Football on TV Tonight

A feast for terrestrial and satellite viewers starting at 5.45 on s4c with Wales U21 v Bosnia U21. Immediately after there is a choice of France v Wales on BBC, England v Germany on ITV, or Sweden v Italy on Sky Sports. Enjoy!

Pretty dour stuff in Paris. So difficult to pick the team up after the Ireland game.

Ah, 1 - 0 ...... been coming. Could be a bad night to be Welsh

Half an hour gone and not a shot on (or off) target for Wales.

Didn't turn out too bad in the end. Completely outclassed at times but so close to levelling tat 1-0. Ampadu, Brooks and Woodburn will each start against Panama now.

Hopefully, we will have seen the end of the old guard, other than as babysitters for the new blood coming through.  Last evening showed just how off the pace at the top level players like Ledley and King are these days.

They have been good servants, but time to move on.

Building a new side around Ramsey, Bale, Allen, Davies, plus Gunter & Chester is going to take a couple of years and Wales fans are going to have to be patient.  

The not such good news is that these players are not getting any younger and, eventually, we are going to need a further major influx of young talent, just to replace them, if Wales are going to have any hope of maintaining the improvement seen with the present crop of players.

It's asking a lot of very young players to step up when they are not even established at club level.  I just hope that their development at all levels is carefully managed over the next couple of years.

TDA wrote:Hopefully, we will have seen the end of the old guard, other than as babysitters for the new blood coming through.  Last evening showed just how off the pace at the top level players like Ledley and King are these days.

They have been good servants, but time to move on.

Building a new side around Ramsey, Bale, Allen, Davies, plus Gunter & Chester is going to take a couple of years and Wales fans are going to have to be patient.  

The not such good news is that these players are not getting any younger and, eventually, we are going to need a further major influx of young talent, just to replace them, if Wales are going to have any hope of maintaining the improvement seen with the present crop of players.

It's asking a lot of very young players to step up when they are not even established at club level.  I just hope that their development at all levels is carefully managed over the next couple of years.

I think that blooding the young players as we are presently will somewhat negate the lack of club football and perhaps make them prioritise international football to a greater extent than if their clubs had given them more chances.

I’m certainly not worried for the future as we are producing one or two good players in every position, so while we may not have depth we will have a good first eleven in the next few years with perhaps a world class player or two which should be enough to get us into major tournaments (which would be enough for me)

I still think that only minor changes are needed; wouldn't go wild and overhaul squad completely.

Norn Iron have four or five players who look likely to retire and basically no new names coming through.

Norn Iron were desperately unlucky to lose in the way they did, even if the Swiss probably deserved the victory overall. It will hurt twice as much knowing that was probably the last chance for a fair portion of the squad and I think they have one of the smallest pools of eligible players as it is (seems to be a lot of players defect to the Republic when they reach senior level).

The few consolations for Wales is that the building blocks for the future have already been put in place, so we're not without hope...I hope.

Arkay Dubya wrote:Norn Iron were desperately unlucky to lose in the way they did, even if the Swiss probably deserved the victory overall. It will hurt twice as much knowing that was probably the last chance for a fair portion of the squad and I think they have one of the smallest pools of eligible players as it is (seems to be a lot of players defect to the Republic when they reach senior level).

The few consolations for Wales is that the building blocks for the future have already been put in place, so we're not without hope...I hope.

Also, in a strange way, missing out on a play-off spot hurts a lot less than actually making it through and then losing a two-legged tie.

*** G L O V E S *** wrote:

Arkay Dubya wrote:Norn Iron were desperately unlucky to lose in the way they did, even if the Swiss probably deserved the victory overall. It will hurt twice as much knowing that was probably the last chance for a fair portion of the squad and I think they have one of the smallest pools of eligible players as it is (seems to be a lot of players defect to the Republic when they reach senior level).

The few consolations for Wales is that the building blocks for the future have already been put in place, so we're not without hope...I hope.

Also, in a strange way, missing out on a play-off spot hurts a lot less than actually making it through and then losing a two-legged tie.

True that, although, it still grates on me that it was to Ireland. I know they're playing to their strengths but the quote from Thomas Delaney about playing them being like "trying to open a can of beans with your fist" sums up their "style" of football.

Arkay Dubya wrote:

*** G L O V E S *** wrote:

Arkay Dubya wrote:Norn Iron were desperately unlucky to lose in the way they did, even if the Swiss probably deserved the victory overall. It will hurt twice as much knowing that was probably the last chance for a fair portion of the squad and I think they have one of the smallest pools of eligible players as it is (seems to be a lot of players defect to the Republic when they reach senior level).

The few consolations for Wales is that the building blocks for the future have already been put in place, so we're not without hope...I hope.

Also, in a strange way, missing out on a play-off spot hurts a lot less than actually making it through and then losing a two-legged tie.

True that, although, it still grates on me that it was to Ireland. I know they're playing to their strengths but the quote from Thomas Delaney about playing them being like "trying to open a can of beans with your fist" sums up their "style" of football.

Denmark manager Age Hareide described them as "easy to read but difficult to beat"  
That quote was from before the 0 - 0 draw on the weekend.  Mind you, I don't think Denmark did themselves any favours starting Andreas Cornelius at number 9.  Substituted after 64 minutes.

Wales U21 v Romania on s4c at 6pm followed by the Panama game on BBC 2 Wales.

Decent performance by Wales. Switched off for their goal at the death, but otherwise some encouraging performances.

Excellent performance by the Danes.

Arkay Dubya wrote:Excellent performance by the Danes.

Joyful. Particularly after seeing James McDirty using his tactic of shoving a player in the back into the path of an oncoming teammate - again.
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/wales-fans-revel-irelands-world-13903996.amp
Meanwhile, I thought the Welsh performance was entertaining and promising.