If you ask anyone who knows me well, they will tell you my most dreaded time in the season are International breaks. Why? Because it means Cardiff lose some key players, but mainly because it means I have to watch Wales perform very awkwardly again, trying to argue with everyone that Wales are not a one man team until I am blue in the face is the norm for me at the start of an International break, and to make matters worse, when we perform well against a side, due to our Inconsistency I never know how well we will perform in the next fixture. It is truly heartbreaking because once again Wales have themselves a international gem.
I have learned that when it comes to Wales however I should stay pessimistic with our gems, as my Grandfather wisely said 'Harry we have always had one outstanding international star, all the way back to our last World cup with John Charles, after came John Toshack, then Ian Rush, then Giggs and now Bale. Stay calm lad' but you know what, this is wrong. I study the teams and yes Giggs was our outstanding star before but he had plenty of support. John Hartson was a class striker, and alongside Simon Davies, Craig Bellamy and Gary Speed all in their prime. So why didn't we qualify for Euro 2004 in the qualifiers in 2003, well other than the sheer fact Russia had a player who was pumped so full of drugs, that he nearly turned into Bane and promised to slay the Batman. We were nervous. Other than Giggs (and Arguably Hartson) these lads had never really had the nations spotlight on them and the pressure was way to much.
So why do I feel so confident now that the Wales squad can take it to that next level and qualify for our first major tournament since the World Cup in 1958? Pressure, that's what. This team has so many more players who have played under pressure. Bale has had the pressure as worlds most expensive player, Ramsey has had the pressure of having to prove he is still just as good as he was before he was injured, Ashley Williams took Swansea through to a Capital one cup final. The list goes on, but not only that, the potential of this squad in terms of not just psychical but technical ability is through the roof.
I truly believe that when Wales opened it's answer to St Georges park with Dragon park last year, the U-21's improved dramatically. Lads like Ben Davies, Johnathan Williams, Emyr Huws and Lloyd Isgrove have prospered from the specialist center in Newport, and if they can perform anyway they have performed for the U-21 side, they can easily make it in to main squad. Ben Davies and Williams have all grab a handful of first team caps already and it looks only a matter of time before they manage to really make themselves constant call ups. However it is not just the future youth that I am excited about, but also the current crop of stars and how we are attracting more English players with Welsh availability to swap over the river Severn. James Chester was one of the outstanding defenders playing for Hull this season, alongside Curtis Davies, it managed to turn the head of the Welsh FA, supposedly when Coleman offered him a call up, he didn't think twice. 4 years ago and people probably would have turned their noes' up at Wales. This is very promising to also see that Coleman is Analyzing our main weakness of the center back spot. If we can back up our immense midfield with a stronger back 4 it means we can really move on to worrying about where the goals come from.
As a bit of a break of me sitting here and fangirling over the idea that Wales, if they perform in the qualifiers, could be off to France 2016. Let us look at England's future. Now someone would ask why I, as a Wales supporter, would care about the future of England and you know what, to some extent I don't. Let me rephrase that, the England supporters most likely will not grow with the team and therefore I have no care for them. The actual team however I am so interested in. After what was a complete disaster of a World Cup, England are at a crossroads of sorts. They can do a repeat of after the last World cup, shake it up a little bit with a few players being dropped but once again sticking with those big names who don't really perform, or they can wipe the slate clean and start a new similar to that of Germany after 2006, a new process was made for the national team... And look what that did for them. I personally believe that Wales and England are in similar positions just at different stages, Wales have the upcoming talent to qualify for a major tournament just need them to play together now, and the same for England, they can make it to the further stages of the tournaments just need to use some of that exciting talent over the big names, who get into those squads because of the shirt sales.
England have to take the approach of now or never, they should look at these qualifiers of the chance to really now start pushing the likes of Shaw, Barkley, Sterling (especially Sterling) and also not just those lads but some like Nathaniel Clyne from Southampton, who was magnificent this season as Southampton right back, much better than Johnson. As well as him Caulker needs to be played, forget the fact he played for Cardiff, this isn't my bias here, the man is a rock. He stood out every game for Cardiff, not only can he defend but he can score too. Of course you must keep the experience in their but some of them just can't be getting a look in because they have the name of Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney, they need to perform like the others because they surely don't make up for a lack of club form on the International stage.
Wales too need to learn that just because they played in the squad under Mark Hughes and the squad under Toshack, The Gabbidons, the Ricketts and the Edwards, doesn't mean they deserve a free pass into the squad just because years ago they were our best. We have much stronger players now and if they want to make it into a squad we need to start being much more elitist for, they need to earn it. By elitist I mean, we can't keeping picking players who don't play in the upper echelons of the Championship and above, unless they are the big youngsters who are on loan, it doesn't give us any hope if the management feel our best center back is in League one.
I guess, as a conclusion, I should apologise for a misleading title. I should be saying a bright future for England and Wales if they make the right move and play the youth. England could easily become one of the strongest nations in Europe if they let these young talents to bloom by playing them together now, allowing them to gel, just like Spain and Germany did, and then when they are in their primes, they know how to play off each other. The same goes for Wales, we have the gems that we have always had, our generations Giggs', Speed's and Bellamy's are Bale, Ramsey and Davies, we just need the rest of the youth who show promise, the chance to work together and who knows? Maybe in 2016 Wales could be joining England in France...
No Promises.
I truly believe that when Wales opened it's answer to St Georges park with Dragon park last year, the U-21's improved dramatically. Lads like Ben Davies, Johnathan Williams, Emyr Huws and Lloyd Isgrove have prospered from the specialist center in Newport, and if they can perform anyway they have performed for the U-21 side, they can easily make it in to main squad. Ben Davies and Williams have all grab a handful of first team caps already and it looks only a matter of time before they manage to really make themselves constant call ups. However it is not just the future youth that I am excited about, but also the current crop of stars and how we are attracting more English players with Welsh availability to swap over the river Severn. James Chester was one of the outstanding defenders playing for Hull this season, alongside Curtis Davies, it managed to turn the head of the Welsh FA, supposedly when Coleman offered him a call up, he didn't think twice. 4 years ago and people probably would have turned their noes' up at Wales. This is very promising to also see that Coleman is Analyzing our main weakness of the center back spot. If we can back up our immense midfield with a stronger back 4 it means we can really move on to worrying about where the goals come from.
As a bit of a break of me sitting here and fangirling over the idea that Wales, if they perform in the qualifiers, could be off to France 2016. Let us look at England's future. Now someone would ask why I, as a Wales supporter, would care about the future of England and you know what, to some extent I don't. Let me rephrase that, the England supporters most likely will not grow with the team and therefore I have no care for them. The actual team however I am so interested in. After what was a complete disaster of a World Cup, England are at a crossroads of sorts. They can do a repeat of after the last World cup, shake it up a little bit with a few players being dropped but once again sticking with those big names who don't really perform, or they can wipe the slate clean and start a new similar to that of Germany after 2006, a new process was made for the national team... And look what that did for them. I personally believe that Wales and England are in similar positions just at different stages, Wales have the upcoming talent to qualify for a major tournament just need them to play together now, and the same for England, they can make it to the further stages of the tournaments just need to use some of that exciting talent over the big names, who get into those squads because of the shirt sales.
England have to take the approach of now or never, they should look at these qualifiers of the chance to really now start pushing the likes of Shaw, Barkley, Sterling (especially Sterling) and also not just those lads but some like Nathaniel Clyne from Southampton, who was magnificent this season as Southampton right back, much better than Johnson. As well as him Caulker needs to be played, forget the fact he played for Cardiff, this isn't my bias here, the man is a rock. He stood out every game for Cardiff, not only can he defend but he can score too. Of course you must keep the experience in their but some of them just can't be getting a look in because they have the name of Gerrard, Lampard and Rooney, they need to perform like the others because they surely don't make up for a lack of club form on the International stage.
Wales too need to learn that just because they played in the squad under Mark Hughes and the squad under Toshack, The Gabbidons, the Ricketts and the Edwards, doesn't mean they deserve a free pass into the squad just because years ago they were our best. We have much stronger players now and if they want to make it into a squad we need to start being much more elitist for, they need to earn it. By elitist I mean, we can't keeping picking players who don't play in the upper echelons of the Championship and above, unless they are the big youngsters who are on loan, it doesn't give us any hope if the management feel our best center back is in League one.
I guess, as a conclusion, I should apologise for a misleading title. I should be saying a bright future for England and Wales if they make the right move and play the youth. England could easily become one of the strongest nations in Europe if they let these young talents to bloom by playing them together now, allowing them to gel, just like Spain and Germany did, and then when they are in their primes, they know how to play off each other. The same goes for Wales, we have the gems that we have always had, our generations Giggs', Speed's and Bellamy's are Bale, Ramsey and Davies, we just need the rest of the youth who show promise, the chance to work together and who knows? Maybe in 2016 Wales could be joining England in France...
No Promises.
