Some bad... how have heroes fared since Euros?
JAMES COLLINS will want to drop out of the Premier League.
Did well to just make the Euros after a broken leg, played well out there, is still a Premier League footballer. But will want more regular action next season. DAVID EDWARDS GARETH BALE Perversely, Wales’ talisman didn’t make the Euro XI of the tournament. A ridiculous decision, but there we go.
He’s so good, we were hoping 2017 would be the year when Bale established himself as the greatest player in the world.
Started season brilliantly with four goals in the first three games and had 11 to his name by November, but a bad injury meant he didn’t play again until mid-February and is still battling for full fitness, having suffered ‘muscle discomfort’ against Bayern Munich.
Some feel the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo still hangs over Bale at Real Madrid. Bale has bagged 13 goals from 30 games, Ronaldo 37 from 41 after his midweek brace versus Bayern.
Uncharacteristically sent off versus Las Palmas and two yellows means he is suspended from Wales’ next World Cup match versus Serbia. Verdict: Needs a big end to the season. Expect him to have it. HAL ROBSON-KANU Scorer of that wonder goal against Belgium and another versus Slovakia, he returned from France with his reputation richly enhanced and a glut of clubs supposedly chasing him – including Atletico Madrid.
As it was, Robson-Kanu didn’t have any takers until West Brom moved right at the end of the transfer window.
Didn’t play until coming on as an 87th-minute sub against West Ham on September 17 and has made just four Premier League starts, scoring twice. Verdict: At 27, Robson-Kanu would have hoped to be a club regular by this stage. Will find himself under pressure for his Wales place, too. SAM VOKES Etched his name into Welsh football history with that thunderous header against Belgium, possibly THE biggest high of the lot amidst so many during the Euros.
Has managed five Premier League goals for Burnley this season in 32 games, just 16 of them starts. People rave about Vokes’ Burnley team-mate Andre Gray, but he only has three more to his name, albeit from less matches.
will stay up, so Vokes will be a Premier League striker again next season. That’s progress, but he’ll definitely want to boost his goal tally. AND WHAT ABOUT THE MANAGER... CHRIS COLEMAN His stock was never higher than last summer and it was always going to be difficult for Cookie to attain those heights again.
Wales have definitely had a lull after the success of last summer and it is up to Coleman to change things around for the better again.
Opposition sides have worked out Wales, who are these days seen as a scalp, and sit deeper to deny Bale space. Will Coleman be bold enough to make the big calls that are required to change the system and freshen up the team with new personnel in the remaining World Cup qualifiers? Verdict: Only one win from five World Cup games – and not in an overlydifficult group – isn’t a great return for a team boasting Wales’ talents.