern Ireland, or should we take the attitude that we go with the same side and let them do the worrying about us?

Hi Paul,I would agree with you about Collins and N.I's threat from set pieces.I was at the game in March,and their goal came from corner as a result of us not clearing our lines.Vokes started that game,and as I recall was largely ineffectual,with N.I happy to let us play in front of them and defend the 18 yard box.We looked better when Allen came on,and obviously we had no Bale and Ramsey that night.It is going to be difficult to break them down,but you would have to back us in this one,and as you say we might need to drag them about and be patient.

[the other bob wilson]

Hi Paul,I would agree with you about Collins and N.I's threat from set pieces.I was at the game in March,and their goal came from corner as a result of us not clearing our lines.Vokes started that game,and as I recall was largely ineffectual,with N.I happy to let us play in front of them and defend the 18 yard box.We looked better when Allen came on,and obviously we had no Bale and Ramsey that night.It is going to be difficult to break them down,but you would have to back us in this one,and as you say we might need to drag them about and be patient.

Your memory of the game in March matches mine Bruce. Northern Ireland were slightly the better team until Joe Allen came on and then we started causing them problems. If Ramsey and Bale play like they did on Monday, then we'll have a quality that they won't be able to match, but you couldn't have hand picked a better defence/midfield for the latter to face than Russia and our opponents on Saturday won't be as naive as they were in our previous game.

If it was my choice to make, I'd, just about, go for the same defence and hope that we'll cope with their set pieces, but I'd be tempted to make a change up front. I think Jonny Williams could be effective against a side like Northern Ireland, but that would probably mean we'd have to use Bale in a similar role to the one he played against Slovakia and I'd much prefer him to be running at defenders from deeper positions, so I think I'd bring in Robson-Kanu for Vokes.

[Don Corleone]

Your memory of the game in March matches mine Bruce. Northern Ireland were slightly the better team until Joe Allen came on and then we started causing them problems. If Ramsey and Bale play like they did on Monday, then we'll have a quality that they won't be able to match, but you couldn't have hand picked a better defence/midfield for the latter to face than Russia and our opponents on Saturday won't be as naive as they were in our previous game.

If it was my choice to make, I'd, just about, go for the same defence and hope that we'll cope with their set pieces, but I'd be tempted to make a change up front. I think Jonny Williams could be effective against a side like Northern Ireland, but that would probably mean we'd have to use Bale in a similar role to the one he played against Slovakia and I'd much prefer him to be running at defenders from deeper positions, so I think I'd bring in Robson-Kanu for Vokes.

I can see the logic behind considering Collins but who would you drop? Chester and Davies have been outstanding and though Williams has been the quieter of the three you're not going to drop your captain. I read somewhere recently about how small a percentage of goals are actually scored from corners so I think we stay with the same back 5. Vokes played well against Russia but I would bring Robson-Kanu back for this game, as you say we need to try and pull their centre halves out of position.

They are very good at defending deep and their record in qualifying was excellent, this wont be easy and we're not at our best when the onus is on us to go forward, that last home game against Andorra being a prime example, we made real hard work of that. Still, I think the quality of the holy trinity of Bale, Allen and Ramsey should see us through a very tight game

[Sloop_Jon_Bee]

I can see the logic behind considering Collins but who would you drop? Chester and Davies have been outstanding and though Williams has been the quieter of the three you're not going to drop your captain. I read somewhere recently about how small a percentage of goals are actually scored from corners so I think we stay with the same back 5. Vokes played well against Russia but I would bring Robson-Kanu back for this game, as you say we need to try and pull their centre halves out of position.

They are very good at defending deep and their record in qualifying was excellent, this wont be easy and we're not at our best when the onus is on us to go forward, that last home game against Andorra being a prime example, we made real hard work of that. Still, I think the quality of the holy trinity of Bale, Allen and Ramsey should see us through a very tight game

I fully agree with the above. We did indeed make hard work of the Andorra game. The NI game will obviously be different as there has to be a winner. So NI have to come at us at times. The Dynamic Trio may indeed give us the edge in this game.
Spedger