Turkey v Wales Competition - UEFA European Championship Stage - Qualification Round Group - D Venue - Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium Date - Monday, 19 June 2023 Kick off - 19:45 Qualification round · Group D Following their disappointing 2-4 home defeat against Armenia last Friday, next up for Robert Page’s Wales squad is a trip to Group leaders Turkey: in essence, a defeat would tend to suggest that qualification would be out of reach after only 4 matches. Wales will be without defender Ben Davies against Turkey after the Tottenham man withdrew from the squad for the birth of his first child. Neco Williams and Morgan Fox are the candidates to replace Davies at left-back, though Page could revert to a back five once more. Wales are also missing target man Kieffer Moore, as the Bournemouth striker was shown a straight red card against Armenia for kicking out at the goalkeeper off the ball. Nottingham Forest's Brennan Johnson is likely to lead the line. Wales' centre-back pairing of Chris Mepham and Joe Rodon came under heavy criticism after Friday's defeat, but Page says they are both ready to put things right. Meanwhile, Turkey are expected to start Inter Milan's Hakan Calhanoglu - the midfielder played the full 90 minutes in the Champions League final against Man City. Turkey also have no injury concerns to contend with. Wales’ last away game against Turkey was in August 1997 in a World Cup qualifier – they came from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 in the first half, and also led 4-3 in the second half before eventually losing 6-4. Wales have won four of their previous seven meetings with Turkey (D1 L2), winning the most recent game 2-0 in Baku at Euro 2020. Turning to tonight, whilst I’d love to see Wales give Turkey a stuffing ( ) I can’t see anything other than a comfortable 3-1 win for Turkey. Hope I’m wrong
The World Cup demonstrated that Page is not up to it - the team has shown that it hasn’t progressed under him: what more does the FAW need to see before they cut him loose. Welsh Football has been on the crest of a wave for 8 or so years - the Red Wall will only put up with it for so long. The FAW can’t take the Red Wall for granted …
I have mixed feelings about Page, maybe you boys are right, but it is obvious we are at a crossroads....
Why play a back 4 last Friday when we are better suited to playing with a back 5 - particularly recognising that the midfield department is weak. Naming Ramsey as captain also smacks of another ‘Old Boys’ act by Page. Rambo looks a busted flush at international level - that was obvious at the World Cup - yet Page appointed him captain
Welsh football bosses will conduct a standard review into what has gone wrong with Rob Page's national team this summer as they look to get their Euro 2024 campaign back on track. Abject defeats against Armenia and Turkey have led to a clamour for the head of Page, with many fans throughout Wales demanding he is replaced as manager. Football writer Thomas Lewis from the Daily Post has already called for Page to go, suggesting an Osian Roberts-Patrick Vieira double act or ex-Luton and Southampton boss Nathan Jones as alternatives. The FA of Wales hierarchy are unlikely to react in knee-jerk fashion and look likely to back their under-fire manager. But they will have a full and thorough debrief into what happened in the last two games, something which is normal procedure after every international camp. This will involve speaking to Page himself, the players, backroom staff and other interested parties. The intention is to find out why things have suddenly hurtled backwards at an alarming rate and how to put Wales back on the upward trajectory again. The FAW have made huge strides in recent times, with capacity crowds at Cardiff City Stadium despite a poor run of results showing the thirst is still there to watch Aaron Ramsey and his team. Wales' age-grade sides are doing well, participation in football across the country is on the rise, women's football is growing and Wales have a significant seat in the UEFA corridors of power these days. But everything needs to be underpinned by success for the national team, which brings in large chunks of the revenue. As such the FAW will want to know how Page intends to turn things around for the remaining autumn Euro qualifiers with Croatia and Turkey at home and Latvia and Armenia away. Much has been made of Page's four-year contract, which he was given just nine months ago, and how the FAW couldn't afford to pay him off should they choose to proceed down that route. However, our understanding is that wouldn't necessarily be an issue and that terms have been struck in the contract for a scenario like this. Even without Gareth Bale, Wales fully expected to qualify from a group containing a Croatian side perhaps past their best, a Turkey team which hasn't set the world on fire in recent times, plus football minnows Latvia and Armenia.
I mean this with absolutely no disrespect for Page but having the advantage of working with a squad developed by others, he's no come to the inevitable point where he's going to have to develop his own. I'm not sure that's within his capabilities to do so with any success. Of course, Wales will always have periods where talent is sparse and that too needs addressing. So let's make some radical changes, simply use the Euro qualifiers to develop the changes and build to qualify for the next world cup
