Robert Page's Welsh Euro 2021 Team

Sh1t, what a bad day for Welsh sport. Alan-Wyn ruled out of the Lions tour.

 

Love Rob Page but very happy they took a frightful beating.

 

They were lucky but their luck ran out today.

 

If Udinese fought Wales in a gladiator arena, who would you like to be most slaughtered?

 

Robert Page shows what we have been missing at the club by not having a proper youth system in place until recently. Young players who start at the club when they are schoolboys, learn the club ethos, come up through the ranks, and then break through into the first team. That really does develop a strong bond between player, club, and supporters which we have been missing. Hopefully, Jimmy Gilligan and Johnno, 2 players from the 2 eras of GT who will have seen and/or experienced youth-orientated coaches such as Tom Walley and Kenny Jackett (brought through the system by GT and Walley) and moulded by their philosophy on the way. Getting Jimmy Gilligan back in was a really, really clever move.

 

I don’t agree with the set up of this tournament, least not from an environmental point of view making some teams needlessly fly back and forth across Europe. I also much prefer the ‘identity’ a tournament has being based in one particular country, not the euros of course, but there is something special about the BBC being pitched up in front of table mountain, or the Eiffel Tower or wherever. But I do think that’s largely sour grapes on Wales part. They got taken apart yesterday, yes they’ve had to travel a lot but that wouldn’t manifest itself in the form of 4-0 hiding. They also knew the score before the tournament started but only chose to moan about it more and more as it went on (even before their exit their constant bleating about it was getting on my nerves) Denmark also only won one group game, so it’s not like their home advantage counted for that much anyway.

 

Some of the younger players (not just for Wales) need to move away from the big clubs where they are endlessly farmed out, and set down proper roots at a smaller club where they will play regularly in the first team and develop a relationship with the area they end up in and the local fans. This stockpilling of talent is so detrimental to the development of younger players.

 

Yes, but they only had to upsticks and travel a short distance once, for yesterday's game. Their supporters were also allowed to travel en masse and support their team. Both make a difference and are an unfair advantage.

Mind you this is UEFA talking, were transparency and fairness are in short supply.

 

Wales had a 6 day break from their last game (and their last game was in Rome, so hardly much of a difference travelling to Amsterdam compared to travelling from Denmark) that’s a lifetime for most top players in a normal Premier League season with European and domestic cup games thrown in.

It’s excuses and nothing more, and quite frankly it was embarrassing to hear this pre ordained excuse for failure being ramped up as the game got closer.

 

I'm not convinced Denmark are anything more than average, time will tell if they are or not, but Wales were so poor they made them look bloody amazing. Could've been down to fatigue, but I expect it was just too many key players having a bad game at the same time.

 

I don't agree. The fair way to have set is up this tournament would be to have 12 cities with no team playing at 'home', with each of the 6 groups being based around 6 pairs of cities chosen for their proximity.

So we're just going to have to agree to disagree.

 

Well unsurprisingly, Denmark have really bonded as a team. That really counts for alot. They also have an adept coach who spotted a problem with their initial formation and changed it after 10 mins. They are also building momentum. These are 3 big positives.

Wales were very poor. That 2nd goal just after half time knocked the stuffing out of them. Sometimes when it's not your day, it's not your day.

 

That’s a different argument. Of course the tournament could’ve been set up more fairly, Wales undoubtedly did more travelling, but the only reason that should be affecting anyone 6 days after your last (short flight) is if you’re a victim and looking for something to be annoyed about. It seemed to become a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy for the Welsh in the lead up to the game.

 

I had them reaching the semi finals on my Euro score prediction spreadsheet. That was with Eriksen playing his part in the team so will see if they make it without him.