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Why shouldn't Wales produce a decent crop of players? | Football, Wales

Discussion in 'Wales' started by Not606 News Team, Sep 6, 2011.

  1. Not606 News Team

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    Football, Wales

    Ahead of this evening's clash at Wembley, it is pretty apparent that Wales would dearly love to get one over on next door neighbours England.

    This is perhaps understandable, even if any Welsh optimism has been tempered slightly by the hiding handed out at the Millennium Stadium when the two sides last met.

    A bit of needle between such close rivals is inevitable, but there is a case for saying that Wales currently suffer from some sort of little brother syndrome that hinders their performance.

    Throughout Ryan Giggs' international career it was generally accepted that he was destined to be 'next George Best', and not just because of his Old Trafford dribbling ability.

    There was a common sense assumption that he was the latest example of one of those footballing greats unfortunate enough to be born in a country which would never make it to a major international tournament.

    The same script has already been written for Gareth Bale. But why?

    Wales' population is roughly around the 3 million mark.

    Bosnia and Herzegovina are in strong contention for a play-off spot in the current Euro 2012 qualifiers with a population of 3.8 million, while Croatia have been major players on the world stage with a population of 4.2 million.

    Uruguay are the fifth best team in the world according to the latest FIFA rankings, and their population is 3.3 million.

    There is no reason why Wales could not achieve a lot more with the resources at their disposal than they do at present. A brief period of underachievement can be blamed on a genetic blip, a poor generation of players. But over such a prolonged period it must point to a deeper problem.

    Admittedly, the overall quality of the squad has probably taken a step or two backwards since Giggs was in his heyday.

    But having England on the doorstep seems to allow Wales the leeway of some proportionality in terms of populations size. And we all know that the England national team is not the one that any side ought to be measuring achievements against!

    Perhaps Wales can only start to reach their potential when their failures are not automatically attributed to the talent pool available.
     
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  2. GLAMorgan

    GLAMorgan Active Member

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    How big is rugby in Bosnia and Herzegovinia? Or Croatia? Whilst it's true that football is the more popular game at grass roots level, it should be remembered that a vast number of schools concentrate theri efforts on nurturing rugby talent. Nothing wrong with that as such, bit it's not going to help. Since I was a kid Wales have come close several times but it just hasn't happened. We should have qualified for Argentina, USA and, arguably other world cups as well. there were some who'd prematurely booked their hotels for Portugal Euros. . . one day it could happen. But frankly, I think the hypothesis above is a red herring there's more to it that that. A seeding system that is quite obviously inept and inaccurate can't help, surely. Being in Germany or Italy's group when only one team (as a rule) qualifies for a tournament hardly smooths the road to Euro/World glory. . . or having a bunch of tossers in charge of the FAW. Iain Gwyn Hughes' appointment (media relations or some such) and Speed's as manager are a step in the right direction at least.
     
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