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Post by curlywurly on Dec 1, 2019 12:13:37 GMT
Croatia have form for this type of challenge. No different from Modric disgraceful foul on Harry Wilson in Cardiff 6 weeks ago.
England should comfortably qualify for the next phase (Croatia are not the team they were 18 months ago), but finishing top of the group might lead to a difficult tie in the next round (France, Germany or Portugal?).
Personally hopeful that Wales can progress. Not easy but could have been a more difficult group than Ital, Turkey and Switzerland.
You cannot rule out the Turks this time around, they had a very impressive campaign including the beating of France. That group won’t be any stroll for Wales. England Finishing second brings no benefit in ‘avoiding’ a group F opponent, as we would only end up playing one of them in the 1/4 final anyway should we come runners up. I say we are favourites for a reason, with a young exciting squad playing some immense attacking football & with all of our group matches at home. Let’s go and win that group, see where the momentum takes us, 1996 mark two! I agree. Aspiration from Wales is set lower than England (which actually worked in Wales favour in the last Euros).
Turkey in Baku may effectively be like a home game for the Turks as well, but Wales are improving as well - as long as the key players can stay fit.
Both England and Wales will need to improve defensively to progress in my opinon.
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Euro Draw
Dec 1, 2019 13:38:33 GMT
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Post by socrates on Dec 1, 2019 13:38:33 GMT
You cannot rule out the Turks this time around, they had a very impressive campaign including the beating of France. That group won’t be any stroll for Wales. England Finishing second brings no benefit in ‘avoiding’ a group F opponent, as we would only end up playing one of them in the 1/4 final anyway should we come runners up. I say we are favourites for a reason, with a young exciting squad playing some immense attacking football & with all of our group matches at home. Let’s go and win that group, see where the momentum takes us, 1996 mark two! You know it’s funny, I was not happy at all with Southgates appointment at the time. My dad and I have always said England will never win anything in our lifetimes. For the first time I can remember, we can actually be excited/hope for something. Southgate has done a phenomenal job He’s done a good job , he’ll only have done a phenomenal job when we’ve beaten some good sides in a major tournament. In the World Cup last year we had three games against good sides and we lost all three. Not that different to typical England really.
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Dec 1, 2019 14:19:23 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2019 14:19:23 GMT
The Germans all around me are crying into their beer......oh dear, how sad, never mind. I recall Yogi Love (as Johnathan Pearce likes to call him) having a pop at the likes of Northern Ireland and Wales during the last Euros saying they shouldn’t be there- I suspect he would love (pun intended) to be playing Wales and Northern Ireland now...
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Dec 1, 2019 14:32:34 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2019 14:32:34 GMT
You cannot rule out the Turks this time around, they had a very impressive campaign including the beating of France. That group won’t be any stroll for Wales. England Finishing second brings no benefit in ‘avoiding’ a group F opponent, as we would only end up playing one of them in the 1/4 final anyway should we come runners up. I say we are favourites for a reason, with a young exciting squad playing some immense attacking football & with all of our group matches at home. Let’s go and win that group, see where the momentum takes us, 1996 mark two! I agree. Aspiration from Wales is set lower than England (which actually worked in Wales favour in the last Euros).
Turkey in Baku may effectively be like a home game for the Turks as well, but Wales are improving as well - as long as the key players can stay fit.
Both England and Wales will need to improve defensively to progress in my opinon.
Wales only conceded 6 in qualifying, but only scored 10 which suggests that goals are more of an issue, in which case they got a decent draw as their deficiencies are obviously less likely to be exposed against Switzerland and Turkey than they would be in group F, for instance. The draw is also kind for 2nd place and 1st place in Wales group. 3rd place plays one of the teams in group F so you would have to say that even though 3rd place is achievable there is pressure on Wales to get 2nd place or better if they are to have any hope of getting to the quarter final.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2019 16:04:43 GMT
I agree. Aspiration from Wales is set lower than England (which actually worked in Wales favour in the last Euros).
Turkey in Baku may effectively be like a home game for the Turks as well, but Wales are improving as well - as long as the key players can stay fit.
Both England and Wales will need to improve defensively to progress in my opinon.
Wales only conceded 6 in qualifying, but only scored 10 which suggests that goals are more of an issue, in which case they got a decent draw as their deficiencies are obviously less likely to be exposed against Switzerland and Turkey than they would be in group F, for instance. The draw is also kind for 2nd place and 1st place in Wales group. 3rd place plays one of the teams in group F so you would have to say that even though 3rd place is achievable there is pressure on Wales to get 2nd place or better if they are to have any hope of getting to the quarter final. Doing well at the back since Lockyer became a regular. Amazing really when he was apparently sh** when he played for us!!! The way things are going I wonder if there is a case for the next Euro’s in 2024 to have all 4 sides qualify from the group stages? Would be far more inclusive and help spread the football gospel.
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Dec 1, 2019 20:14:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2019 20:14:59 GMT
Wales only conceded 6 in qualifying, but only scored 10 which suggests that goals are more of an issue, in which case they got a decent draw as their deficiencies are obviously less likely to be exposed against Switzerland and Turkey than they would be in group F, for instance. The draw is also kind for 2nd place and 1st place in Wales group. 3rd place plays one of the teams in group F so you would have to say that even though 3rd place is achievable there is pressure on Wales to get 2nd place or better if they are to have any hope of getting to the quarter final. Doing well at the back since Lockyer became a regular. Amazing really when he was apparently sh** when he played for us!!! The way things are going I wonder if there is a case for the next Euro’s in 2024 to have all 4 sides qualify from the group stages? Would be far more inclusive and help spread the football gospel. Speaking as a Wales fan the other Wales fans I chat to were shocked/appalled at how he kept Williams out of the team for the crucial double header (Rovers 1, City 0) but most are still a bit unconvinced. He’s done well to be in contention to play at the finals all things considered although Rodon and Mepham are first choice so he will only play in the event of injury, I think. I’m not a big fan of the expanded format, nor for the World Cup in 2026. The last Euros lacked credibility in Portugal qualifying for the latter stages with only three draws. “Don’t mess with the classics” I say and the 16 team Euros and 32 team World Cup seemed about right
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Post by Deleted on Dec 1, 2019 20:50:22 GMT
Doing well at the back since Lockyer became a regular. Amazing really when he was apparently sh** when he played for us!!! The way things are going I wonder if there is a case for the next Euro’s in 2024 to have all 4 sides qualify from the group stages? Would be far more inclusive and help spread the football gospel. Speaking as a Wales fan the other Wales fans I chat to were shocked/appalled at how he kept Williams out of the team for the crucial double header (Rovers 1, City 0) but most are still a bit unconvinced. He’s done well to be in contention to play at the finals all things considered although Rodon and Mepham are first choice so he will only play in the event of injury, I think. I’m not a big fan of the expanded format, nor for the World Cup in 2026. The last Euros lacked credibility in Portugal qualifying for the latter stages with only three draws. “Don’t mess with the classics” I say and the 16 team Euros and 32 team World Cup seemed about right Agree there was little wrong with the previous formats - suspect making cash was the driving force for change. FIFA and UEFA are easily influenced by a few quid hence why we’ve got a World Cup in a desert in the middle of the season.
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Post by curlywurly on Dec 1, 2019 23:30:55 GMT
Doing well at the back since Lockyer became a regular. Amazing really when he was apparently sh** when he played for us!!! The way things are going I wonder if there is a case for the next Euro’s in 2024 to have all 4 sides qualify from the group stages? Would be far more inclusive and help spread the football gospel. Speaking as a Wales fan the other Wales fans I chat to were shocked/appalled at how he kept Williams out of the team for the crucial double header (Rovers 1, City 0) but most are still a bit unconvinced. He’s done well to be in contention to play at the finals all things considered although Rodon and Mepham are first choice so he will only play in the event of injury, I think. I’m not a big fan of the expanded format, nor for the World Cup in 2026. The last Euros lacked credibility in Portugal qualifying for the latter stages with only three draws. “Don’t mess with the classics” I say and the 16 team Euros and 32 team World Cup seemed about right As a fellow Wales fan (there are more Rovers/Wales fans that many think!), I've watched all the home qualifiers in person.
Giggs has obviously made the choice that he was happier with putting Tom at the back than the more experienced Williams. Apart from the odd moment, Tom has been pretty comfortable alongsde Rodon or Mepham, even against the World Cup runners up. He seems to be growing in confidence game by game and in truth, it probably supports his decision to move to Charlton to get a greater chance at international level.
The choice of Kiefer Moore up front has helped Tom. He's a bit less comfortable than some playing out from the back, but in Moore, he has a good target man who can retain the longer ball. It actually worked very well in the qualifiers - and why wouldn't it with some of the talent picking up from Moore's knock downs.
Williams looked like a bit of a spare prick after the Hungary game, not getting invoved in the celebrations. If I didn't know better, I'd suggest he's ad a falling out with Giggs.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2019 9:55:00 GMT
Speaking as a Wales fan the other Wales fans I chat to were shocked/appalled at how he kept Williams out of the team for the crucial double header (Rovers 1, City 0) but most are still a bit unconvinced. He’s done well to be in contention to play at the finals all things considered although Rodon and Mepham are first choice so he will only play in the event of injury, I think. I’m not a big fan of the expanded format, nor for the World Cup in 2026. The last Euros lacked credibility in Portugal qualifying for the latter stages with only three draws. “Don’t mess with the classics” I say and the 16 team Euros and 32 team World Cup seemed about right Agree there was little wrong with the previous formats - suspect making cash was the driving force for change. FIFA and UEFA are easily influenced by a few quid hence why we’ve got a World Cup in a desert in the middle of the season. God don’t get me started on that! Seeing Wales qualify for a World Cup is right up there with Rovers in the championship but I couldn’t give two shits about that Qatar nonsense- it almost feels like there isn’t going to be a World Cup for 8 years because a winter World Cup, with the final 7 days before Christmas is going to be the lowest point for international football, for me. In a country with very little tolerance for alcohol too! Totally all about money. It’s scandalous stuff.
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Dec 2, 2019 10:00:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2019 10:00:14 GMT
Speaking as a Wales fan the other Wales fans I chat to were shocked/appalled at how he kept Williams out of the team for the crucial double header (Rovers 1, City 0) but most are still a bit unconvinced. He’s done well to be in contention to play at the finals all things considered although Rodon and Mepham are first choice so he will only play in the event of injury, I think. I’m not a big fan of the expanded format, nor for the World Cup in 2026. The last Euros lacked credibility in Portugal qualifying for the latter stages with only three draws. “Don’t mess with the classics” I say and the 16 team Euros and 32 team World Cup seemed about right As a fellow Wales fan (there are more Rovers/Wales fans that many think!), I've watched all the home qualifiers in person.
Giggs has obviously made the choice that he was happier with putting Tom at the back than the more experienced Williams. Apart from the odd moment, Tom has been pretty comfortable alongsde Rodon or Mepham, even against the World Cup runners up. He seems to be growing in confidence game by game and in truth, it probably supports his decision to move to Charlton to get a greater chance at international level.
The choice of Kiefer Moore up front has helped Tom. He's a bit less comfortable than some playing out from the back, but in Moore, he has a good target man who can retain the longer ball. It actually worked very well in the qualifiers - and why wouldn't it with some of the talent picking up from Moore's knock downs.
Williams looked like a bit of a spare prick after the Hungary game, not getting invoved in the celebrations. If I didn't know better, I'd suggest he's ad a falling out with Giggs.
Yeah I think there are a few of us about with the close proximity of Bristol to Wales! Big fan of Kieffer Moore, I said on here before that I think he is one of Wes’s (pirate) best picks as he spotted him playing non league and now arguable he is the main reason Wales qualified. I didn’t notice that about Williams, given what he has done for Wales I guess he was disappointed not to play. We’ll have to see if he’s in the final squad to get an idea of there being a falling out. The main thing is we are there (for a change!)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2019 11:33:29 GMT
Agree there was little wrong with the previous formats - suspect making cash was the driving force for change. FIFA and UEFA are easily influenced by a few quid hence why we’ve got a World Cup in a desert in the middle of the season. God don’t get me started on that! Seeing Wales qualify for a World Cup is right up there with Rovers in the championship but I couldn’t give two shits about that Qatar nonsense- it almost feels like there isn’t going to be a World Cup for 8 years because a winter World Cup, with the final 7 days before Christmas is going to be the lowest point for international football, for me. In a country with very little tolerance for alcohol too! Totally all about money. It’s scandalous stuff. A massive opportunity missed when Blatter and his band of crooks were caught out. The larger, established nations should have taken charge and split from FIFA and UEFA creating a new World Cup. That would have destroyed Blatters corrupt organisation and left them with little/no commercial support. As it didn’t happen I would have fully supported England pulling out of the Qatar World Cup and I wonder if others may have followed. We could have cited that it was clearly an inappropriate choice of venue and that we have no confidence in the validity of the process that saw Qatar given the competition.
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