I don't know how many of you watched this game, but judging by the almost completely empty Legoland stadium, I presume not many at all, and given the game was on the monopoly Sky, then I'm sure the audience was limited, that said I alway love finding a hacked Sky link, and enjoyed watching the game in high quality, thank you sky for the free viewing. Now to the game! I've not been a fan of Coleman, but it seems he wants to play the game the Swansea way, so credit to him for that. We played with pretty much a full strength squad, and it showed, and while Finland were a threat on the break, we pretty much had them in our pocket, ok Finland are not Spain, but they are a decent side in my view, and yet we dominated the game well, I thought Bale was good, but perhaps not quite at his best, though there were moments of his brilliance, which their keeper dealt with comfortably. But for me the real joy was seeing Joe Allen control the midfield, it was a pleasure to behold him doing what a midfield offencive player should be doing, breaking up the opposition play and possession, and making insightful passes into the right channels, he was without doubt my man of the match, and indeed was Sky's too. There is no doubt in my mind that we are worse off in our midfield at Swansea City without Joe, and since his departure it shows all too obvious, but that's another story. I was not that pleased when Coleman was given another 'Crack' as he put it, at the Wales job, but if he can continue to build on the recent results, then the Euro 2016, could well be a competition we might well qualify for, given that we can keep our players injury free. It is the international break by the way!
Joe looked very good and comfortable on the ball considering he hasn't played much football since his operation. I for one am glad that the FAW have given Coleman another crack at the job as he hasn't had the opportunity to play the likes of Bale, Ramsay and Joe together yet.
Yes agree Valley, though I'm no Coleman fan, but credit were credit is due, yesterdays game was quality from Wales, and I hope we build on this, and have some well overdue luck with regards to injuries, I would love us to have a real go at the next competition in 2016!.....................
With a bit of luck regarding the group we will be in and if the likes of Bale, Ramsay, Allen Ash, Ben and Neil etc can remain fit for 80% of the campaign, we could have a really good chance of doing something, or at least be in contention towards the end.
Bale, Ramsay, Allen, Ash, Ben and Neil are all critical to Wales doing well, I also thought Ricketts had a decent enough game too!.............
True, I think he's a real talent, and very industrious in the midfield, has no problem attacking players, I hope we see more of him, though with a midfield of Ramsey and Allen, he's going to be on the bench a bit, he's at Crystal Palace, I thought that Robson-Kanu had a good game too, he's growing into the Wales side well, I think we will see more of him hopefully...............
Just think in a few years you could have a three in midfield of Allen sitting behind Williams and Ramsay feeding Bale who could end up playing in the same central role as Ronaldo. That formation could be mouth watering. Have to admit I wasn't fussed on Kanu the first couple of internationals I saw, didn't think he was good enough, but boy he's getting better with each game.
I suggested Kanu as a dark horse signing for us in the close season. For the money I still think we could do far worse. I know he's not the greatest but he's a tall, strong lad who keeps going. Under Laudrup's tutelage he can only get better and I think he could be a useful squad member who'd bring a bit of beef and energy to the side. As for Coleman, I think he has the right idea. His problem, like most Wales' managers, is that he seldom seemed to have the right players available for selection. The pool is small and when one or two drop out, the quality of our team is seriously compromised. If we can field a full strength team, we can give most other sides a competitive game but that rarely happens and it's not Coleman's fault. He can only work with the players he has and, if they're not good enough it's their fault, not his.
I remember you saying that ivor. Given the lack of quality in Vasquez, It might be worth a cheeky bid in January. The only downside of course is that he wouldn't be playing much and that then could have an affect on how he plays for Wales in terms of lack of gametime etc.
