Wales v Sweden friendly Preview

Wales v Sweden – Preview
I was supposed to go but I ended up getting ill and having to stay at home. Annoyingly, I felt completely okay at the time when I should have been leaving my Cardiff hotel to travel to Swansea.

Why is it my country and my club both seem to be having an injury crisis, particularly in midfield? Both will miss Aaron Ramsey of course. But both are also missing a good few other midfield players. Dave Edwards (ankle), Joe Ledley (hip), Joe Allen (knee), Brian Stock (back) were all out. Defender Danny Gabbidon (hamstring) is also injured.

Craig Bellamy was another absenteee. Most of the papers went completely mad over it, saying it meant Craig would never play for Wales again, either because it’s a sign John Toshack doesn’t want him or because Craig will be so offended about being left out, he’ll retire in a huff like all the others.

I personally think he was left out for the simple reason for his ongoing knee problems means he needs his rest and the friendly international breaks offer him the chance to do this. He’ll play in all the qualifiers if he can but friendlies are less important so he withdraws. Far better to leave him out of the squad and put some other strikers in from the start. That will save John Toshack from running around, trying to find a replacement.

No more new faces were called up to the squad to replace Aaron but the injury problems didn’t go away. Sam Ricketts left the squad after the knee injury he suffered in his last match for Bolton was deemed too serious for him to play. Jack Collison’s own knee started to play up and I can only assume it’s catching because when Gareth Bale injured himself in the match, it was, again, his knee. (Anymore of this and I’ll have to look up some alternative words for knees.) Ashley Williams had a late fitness test on a dead leg.

There were some surprises in the Wales squad. Firstly, Toshack had only chosen two goalkeepers. He probably wouldn’t need more than one (although both played) but it’s usual to have a third one and with Danny Coyne playing so well for Middlesbrough, he would have been a very good option.

Craig Morgan got to play for Wales which would have been a nice surprise for him. He was worried that Peterborough’s position in the Championship would have put Toshack off. And maybe if Danny Gabbidon hadn’t been injured and Ashley Williams hadn’t been needed in defensive midfield, there wouldn’t have been a place for Craig. But it was good to see him in the squad.

I was slightly disappointed Gareth Roberts wasn’t in the squad – he’s been doing well for Doncaster and he could have covered Gareth Bale at left back. But it’s impossible to make a really good judgement based on Internet match reports and clips on The Football League Show. And you know, I might be just a tiny bit biased…

Most Wales fans weren’t overly thrilled by the inclusion of Andrew Crofts, currently fighting a relegation battle with Brighton in League One. I would have wanted to put him in the squad because firstly he has been playing well and secondly he does seem to have a great desire to play for Wales and that’s definitely something that should be encouraged. There are, however, non-retired options further up the leagues. John Oster has been playing well for Doncaster while Nicky Adams has been looking good for Leicester following a very successful loan spell with Leyton Orient.

Perhaps striker Freddy Eastwood’s omission wasn’t a complete surprise to most people but I’d have liked to see him in the squad. I do like Ched Evans and Sam Vokes but they haven’t played regularly for Sheffield United and Wolves. When Ched has played, he’s worked hard but he hasn’t scored. Freddy has lost a bit of form recently for Coventry and while that has been due to injury and illness, it’s possible that this is the very reason he didn’t get into the squad: because a week off would be of more value to him than a friendly international. But he has been a fairly regular scorer.

But I was happy for every single player who did get into the squad. Andy Dorman I was particularly happy about. He’s another who really loves Wales. I just hope one day he'll get to play.