Great result, very positive game to build on, and we didn't have Ramsey either, we now move on to Austria, who will be a tougher proposition.....
Much harder game but with Bale playng we have a chance of beating anyone......We may not be a one man team but we are not far away from being one....
Come on Dai, credit where it's due. Aside from Bale we have Joe who was excellent tonight. Ramsey to come back, Ash in defence. Neil Taylor looked vastly improved in his attitude tonight as well. We are a team with one megastar, not a one man team.
thats why i said not quite........If bale dont play we struggle to score. He not only scores but he makes things happen for others to score....Just having bale on the pitch is enough for managers not to play their normal game.......We would not be where we are without bale, he puts confidence in the players.....
Kind of agree with both those views. Anyone who says we're a one man team is way off the mark because we are well drilled, organised and tough to beat but when it comes to scoring goals we do struggle without Bale because he makes things happen. Can't escape reality.
We struggled for goals in the Euro qualifiers full stop - 11 goal in 10 games (including 2 matches against Andorra). So whilst he is very important for us, I'm not positive of the statement that we struggle for goals without him, because we've not been without him since we started scoring lots at the Euros. The Portugal game made me realise that Ramsey can be just as influential when it comes to creating chances.
Hope you're right Stereo because if he gets injured I can't see us performing nearly so well as we have been. Imo we'll still be tough to beat but will lack any penetration.
I agree with that Kiff, just by being on the pitch it changes the whole perspective of the game. With him and Ramsey on the field together, other teams take us very seriously indeed. Although Portugal still managed to beat France with their Megastar off the field.
Talking of that Megastar my son mentioned to me that he read somewhere that Bale tried to create a good impression in his early days at Real and turned up fro training some hours early - Ronaldo was already there practicing. Whatever you think of him he's super-talented and dedicated to his sport.