Giggs must put his stamp on the Welsh team immediately, says John Hartson
FORMER Wales striker John Hartson is calling on Ryan Giggs to put his stamp on the Wales team as soon as possible, as he prepares to take charge of his country for the first time in the China Cup.
The Wales team will fly to Nanning to take part in the four-team tournament, and S4C will have highlights and live coverage of their matches.
China will be Giggs’ first opponents as Wales go up against the hosts in the first semi-final on Thursday, March 22. Highlights coverage of the match will be shown at 6.05pm later that evening. Uruguay and the Czech Republic will contest the other semi-final the following day.
The competition reaches its conclusion on Monday, March 26, with the winners of both semifinals facing each other in the final, while the two losing semi-finalists will play against each other in the third-place play-off. Wales’ second match will be broadcast live on S4C, with English commentary also available through the red button service.
We caught up with one of our studio analysts, former Wales striker John Hartson, to look ahead to the competition.
Is the China Cup important to the Wales team from a football point of view? It’s a big competition for Wales because they are Ryan Giggs’ first games as manager. Yes, it’s far away and there’s a lot of travelling for the players, but if the players want to be in Ryan’s squad, it’s important that they go and show the right attitude. It’s important for Ryan to have a strong squad, because these games will be competitive. If I played for Wales now, I’d make sure that I was going to China, to show Ryan that I was on board with him.
Is it important that Giggs puts his own stamp on the team right from the start? I’m looking forward to watching these first matches and seeing what type of system he chooses, and what kind of start he’ll have. I think he’ll put his stamp on things from the outset. When he looks back on his time as the manager of his country, it’s important that he can look in the mirror and say, ‘I did it my way’ like Mark Hughes and Chris Coleman did. It’s important that he puts his own stamp on things.
Giggs has tried to persuade Gareth Bale to play in the China Cup. How important is it that Bale is there? It speaks for itself that Giggs has visited him to try and convince him to play. We’re twice, three, four times the team when Gareth Bale is playing. He’s one of the best players in the world. We missed Gareth against the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers, and if he’d had played, the result would probably have been different. The players know the importance of having him there. He’s one of the top five players in the world; he’s back playing at his best and scoring goals for Real Madrid. The relationship between Gareth Bale and Ryan will be very important. Ryan Giggs is a big name across the world, so I’m sure, like Chris Coleman, he’ll be able to pick up the phone to speak with Zinedine Zidane. That relationship will also be very important but I don’t think there should be any problems. Hopefully Gareth can avoid injuries now, because he’s vital to us.
Cwpan China: China v Wales Highlights is on S4C at 6.05pm on Thursday, March 22. English commentary and subtitles available.