Afternoon Delight

Before we get onto todays game, I must mention last nights France v Albania clash. I’m really enjoying watching the French. The atmosphere at their matches is great and they’ve got a hell of a squad. Being able to bring on Pogba and Grieszman at half time must be very dispiriting for the opposition although fair play to Albania, they kept at it. But finally the French got the winner (and an unnecessarily cruel second) and once again the nation rejoiced. If England played France in the final, I’d definitely want England to win but I’d feel a smidgen of regret for ruining their party. Only a smidgen though.
As for the game this afternoon, O. M. G.  By the way, well done to any bosses or school heads who are allowing their employees/kids to watch the game. It’s the only sensible option. It’s not like they’re going to be able to concentrate anyway. The moment of truth has arrived much quicker than I thought it was going to. Most teams wait till the third group game before things get really fraught but this is England. We like to do things the hard way. I know everyone says this about their team but I really think it applies to us more than most. When did we ever breeze through the group stage?
Let’s be honest, we should’ve beaten Russia. They’re not that good. I watched their second game against Slovakia and they offered very little until late in the second half. And by then, Slovakia had taken more than one of their chances so they had a little wriggle room. That Hamsik is very good by the way. We’ve got some excellent players but I don’t think anyone of that level and those are the type of players that win tight games.
Wales of course have got someone even better than that level. It must be weird to almost always be the best player on the pitch. Shockingly, it’s not a feeling I’m familiar with and even if you are, there must have come a point when some young kid skipped past your despairing lunge and then played a sixty yard pass and you thought ‘blimey, they are MUCH better than me’. But Gareth Bale must walk out most of the time knowing that he’s better than everybody else. And he is.
So the question is how do you stop him? Well, first things first do not give away any free kicks close to the penalty area. He’s very good at those. Don’t let him turn and run at you either. He’s a nightmare when he does that and he’s definitely quicker than any of ours. You could try limiting his efforts to long range shots but he loves shooting. He had fifty-six shots in the qualifying games, more than anyone else in Europe. Try and stop him doing that. Also, he’s very dangerous in the air so if you can prevent crosses coming in to him, that would be great. Other than that, he shouldn’t cause you any trouble.
There are other players in the Welsh team. Ramsey is very good and dangerous in the box and Williams is a proper defender. And there’s some others as well who are decent Premier League quality. But it’s all about Bale. Stop him and we’re more than likely to keep a clean sheet. And if we do that, with our strikers, we might just win the game.