COLEMAN WANTS TO SEE A ‘100mph’ AFFAIR –
‘100mph’ CLASH WOULD SUIT WALES COACH
CHRIS COLEMAN has managed beautifully to get Wales to this point but you felt the gnarled player within was speaking as he assessed the bruising contest ahead. He sounded like the defender with more than 500 games from Premier League to Division Two and 32 Wales caps in his soul. ‘If I’m honest, I’d be looking forward to a bit of a dust-up,’ he said. ‘I’m not talking about the stupid stuff, I’m talking about a 100mph game of football, which is what we’re used to, aren’t we?
‘In international football, you don’t really get that. There’s spurts, it’s very fast, and then it slows down. It can be very tactical, like a game of chess at times. Maybe with these two we’ll see a reverse of that. Maybe they’ll just go at it.’
That is certainly the approach Wales have taken to the build-up for this game, one of such domestic significance conducted on a continental stage. They have won the weigh-in, acting like a boxer who flexes his muscles in knowledge of their power, talks with utter conviction about victory, but smiles, relaxed, at the same time.
Gareth Bale has been bold in his words but can back them up on the pitch, Aaron Ramsey too, while Coleman has judged the balance between serious and silly just right; his gag with the all-star teamsheet before beating Slovakia testament to that.
Last night Coleman spoke of the ‘circus’ that comes with England at tournament time but it has been Wales putting up the big top, controlling the narrative with the surety of a nation accustomed to summer competition, not the novices they are.
Coleman was not entirely convincing when asked if the outspoken approach was a deliberate PR ploy — ‘whether it was or wasn’t, you’ll have to ask the players involved’ — and he repeated more than once that the ‘expectancy’ is on England, the ‘pressure off’ Wales.
The indications are the Wales boss is ready to play the XI he would consider his best, with Joe Ledley, Hal RobsonKanu and Wayne Hennessey restored after injuries. Hennessey trained last night after missing the Slovakia game with a back spasm.
Ledley is not expected to play more than 60 minutes but his calming influence in midfield was evident in the cameo last Saturday, while RobsonKanu’s selection at centre-forward would allow Bale to drop deeper to get on the ball with greater frequency.
‘We set up our team to get the best out of him and Ramsey. That’s common sense,’ said Coleman.
Victory would see Wales through to the last 16 and, with three points in the bag, Coleman believes his side have two ‘bites of the cherry’ left. He would like to take just one. ‘For us to beat the “big brother” if you like, what an achievement that is, and we haven’t done it for some time,’ he said.
‘But all the way along we’ve said it’s not about that one game. Whether we need three points, four points, five points to go through, that is the desired outcome. How we get it, I honestly don’t care, as long as we get through.’
Coleman gave the impression England’s changing tactical shape can be exploited — ‘maybe they’re not settled... If we’ve found a weakness, we’ll concentrate on that’ — and told his players to stay the right side of the referee. ‘You have to control your emotions,’ he stressed. ‘If you go to 10 men against a team like England, you’re asking for trouble. I’m not going to be aggressive in my team-talk. I want them to be focused and calm.’
Tranquillity has swept over Dinard, the small town in Brittany where Wales are staying, with laughter regular. Coleman was keen to point out his joke with the ‘accidental’ line-up was at photographers’ expense, not England assistant Ray Lewington, who he worked with at Crystal Palace and Fulham.
‘It was only three years ago that I couldn’t get on the plane because I’d lost my passport. I’m not in a position to poke fun at Lew!’ he said. ‘I was just making fun of the situation, we can’t do anything, everything is highlighted.’
That extends to his handshake with Roy Hodgson, who got rid of Coleman when Blackburn manager in 1997.
‘He came in from Inter Milan and was very 100 per cent, methodical, excellent coach,’ recalled Coleman.
‘I couldn’t do what he needed me to do. And they sold me to Fulham.’
Nineteen years on, victory for Wales would push Hodgson and England closer to the exit door.
“If I’m honest, I’m forward to a bit of a dust-looking up with England”