Another cruel defeat, but further hope for future

On paper, the latest round of World Cup qualifiers looked the same as last October – a comeback victory over the Scots, followed by a tight defeat to Croatia.

But this time around the truth is much deeper than that, and signs are there that a second Welsh rejuvenation could possibly be around the corner similar to that seen under Gary Speed’s guidance.

Last October, Gareth Bale quite simply tore Scotland to shreds by himself, while on a terrible pitch in Osijek, Croatia held 76% of possession and took 29 shots at the Welsh goal, getting 20 on target in a busy night for stand in ‘keeper Lewis Price.

This time around, Wales had to dig deep in Glasgow as Bale failed to resurface for the second 45 minutes, and had a couple of chances gone the other way they could have been celebrating a victory over a country ranked in the world’s Top 10 this morning.

Yes, Wales’ hopes of reaching their first major tournament since 1958 are again over, but rather than doom or gloom there is again genuine hope for the future.

It has been said before…“this team are still so young”…“they’ll get better as they get older”. Some would say straws are once again being clutched at. But let us look at Wales’ current options.

Our current midfield is, arguably, our best in recent memory. While it may lack some of the fight and organisation of that available to Mark Hughes during his reign, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and Gareth Bale are technically the most talented players (bar Ryan Giggs) to line up in a Welsh shirt since Hughes himself was playing.

And in Scotland, Ramsey and Joe Ledley’s excellent displays in pulling Wales up by their bootstraps rubbished media claims that Wales were, in fact, a one-man Bale show.

Add to this that over the course of 127 minutes, Welsh fans were introduced to a new gem – Crystal Palace’s Jonathan Williams – and there is a lot of optimism going forward.

Known as ‘Joniesta’ by Palace supporters, Williams showed a good passing range, ability with either foot, good acceleration from a standing start and an impeccable first touch to really make you sit up and take note.

While it may only be two matches, he certainly showed he hasn’t been severely hampered by his leg break in 2011, and looks like he may be as important over the next two qualification campaigns as any of our other midfield options.

As one ardent Palace follower said to me: “He will be better than [Wilfred Zaha] 100 per cent if he can avoid injury”.

Craig Bellamy is a welcome and experienced return to the squad, although his offside count for both club and country remains infuriating. The main problem is that he is not an out-and-out striker.

Like Bale, Bellamy likes to drop deep to receive possession as well as chasing balls over the top, and there were times when he would turn on the half-way line to find only Hal Robson-Kanu or Williams ahead of him.

Steve Morrison has been a little hit and miss, and it is really in this department that Wales are crying out for improvement the most. How well would John Hartson or Ian Rush perform feeding off the current supply?

Defence, too, remains another issue. Ashley Williams continues to thrive with Premiership experience, and Ben Davies has done more than enough to stake his claim as a future regular these past six months. But manager Chris Coleman opted to bring James Collins back in to the heart of defence alongside Williams last night, and he did little other than continue to show his career is on the wane.

You only have to look at the two benches. The players Croatia brought on, for example, included Ivica Olic – two-time Champions League finalist with Bayern Munich – and Inter Milan’s Mateo Kovacic. Could you ever picture such players sat on the Welsh bench?

Wales really have to try to squeeze every bit of talent out of what we have. The soon-to-open Dragon Parc in Newport has to be utilised properly in order to ensure a continued talent stream for the national side in years to come, and as much as possible should be done to ensure talent across the field to provide a spine as stiff as in the previously mentioned Hughes squad that came so close to taking us to Euro 2004.

Croatia, a country that only gained independence in the early 1990s, and whose population is only just over 1.2 million more than here, is the perfect example of a “smaller” nation achieving in football. As of this month’s published Fifa World Rankings, Croatia are ranked ninth, closing in on nations like the Netherlands and Portugal above them, and now above footballing powerhouses like France (17^th) and Brazil (18^th) below them.

Social and economical circumstances of course dictate, and fans and sociologists would probably argue till the cow comes on home on why Wales could or couldn’t match the feats of other countries similar in size and population to ours.

The real hope for Wales is pipping Scotland and Serbia to third. Higher rankings, and therefore, better seedings in future qualifying tournaments are a must if progression is to be made. And with the re-structuring of the groups going in to the qualifiers for Euro 2016, this could be Wales’ best shot yet at re-living the glory days of John Charles et al in Sweden 55 years ago.