Euro fighters... Page must impress, Bale’s still got star quality and it’s Moore time
SO here we go. Wales kick off their Euro 2020 campaign against Switzerland tomorrow afternoon and the more optimistic fans are dreaming of another march to the semi-finals.
Will we be celebrating as a nation once again over the next few weeks, or will the gloomy predictions from pundits about Wales bombing out in the group stage prove sadly accurate?
The truth is it is impossible to know at the moment because there are so many unknown factors that need answering and which hold the key to our Euros fate.
Things are on a knife edge with the Swiss opener pivotal. The coming days will see the questions unravel. These are the major issues...
Rob Page versus some of the best managers in Europe
HOW Rob Page measures up to the job perhaps holds the key to everything.
He has been placed in charge because of the unique circumstances surrounding Ryan Giggs, but the truth is an underwhelming managerial career that has seen him in charge of Port Vale and Northampton Town doesn’t bode particularly well, on paper at least, for a battle against some of the finest coaching minds in Europe.
In the group stages alone Page comes up against rival managers with stellar CVs by comparison.
Turkey’s Senol Gomes is a former UEFA Coach of the Year who took his country to third place at a World Cup and has won league titles.
Italy boss Roberto Mancini has won the Premier League with Manchester City and led Inter Milan.
Switzerland’s wily Vladimir Petkovic has managed Lazio and taken his country into the knockout stages of the World Cup and also in Euro 2016.
There is an awful lot for Page to measure up to there before we even think about the knockout stages.
The FA of Wales could have been really bold and struck a short-term deal with a proven, big-name manager for the duration of the tournament. With the undoubted talent in this Wales squad, they wouldn’t have been short of takers.
But Page was the continuity candidate who has worked as Giggs’ number two over the past couple of years and proved the obvious person to appoint at such short notice.
The trouble is he’s not Giggs, who has done an outstanding job in transforming the team so successfully with a changing of the old guard after the last Euros.
Under him the youngsters were getting better with more game time and this tournament, and the next World Cup, was supposed to be the culmination of that hard work.
Page’s record as interim boss, to be fair, has been decent. Won four, drew two, lost two, so he’s earned the right to have a crack at the Euros.
But this is where it really matters as he pits his tactical mind and man management against some of the very best.
Although Chris Coleman rightly took the plaudits in 2016, much of the driving force for Wales’ success also came from the shrewdness, indeed tactical brilliance, of Osian Roberts behind the scenes.
Can Albert Stuivenberg perform similar wonders this time, with Page as the front man?
The Dutchman certainly has pedigree, having worked as assistant manager at Manchester United and Arsenal.
Page is the one in the firing line, though. He’ll take the plaudits, or the brickbats - and let’s hope it’s the former.
Page needs to banish this nagging fear among some fans about how badly Giggs might be missed at the tournament.
A win over Switzerland on Saturday would go some way towards achieving that. Fingers crossed.
The Bale factor
IT’S somewhat bizarre Gareth Bale wasn’t named in the team of the tournament last time.
He scored in each of Wales’ group games against Slovakia, England and Russia, his brilliance set up the win over Northern Ireland, like everyone else he shone as we beat Belgium - and he was magnificent in defeat during the semi-final loss to Portugal. What’s not to like there, UEFA? Ah well, can’t win everything. Bale, back then, was in his absolute pomp. His brilliance had driven Wales to qualification, no other footballer in the world was more of a talisman to his team than Bale and Wales.
Bale is still very much the kingpin this time around, as captain and main man.
He’s clearly not as good as he was five years ago, but Bale still produces moments of magic and is more than capable of scoring his share of goals again at these Euros.
He eclipsed Harry Kane, Mo Salah and everybody else in terms of goals per minutes on the pitch in the Premier League season just passed.
The strong hint is that Bale will retire after the tournament. If so, he will be extra determined to make his mark. Bale may not be the player he was, but he still produces moments. How often they happen will determine what Wales do.
And what about Ramsey
SPEAKING of Wales kingpins, he has barely played a match under the Giggs regime.
When he did against Hungary, Ramsey was outstanding in scoring the two goals that drove Wales to qualification.
With his bleached blond hair, Ramsey stood out in more ways than one five years ago. He went into the tournament looking to get noticed and he certainly did that, the best midfielder at the Euros.
He will be keen to make his mark again. The talent is beyond question,
but much will hinge on how Ramsey fits into Page’s formation for Switzerland, Turkey and Italy.
If it’s at 10 as part of a front four with Bale, Dan James and Kieffer Moore, freed up to shine with two holding midfielders doing the
donkey work behind,
Ramsey will have the platform to flourish.
This is exactly the system deployed by Giggs in that fine night against Hungary.
If it’s as a false nine, which it might well be, or as part of two in midfield with lots of defensive duties, that is not necessarily the template to get the best out of Ramsey.
He needs to be playing as a proper 10, with support around him, dropping grenades in and around the Swiss penalty box.
Will that happen?
Does Kieffer start?
THERE has been a lot said about this already, so we’ll keep it brief.
Wales are a better team when Moore is playing centre-forward, acting as the pivot around whom the more stellar players like Bale, Ramsey, James, Harry Wilson and David Brooks can sprinkle their stardust.
And he scores goals, as evidence by the 23 bagged for Cardiff City and Wales this season.
Yet Page hasn’t picked him in recent games, using Moore from the bench.
Is that really the best use of the undoubted strengths Kieffer can bring to this team?
The defensive concerns
ONE of Wales’ biggest strengths under Giggs has been their ability to keep clean sheets, enabling one of the forward players - or Neco Williams - to pop up with a winning goal.
They have found a way to get over the line.
But how does Page create that defensive certainty in Group A without losing out in other areas of the team?
He has gone with five at the back, but realistically you can only say Joe Rodon and Ben Davies are nailed on for starting spots.
Chris Mepham needs to eradicate the occasional error that has blighted his game, with some fans calling for Ethan Ampadu or even young Ben Cabango to start next to Rodon.
Neco Williams or Connor Roberts at right-back, or does Page continue to accommodate the pair of them by shunting Neco over to the other flank instead of utilising a natural leftfooter?
Will Page change tack at the 11th hour and go four at the back, thus enabling Kieffer Moore to play?
If so, who misses out? And who plays in goal out of Danny Ward and Wayne Hennessey?
Wales had proven Premier League performers at the back five years ago with Hennessy, Ashley Williams, Neil Taylor, James Chester and Ben Davies getting plenty of top-flight game time, supplemented by Crystal Palace’s Joe Ledley as a shield just in front.
This is a much younger group of defenders, albeit arguably more talented with their best days very much ahead of them.
However it goes, it will be a great learning curve for them.
How the group compares to last time
ENGLAND, unfortunately, tend to have the Indian sign on Wales, but Coleman’s Class of 2016 came within a couple of minutes of a creditable draw against the old enemy.
Russia were very poor, Slovakia beatable.
The group this time looks tougher. Italy, at home, just don’t lose matches.
Turkey are a better side than the Russians were and the Swiss a greater force than Slovakia.
Everything hinges on that Swiss opener, which genuinely could go any one of three ways. It’s so hard to call.
A draw would be a decent result for Wales, offering some momentum heading into the clash with the Turks on Wednesday.
A win will give the belief and confidence that Coleman’s aces took from beating Slovakia in their Group B opener five years ago. We know how everything rolled from there.
Defeat to Switzerland, however, and so many of the aforementioned question marks will understandably start to be raised.
Switzerland holds the key to everything. Page simply has to get his tactics spot on - and a spot of luck wouldn’t go amiss, either.
If Wales progress
WITH Italy in the mix, Wales are unlikely to clinch top spot in Group A.
In actual fact, that’s no bad thing as finishing runners-up could open a decent path, comparatively speaking of course, in the knockout stages.
Denmark would likely be Wales’ last 16 opponents, with perhaps the Netherlands lying in wait for the quarter-finals.
Yes those are tough games. Third spot, however, could see the nightmare scenario of France, Belgium or Spain in the last 16. That’s to be avoided, then!
If Wales can finish top again, like 2016, they would probably meet one of Austria or Ukraine. Eminently winnable.
Everything is about getting out of the group and building momentum.
Pob lwc, Cymru.