Half time 2-1,Wilson scored first.I hope Flynny is watching,they only pass back to keeper when they have to,otherwise,defenders and midfield look to pass forward.Quick,slick movement even in last minute when they might have slowed it down.Before someone says,they have De Bruyner and Hazard,the system and tactics should be the same,whatever level you play.

Terrible Radio Wales commentary. If I wasn't watching S4C I wouldn't have a clue what was going on a lot of the time even ignoring some Wales attacks. Charlie Brown is much better. Why can't commentators commentate, especially on radio.

I thought it was a very passive Welsh performance. It's almost like they decided before the game that they couldn't beat Belgium away and tried to keep the score down. Very poor.

Blackandamber wrote:Terrible Radio Wales commentary. If I wasn't watching S4C I wouldn't have a clue what was going on a lot of the time even ignoring some Wales attacks. Charlie Brown is much better. Why can't commentators commentate, especially on radio.

Before ifollow,I used to listen to away games on RW and,they are chatting then suddenly,here’s a chance and ,you don’t know if it’s us or them.Yes,frustrating commentary.Once we come out of Covid,I am going to miss seeing every game on ifollow,that’s the only downside.

Percy plunkett wrote:Half time 2-1,Wilson scored first.I hope Flynny is watching,they only pass back to keeper when they have to,otherwise,defenders and midfield look to pass forward.Quick,slick movement even in last minute when they might have slowed it down.Before someone says,they have De Bruyner and Hazard,the system and tactics should be the same,whatever level you play.

Belgium played it along their back line numerous times and also back to Courtois from the half way line when under hardly any pressure.

wattsville_boy wrote:I thought it was a very passive Welsh performance. It's almost like they decided before the game that they couldn't beat Belgium away and tried to keep the score down. Very poor.

I can’t believe you think we were ‘very poor’ .

Exile 1976 wrote:

Percy plunkett wrote:Half time 2-1,Wilson scored first.I hope Flynny is watching,they only pass back to keeper when they have to,otherwise,defenders and midfield look to pass forward.Quick,slick movement even in last minute when they might have slowed it down.Before someone says,they have De Bruyner and Hazard,the system and tactics should be the same,whatever level you play.

Belgium played it along their back line numerous times and also back to Courtois from the half way line when under hardly any pressure.

The only back passes occurred early second half when we did a high press.They did do it then but that was sensible.I can’t remember any from the half way line.

Exile 1976 wrote:

wattsville_boy wrote:I thought it was a very passive Welsh performance. It's almost like they decided before the game that they couldn't beat Belgium away and tried to keep the score down. Very poor.

I can’t believe you think we were ‘very poor’ .

Two of the goals were preventable. Surely you don't allow de Bruyne that amount of space on the edge of the box for the first goal and the penalty was quite a ridiculous thing to do in your own box. Second goal was a slip which you can do nothing about.

For me Wales stood back and allowed Belgium to have the ball and dictate the game. I do accept that Belgium are not ranked number one in the world for no reason and if you try to man mark them then they will work space anyway but the Wales threat was fairly non-existent. The very least Wales could have done was to try and catch them on the counter attack. But it was slow build up generally, passing from one side to the other, which was meat and drink for Belgium. The one time was had a bit of zip to their attack was when they scored.

The problem now is that they face a Czech side that'll be full of confidence after their big win in Estonia. And what do Wales now do with their friendly on the weekend? What could have been an opportunity to look at some of the squad players now becomes a match that they may have to produce a result in for team morale.

So how do you rate it? Brilliant to "only" lose 3-1? Could do better? Should really have done better? Personally very poor isn't far from the mark...

Percy plunkett wrote:Half time 2-1,Wilson scored first.I hope Flynny is watching,they only pass back to keeper when they have to,otherwise,defenders and midfield look to pass forward.Quick,slick movement even in last minute when they might have slowed it down.Before someone says,they have De Bruyner and Hazard,the system and tactics should be the same,whatever level you play.

Arguably the system and tactics should be the same whatever level you play; yet what happens when you have a team that rarely has the ability to instantly/very quickly bring the ball under control however it comes at them, and accurately play a ball forward or a cross into the box? I would suggest any pre-determined systems and tactics then become less critical, and other factors, such as fitness, physicality and determination can become more decisive.

wattsville_boy wrote:

Exile 1976 wrote:

wattsville_boy wrote:I thought it was a very passive Welsh performance. It's almost like they decided before the game that they couldn't beat Belgium away and tried to keep the score down. Very poor.

I can’t believe you think we were ‘very poor’ .

Two of the goals were preventable. Surely you don't allow de Bruyne that amount of space on the edge of the box for the first goal and the penalty was quite a ridiculous thing to do in your own box. Second goal was a slip which you can do nothing about.

For me Wales stood back and allowed Belgium to have the ball and dictate the game. I do accept that Belgium are not ranked number one in the world for no reason and if you try to man mark them then they will work space anyway but the Wales threat was fairly non-existent. The very least Wales could have done was to try and catch them on the counter attack. But it was slow build up generally, passing from one side to the other, which was meat and drink for Belgium. The one time was had a bit of zip to their attack was when they scored.

The problem now is that they face a Czech side that'll be full of confidence after their big win in Estonia. And what do Wales now do with their friendly on the weekend? What could have been an opportunity to look at some of the squad players now becomes a match that they may have to produce a result in for team morale.

So how do you rate it? Brilliant to "only" lose 3-1? Could do better? Should really have done better? Personally very poor isn't far from the mark...

I thought we played well and our goal was absolutely superb. How many times has DeBruyne done things that against Premier League sides and much better international sides than Wales?
We were missing some of our better players and a few that were playing barely get a kick for their club. A couple of individual errors cost us a chance of getting anything out of the game but we kept on.

Percy plunkett wrote:

Exile 1976 wrote:

Percy plunkett wrote:Half time 2-1,Wilson scored first.I hope Flynny is watching,they only pass back to keeper when they have to,otherwise,defenders and midfield look to pass forward.Quick,slick movement even in last minute when they might have slowed it down.Before someone says,they have De Bruyner and Hazard,the system and tactics should be the same,whatever level you play.

Belgium played it along their back line numerous times and also back to Courtois from the half way line when under hardly any pressure.

The only back passes occurred early second half when we did a high press.They did do it then but that was sensible.I can’t remember any from the half way line.

They were back passing first half as well.

Percy plunkett wrote:Half time 2-1,Wilson scored first.I hope Flynny is watching,they only pass back to keeper when they have to,otherwise,defenders and midfield look to pass forward.

I had a wry smile at one point in the second half. We had a throw-in level with Belgium's 18 yard line. But three defensive passes later it was safely back with keeper Ward. "They're channelling Newport!" I thought

Didn't see the first half but I thought we played really well second half without ever creating clear chances. One tired clearance that went wrong and the penalty killed the game. Plenty to be optimistic about though I think.

wattsville_boy wrote:...
The problem now is that they face a Czech side that'll be full of confidence after their big win in Estonia. And what do Wales now do with their friendly on the weekend? What could have been an opportunity to look at some of the squad players now becomes a match that they may have to produce a result in for team morale.

The problem for me now is that we have next to nothing to play for during our remaining seven fixtures in this group. Effectively even if we were to beat Belgium at home in the reverse fixture, they will likely do better than us over the other six matches so we are in effect playing for second best and a place in the playoffs which we have already secured (baring extreme circumstances) via our Nations League performance. We now have three (maybe four if the France friendly rumour is true) matches to get ready for the Euros in June. For me, we should treat all of those games as Euros preparation which would of course be a lot easier if we had our full squad available.