DRAGONS NEED A BIT LESS FIRE
MANY teams have tried to live off emotion to get them through a tournament, but none more so than Wales.
Their first major finals in almost 60 years and an early clash against England were always going to raise the adrenaline levels of Chris Coleman and his players.
But now, ahead of their defining game in Group B, Wales have a little to prove in terms of their ability to function as a team at this exalted level.
It was hard to criticise the Welsh approach to their game against England in Lens. Buoyed by their opening win over Slovakia and sensing some uncertainty in the ranks of the opposition, Wales, and in particular Gareth Bale, unleashed a verbal offensive clearly designed to rattle their opponents.
The Welsh sensed an opportunity and sought to exploit it. It almost worked.
For evidence, pair the actions of a clearly over-stimulated England goalkeeper Joe Hart in the tunnel before kick-off and the manner in which he erred to allow a Bale free-kick to beat him half an hour later. That is what happens when footballers allow an occasion to mess with their brains.
Four days on, however, and it is Wales who now face an examination of their own psychological state and, more importantly, their football.
Coleman’s players almost fought their way to a shock against England, but deserved no more than they actually took from the game. Their football was poor on the whole and was over-reliant on individual enterprise from Bale. Ultimately, there was not enough of it. In the end, the emotion got in the way.
That is not how Wales qualified for this tournament. Wales got to France from a tough qualifying group by relying on structure, shape and discipline.
Against Slovakia in their opening game in Bordeaux, they stayed true to that and emerged from a difficult period after their opponents equalised to reassert themselves and win the game. It is that which gave them a platform in this tournament and that to which they must return in their final group match against Russia.
Bale has scored two freekick goals — both should really have been saved — but has actually not been at his very best.
Aaron Ramsey was quite impressive against England in midfield, while captain and central defender Ashley Williams contributed a decisive and uncharacteristic error in Lens that rather summed up his uncertain performance.
In Toulouse this evening, Coleman must encourage his players to move beyond all this and return to the certainty of what they know.
The events of last weekend encouraged many of us to believe that Wales were a little better than they actually are. An opening tournament victory can have that effect.
The more prosaic facts are that the Welsh have not yet offered up a complete performance and that is what they simply must find tonight against a Russian team who really have very little to prove. Of their three group games, this is actually the one that Wales really should win. If they do, the pain of that lastgasp defeat to England will quickly disappear against the background of a feat that would be substantially more significant and tangible in its rewards.
1 RUSSIA have won just one of their last seven internationals — a 3-0 home victory in a friendly against Lithuania in March.