As always, Rob Page was infinitely positive in the face of defeat. ‘Everything’s fine. “It’s all great,” he said last night of his relationship with some of his Welsh FA bosses, who less than six months ago suggested his contract would be reviewed if the country did not automatically qualify for the European Championship.
The country has not qualified for the European Championship at all, following the penalty shootout defeat to Poland.
And while Page described himself as a central character in what happens next, he has some uncomfortable questions to answer today about his handling of that game.
Although Poland were a much stronger proposition than Finland, whom Wales had beaten to reach last night’s tie, most coaches would have been desperate to replicate the most striking part of the 4-1 victory against them: the pace and the interconnection of the forwards. Wilson, Brennan Johnson, David Brooks and substitute Daniel James, which clearly terrified the Finns.
The page was restricted. Brooks had been ill over the weekend and was on the bench last night. But that doesn’t explain why the coach ended up bringing in James, full of confidence after his destructive display of pace against the Finns, as a full-back, at a point in the game when the Poles were tired.
Rob Page’s future is up in the air after Wales fail to qualify for Euro 2024
Page’s team lost 5-4 to Poland on penalties in Cardiff on Tuesday night.
Dan James saw his penalty saved in the shootout as Wales’ Euro 2024 hopes faded
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And why Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson, who had been a threat, was substituted early.
You would have thought that football curiosity would have made Page want to reunite Johnson and James to compete against a defense that had made a major change. But these uncomfortable questions about game management seem to get lost in the grand expanse of the Welsh story as he tells it.
For those Wales fans who traveled to Qatar at great expense, the memory of Iran roaming the vast open spaces in Wales’ midfield during the World Cup group stage defeat will require some forgetting.
Yet here is Page, talking about periods of transition and the new generation, when we have to ask: wouldn’t that Wales team have beaten Poland with a different manager?
Kieffer Moore looked less and less likely to score as last night’s game progressed, but Page gave him the full 120 minutes. Substitute Brooks, who opened the scoring against Finland, was substituted, which was also disconcerting.
It’s hard to get a real understanding of Page’s method or philosophy because he’s never sat down to discuss any of them in depth. Despite Wales’ participation in the delayed Euro 2020 and the last World Cup, we are no closer to understanding it because his media appearances in both were very brief.
There’s no overwhelming sense that the FAW suits are in a rush to eliminate Page, although fans are less reassured. Some who saw Wales lose 4-2 at home to Armenia (world ranking: 97) and fail to win in the country’s capital, Yerevan, in the qualifying campaign, still believe she should leave now.
They look at Steve Clarke’s Scotland – beating Norway and even Spain on their way to a comfortable Euro qualification – and wonder if Page’s strategic and tactical knowledge is really good enough.
Page’s game management will come under scrutiny after loss to Poland
His decision to replace Brennan Johnson (left) with James (right) was baffling.
Former Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper is the leading candidate to replace Page
Amid the agony of last night’s defeat, there were individual performances that suggest Wales are not the vulnerable transition team that Page portrays.
They have a good crop with Johnson, Ben Davies, Neco Williams, Nathan Ampadu, Harry Wilson and James, who should not have had to limp into the play-offs on the strength of their performances in the Nations League.
Who could replace Page? That is the challenging question. The standout candidate would be Steve Cooper, whose early coaching career was spent at Wrexham.
His career at the FA, where he oversaw the England Under-17 team that won the 2017 World Cup, is precisely what a nation like Wales, desperate to develop more talent, is looking for.
Cooper may have come to the conclusion that he is not done with the Premier League yet. He left Nottingham Forest, where the players loved him, with his reputation intact, last December. He was linked with the Crystal Palace job, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if other opportunities opened up.
Beyond Cooper, there are few obvious candidates. Mark Hughes would bring in-depth knowledge and greater tactical understanding than Page, although he may feel that a job like this is no longer for him, despite being only 60 years old.
Page’s future may become clearer after the Nations League games, against Turkey, Iceland and Montenegro, are next up for Wales this autumn. Then follows the campaign for the 2026 World Cup. Expanded to 48 teams, it is a tournament Wales will not want to miss.
‘Let’s go somewhere. “Something good is happening with this group,” Page said on Tuesday night, although many are beginning to think Wales could easily reach that destination without him.