Euro 2016 – Wales coach spotlight – Chris Coleman

Euro 2016 – Wales coach spotlight – Chris Coleman

0
SHARE

Having secured a maiden Euros berth, Chris Coleman will hope to lead Wales to further glory.

Tactical Set up

Coleman has favoured a three-at-the-back formation for nearly all of the qualifying campaign, with Swansea City’s Ashley Williams – the national captain – at the heart. Neil Taylor and Ben Davies act as highly defensive wing-backs, able to retreat swiftly into an out-of-possession back five. With both Joe Ledley and Joe Allen at his disposal, to deploy as a defensive shield (often together), this set up is the reason Wales have conceded – and, perhaps, scored – so few goals over the qualifying gauntlet.

As far as building around Gareth Bale goes, apart from Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsay, Coleman is starved of elite attacking talent. Hal Robson-Kanu tends to run hard ahead of Bale, but rarely offers a genuine alternative as a goal-threat (he’s never scored in double figures in any season for any of the clubs he’s played for, and is, in truth, more of a winger). In their friendly match against The Netherlands last November, often it was midfielder Jonny Williams who was pressing the highest, with starting strikers Tom Lawrence and Simon Church dedicating a large portion of their time picking up Dutch midfielders who had dropped deep. With Joe Allen and Emyr Huws (and later Ledley) holding a disciplined line just ahead of their defence, the Welsh basically erected a rampart out of possession, in their own half. They were, then, admittedly without both Ramsay and Bale, just as they were in their recent 1-0 loss to the Ukraine.

The fans will hope Coleman is a little more adventurous once he finds himself in the high-stakes environment of tournament football, but his back-three/five system (essentially a morphing 3-5-2) will likely remain in place, with Bale, Kanu and Ramsay shouldering much of the attacking burden between them. Taylor and Davies are comfortable getting forward, as all modern full backs must be, but neither are considered wing-backs by trade; one wonder exactly who will provide the width in this attack.

Previous Employment

Coleman has had a surprisingly broad experience of football management, having worked as a manager in three different European leagues. He has been unable to sustain the rare success he has had, however, with his time at Fulham and Coventry both ending in the sack. Odd sojourns with Real Sociedad and Greek club Larissa ended when Coleman walked away from the club, stating, respectively, that ideological and financial differences were to blame. He inherited the Wales post in 2012 after the tragic death of the previous manager – and Coleman’s former Wales teammate – Gary Speed and, after guiding Wales steadily to the Euros, signed a two-year contract extension with the Welsh FA.

What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook