26-11-2022, 10:15 PM
Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey unable to turn back time as Wales struggle
Rob Page’s key men have lacked form and fitness – will the manager ring the changes for the clash against England?Did a pair of painfully pale performances against Iran signal the beginning of the end for Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey? It was the elephant in the room after Wales’s defeat on Friday but Rob Page quickly swallowed the question and, such was the manager’s disappointment after a jarring loss that left his team staring at elimination, insisted now was not the time. Page did, however, concede Wales were punished because too many key players allowed the occasion to pass them by.Bale, Wales’s all-time men’s leading goalscorer and now their most-capped male player, is almost unanimously cherished as the team’s greatest export. For a few years, regardless of the minutes he has totted up at club level, he has been able to pull on a Wales shirt, find a way to manipulate games and, frankly, make lots of people look silly. Perhaps he will do so again against England on Tuesday, but on recent evidence this tournament has been a strain. Ramsey should also have been sacrificed long before Wayne Hennessey was sent off against Iran with four minutes of normal time to play. Continue reading...
https://www.theguardian.com/football/202...e-struggle
Rob Page’s key men have lacked form and fitness – will the manager ring the changes for the clash against England?Did a pair of painfully pale performances against Iran signal the beginning of the end for Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey? It was the elephant in the room after Wales’s defeat on Friday but Rob Page quickly swallowed the question and, such was the manager’s disappointment after a jarring loss that left his team staring at elimination, insisted now was not the time. Page did, however, concede Wales were punished because too many key players allowed the occasion to pass them by.Bale, Wales’s all-time men’s leading goalscorer and now their most-capped male player, is almost unanimously cherished as the team’s greatest export. For a few years, regardless of the minutes he has totted up at club level, he has been able to pull on a Wales shirt, find a way to manipulate games and, frankly, make lots of people look silly. Perhaps he will do so again against England on Tuesday, but on recent evidence this tournament has been a strain. Ramsey should also have been sacrificed long before Wayne Hennessey was sent off against Iran with four minutes of normal time to play. Continue reading...
https://www.theguardian.com/football/202...e-struggle