I'll be there. Wales' games are the only times I sit in the Grandstand. To the right of and 3 rows in front of the Bale family box. Level with the edge of the Canton End penalty area. BT absent. Riding his motorbike around France.
Hope you and your better half enjoy it Brizzle. If you're in the mood, please give our boys a shout from me. I really miss going to cheer on my country.
They’re bang average. Wales might well scrape through but we’re seeing how threadbare the squad is. Cullen & Sheehan really? VAR wasn’t needed to look over an obvious penalty by the Spanish waiter and a soft yellow for minimal late contact. ps That ref’s hair cut is almost Third Reich
A win’s a win but will surely need to up their game at North Macadonia. Arguably the best player on the pitch albeit not on for long was Jordan James. Why didn’t he start?
God I love my country. Not man for man the best in the world (though not slouches either) but a group of players that just want to do their best for their country. I'm sure Bellers will have learned some more at the beginning of his journey as manager of Wales. CYMRU AM BYTH
Great post match interviews. Clearly a group of players, manager and staff all pulling in the same direction. Heads firmly screwed on but also real pride in what they're doing.
At the risk of causing angst on here, I'll post this. Despite my well documented preference for the club game, I watched the match on the box. Apart from the positive result I wasn't impressed with the football itself, but the squad spirit against poor opposition carried the day. The midfield pairing of Sheehan and Cullen was dire. The absence of Ampadu and Wilson showed the weakness in depth in that area. To offset that, Jordan James should have started instead of one of the two that did. Dan James was given the ball when he was standing still rather than on the move which is his biggest strength, and Thomas on the other side looks like an enthusiastic amateur, but then again I quite like that trait. Brennan Johnson was way of his depth leading the line and it was a relief when he went off. The defence was extremly well organised by Davies. Rodon, Williams and Roberts alongside him stuck to the task very well as weak as the Kazak threat was. The saying goes you can only beat what's in front of you and that's just what they did.
Agree on the midfield pairing not being good enough last night. They were ok in helping dog out a result but in terms of guile were sadly lacking. It could have been a lot more convincing mind if our final pass on occasion was a little better. There were a few opportunities spurned as a result of a slightly under hit final pass or two. Jordan James did look far more sure of himself in trying to drive the ball forward with more purpose and whilst both wide players had the beating of their men all too often the final ball was lacking quality. Man of the match for me was Neco Williams. Some of his defending was superb. He tried to help push play further upfield and also took a lot of physical treatment from the Kazaks. We will have to be better in the next game to get anything but I'm also confident we will be... Good result to kick the campaign off with and the unbeaten run continues.
In my eyes it was/is superb squad management by Bellers. At home to Kazakhstan was likely to be marginally easier than North Macedonia away. He used his bench to fix a few issues whilst keeping the likes of Jordan James relatively fresh for Tuesday. Bellers has been candid about the fact that he's still learning but has also put into practice the flexibility and adaptability to change and different circumstances that he's talked about from the off. And his squad have absolutely bought into his ideas. Exciting times for Wales.
Much as I like Brooks and appreciate what he has been through, he didn't look fully fit and is not up to Wilson's level. He also seemed reluctant to get involved in the physical stuff. Also other than nuisance value I'm not sure what Cullen's role was. It is almost like the 2 of them were doing what Wilson does on his own. I know neither he nor Ampadu are fit for Tuesday but once we get them back and pair Ampadu with Jordan James we have a much stronger midfield. I agree with Sparks on the front 3. Johnson was like a little boy lost through the middle. A front 3 with him on the right and Dan James on the left is more effective and a bigger goal threat. The other problem which is not easily resolved is the central position. Harris is not the answer. Other than taking a clearance in the nuts he did little more than run around. The Kieffer Moore of 2 or 3 years ago would be the man but I think he is in the twilight of his career, is susceptible to injury and not really better than a Plan B off the bench. In saying that he could start on Tuesday in what will be a physical game on a lumpy pitch. I can't see anyone else coming through so this could be a problem area for a while. Can anyone find a Welsh grandparent for Salech? Now he would really do the job!!!
The front man issue is an interesting one isn't it??? I said to Mrs Brizzle last night, as much as I'd loved to have seen Moore come on, with the ref being as finicky as he was towards us, I could see Moore getting sent off for an imaginary elbow when jumping... We do appear short of genuine out and out front players. Coming back to the midfield, I actually found myself thinking Colwill could have done a job last night.... But, as Clingo said, we need to trust in Bellaz methods, he's certainly doing well so far.
