The next two away games are crucial away to Belgium and Israel IF we could get 4 points we would well and truly be in the box seat but I would settle for 2 or maybe 3pts at Israel
I have a feeling that Israel are the team that will decide how the group goes. Teams are going to drop points against them that could be vital.
You're right, Israel have picked up two wins against Cyprus and Andorra, like us, so how we perform against each other and Belgium and Bosnia will decide the top 3. If we want top two, 4 points off Israel and 2 points each off Bosnia and Belgium would do it comfortably. While draws aren't perfect, they do stop the other teams pulling away. So maximum points off the other 2 teams would see us into the top 2 on 20 points. That would mean going unbeaten though, so no chance. As stereo says, the key to qualification will be if we can take 4 or 6 points off Israel. After all, maximum points off Andorra, Cyprus and Israel lands us on 19 points. At the very least, that should guarantee third spot and put us into a play-off to qualify, but most likely the second qualification spot.
Mind if I join in lads? No thread on our board and I can't be arsed to start one. Terrific performances all over the park with the back 4 outstanding. Yes Lesley was crap when he had the ball (moral of the story - don't pass it to him) but some great tackles and clearances in the last 20 minutes. Midfield and forward players ran their legs off. Apart from a late header over the bar did Cyprus have a shot on goal second half? They only had one or two first half including their very poor goal (to match up with our first). I've been a regular at Wales home games for over 30 years and that was the best team performance I've seen - bar none. As for the referee, probably one of the worst displays of the dark art I have ever seen. Okay King mistimed his tackle but there was no ill intent. It happened in the centre of the park just after the kick off, there did not appear to be any previous with the 2 palyers and was worth a yellow at worst. The foul on Bale (might have been Kanu?) shortly after Church did his shoulder was far worse and in a threatening position. That was much more worthy of a red as was the foul on Bale close to the byeline near the end. Quite frankly the ref let them get away with murder - as did the ref on Friday with the succession of fouls on Bale and Williams. Only a minor point but do this ref and his linos know the rules about throw ins? There must have been 4 or 5 they did nothing about. We think our refs are poor but ffs they appear significantly worse in Europe. Finally, as on Friday, terrific support from the home crowd. People there from all over Wales. It's great to see the Wales fans becoming the 12th man. For the Belgium home game should we stick at CCS or move to the Millennium?
Agree with the fouls on Bale. Cyprus clearly had a game plan to kick Bale off the park and the referee did nothing to prevent it. The foul on around 6 minutes when he had his legs swiped from underneath him 25 yards from goal set the tone. Nowhere near the ball and only ever intended to try to cause injury to the player. Thankfully, Bale is built like a truck these days so his body withstood the punishment. The body check at the end by the byline that you mentioned was definitely intentional. When Bale was holding up the ball in the corner winning corner after corner, you could see him fake laughing over his shoulder at the Cyprus right back who was clearly saying something to him regarding the time-wasting tactics, maybe something more sinister too. Then Bale went charging at the right back and slid from miles away to try to make a block (just missed), and 30 seconds later, Bale is running with the ball and the right back runs shoulder first directly into Bale head-on. Red card everyday of the week. I was so angry after that game. I'm getting angry thinking about it now. Cyprus were truly disgusting and got away with it. I'm extremely happy that their filthy tactics won them absolutely nothing.
I assume the ref was assessed. In my book he would get a great big 0 out of 10. Shouldn't be in charge of an under 5's game let alone adults.
You're right, Blue. The ref was terrible. As for "For the Belgium home game should we stick at CCS or move to the Millennium? " Why not the Liberty? Smaller crowd for sure but it would be rocking. For that matter why didn't the Liberty get Monday night's game? Was anything else going on there I wonder?
Not sure who the pundit and commentator were for Fox but they reckoned the ref got every decision correct, but they didn't agree with some outcomes free kick / yellow / red. They went as far as to say the players were making the game fragmented by their lack of discipline. IMO at least two Cyprus players should have been off as they should have received two yellows. I don't agree with the call for Cypriot player to have been sent off for the injury to Church - the players bumped shoulder to shoulder and Church fell awkwardly, accident and no more. However, given the way Cyprus were intent on 'doing a Southampton', the Welsh players should have focussed on drawing fouls from Nikolaou (yellow on 4 minutes). King? Definitely a red. Unlike the Cypriot fouls, that were bone crunching and cynical, King's was potentially bone breaking & career threatening; a full force, stamp down on the player's ankle. A good performance all round and the Hull defender was excellent (I thought he was dreadful against Bos&Hertz), Taylor made some good tackles, and Ash was outstanding. Robson-Kanu showed a big improvement. There were two niggles for me - firstly Ash doesn't get in the face of the ref enough (possibly as this would put him out of position so we need to get Ash in the ref's face and other players on message to slow down a restart for Ash to get back into position), and secondly Bale needs to be reminded he has other players on his team (he has a habit of not releasing players in better positions, especially in front of goal & last night his free kicks were, in the main, nothing to write home about). Will we qualify? I would love us to but doubt we will (glass half full as always) and all depends on others taking points off each other. So far so good. Israel away won't be pleasant and will require a very strong mental approach. I think Cyprus and Bos&Hertz will play us off the park at home as we have been incapable of keeping possession. If we squeeze a point from two games v Belgium we'll have done well. It will be interesting to see how many absentees from this weekend will be available in November & the reaction of Real Madrid when Bale gets back battered, bruised and possibly unfit for next weekend. A word on Coleman; so often the glitterati of the web boards ridicule him but again, last night, he showed his managerial credentials & the win was down to his game management as much as the players' grit and determination. Well done team Wales.
Now now DB, I've avoided any tribal references. I'm certain there would be a terrific atmosphere at the Liberty but financial aspects have to be taken into account as well. For Belgium next June, assuming form and player availability can be maintained (no, take that back, substantially improved), then we would fill CCS at 33.6k. Would we fill the Millennium? I don't know unless there were price adjustments for children as was done last time we were within qualifying distance. I would prefer a full CCS to a 70/80% full Millennium. It hurts to say it but the atmosphere for the last 2 Wales games at CCS was the best since we beat Man City at the start of last season.
Comment on Fox (paraphrased) - Coleman rightly commented the crowd was the 12th man on Friday evening, but they have been silent for most of the game tonight -! Wales have sold out for a few quid before now, most notably by playing a home game in Liverpool so if Cardiff can sell 33,000 tickets great, if not let's have a great atmosphere in Swansea, Llanelli or even Wrexham.
It wasn't meant to be tribal, Blue. Just a genuine query as to why the Liberty didn't get at least one of the games just gone. I understand the logic of filling a bigger ground but doubt we'd fill the Millennium. I'd actually prefer the CCS or the Liberty as it wuld be much more intimidating for the visitors imo.
Yeah, I'd be against the Millenium Stadium having the games. You might fill it with kids/concessions for a quid, but you'll dilute the atmosphere ten-fold. The Liberty should probably have had the Cyprus game, and I think it should have the Andorra home game too. I don't think that will happen though. For me, £20 a ticket plus petrol to go watch Wales vs Cyprus on a Monday night didn't quite make financial sense.
Me too, for one main reason, the pitch is crap, throw away turf on wooden pallets? No thank you, saw enough of the rubbish when watching Team GB. Cardiff LEGOLAND is best due to the 33,000 size, the Liberty didn't get much support the last time I went to watch Wales play was just 6000 in attendance, but the disorganised FAW didn't help............
