00:00Now, Craig Bellamy's appointment as Wales manager brought renewed optimism, standards
00:08and expectations. With his passion and tactical approach already evident in the squad, Wales
00:14continue to build towards future improvements and the tournament on the horizon. Many of
00:21the current squad members are yet to experience major international tournaments and Bellamy
00:26will need to cultivate that winning mentality. Tournament experience is vital not just for
00:31the players, but for the squad's overall cohesion, ensuring they can handle the pressure of high
00:37stakes games. We discussed Bellamy's impact and the importance of tournament minutes for
00:42Wales as they set their sights towards a positive future.
00:48Rich, let's just have a look at the Welsh national team now. You have to go all the
00:54way back to June 2024 for their last loss. Obviously, Craig Bellamy comes in and he's
00:59made a massive marked improvement, a massive difference and a raise of expectations. You
01:05feel they had a strong end to the Nations League campaign, now into World Cup qualification
01:10and winning a draw, obviously a late draw, incredibly late, away at North Macedonia to
01:17get a 1-1 draw there. Bellamy seems like he's sort of living up to this huge pressure that
01:23comes with the Welsh managerial job. As we mentioned before, it sort of stems from that
01:29Euro 2016 campaign and the feel factor of fans knowing that Wales can compete on an
01:36international stage. There's an unbeaten streak now to eight games, they don't play again
01:41until June. It's all but positive at Wales at the moment and it seems like it's a great
01:48place to be in terms of a project and you really want to make sure they are in the next
01:54World Cup.
01:55Yes, absolutely. Even if you look at that Macedonia draw on Tuesday night, it's only
02:01two years ago that North Macedonia drew and won all of England as well in the Euro qualification
02:05game. They are by no means pushovers. I know maybe on paper it looks like a bit of an abject
02:11result in that sense. But what Wales have now is a bit more licence to attack, there's
02:16a bit more freedom and confidence in their players. They've just got this spirit, even
02:21in the North Macedonia game, conceding in the 91st minute but finding an equaliser in
02:25the 95th minute. As soon as the ball hit the back of the net from Joe Allen's mistake,
02:30the players were all back at the centre circle ready to kick off again. There was this belief
02:35that Wales could get the result, which they did. I think the quirk from this qualification
02:41campaign is because Wales are basically guaranteed a play-off for the World Cup anyway. That
02:50kind of is the underlying issue, I think, just with European qualification in general.
02:55It doesn't really matter how well or poorly the campaign goes, they will be at lifeline.
03:00Obviously the focus is on trying to win the group. With Belgium in the group though, it's
03:04far easier said than done. Nations League fallback and that comfort. You can almost
03:10experiment a bit more than you would do. He's been quite exciting with his squad selections,
03:16giving players who were previously overlooked an opportunity. He's still trying to establish
03:21his system, the style of play he wants to enforce, and quite a few changes as well to
03:26his line-ups. Ultimately, he's got to work with what he's got. I think this Wales team
03:33doesn't have maybe that star quality that the last couple of teams have had, with Ramsey
03:38and Bale at their peak really, particularly in 2016, and even qualifying for the last
03:43World Cup. It was Bale's magic moments that got them out of the line. You still look at
03:48the Wales squad now and you wonder who is that player who's going to step up and do
03:52it? Obviously we saw Brookes do so against Macedonia, Kiefer Moore with a fantastic assist,
03:57but Brookes and Brennan Johnson, they can't both play 90 minutes every single match. They
04:05are the two players with probably the most technical ability. Harry Wilson's had a good
04:09season as well at Fulham, but who is actually going to step up now? There is a platform,
04:14there's an opening for another player to become the catalyst of this team. Maybe it works
04:19better the other way, that Wales aren't as much of a one-man team now. I know they were
04:24more a collective before anyway, and Bale was just the icing on top who made things happen,
04:29but there is an opening there. While I think there's a bit more team cohesion in the overall
04:34levels maybe increased, I still think Wales are just missing that player in their prime
04:39who can win games and secure results on their own.
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