Wales v Armenia

Wales were poor, defensively they are way too soft, the 2 central defenders were really off the pace and didn’t appear to be working together - roddon is playing in France (where the standard of play is nowhere near that of the premier league) and Mepham isn’t a regular starter at Bournemouth, a team that is generally considered weak defensively.

The midfield, whilst comfortable on the ball and playing intricate passes, were often bullied off the ball by a much fitter Armenian side then counterattacked with tremendous pace and success (all 4 goals from counterattacks).

Robert Page has to take a lot of the blame for his team selection as well.  He started with Ward in goal, he also started most of the games in the World Cup, Ward missed the last 2 months of Leicester’s season due to a broken/dislocated finger, he looked completely off the pace, he didn’t lay a hand on the ball for any of the goals.  He was just about to change the midfield to bring on a midfielder who could break up the play, then ordered the player to sit back down, only for wales to concede another goal following a counterattack from midfield.  He eventually made the change and the Armenia counterattack became less effective as a result.

Ramsey and Ampedu played well but Wales lack the experienced players like Bale, Joe Allen and Gunter who can put their feet on the ball (slow play down) and help see the young players through.

Hats off to Armenia though, they thoroughly deserved their win - only their second win in competitive football in the past 12 matches, their finishing for all the goals were top notch and if Gareth Bale or Harry Kane had scored them we would be talking about them for weeks to come.