Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale and Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey Make Wales Aim High

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: September 9, 2014

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If ever the dangers of a team pinning its hopes on one megastar were apparent it was this weekend, as Portugal spluttered to a home defeat to Albania. If Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence on Sunday fatally compromised Paulo Bento’s team, Wales have no such worries with his Real Madrid team-mate Gareth Bale as they begin their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

Fortunately for Wales, even if plenty is expected of Bale as they embark on the road to France, he has company. Aaron Ramsey’s dizzying ascent over the last 18 months or so means that, even if he doesn’t quite share the same profile as Bale, Wales now have two bona-fide cracks in their midst.

What this also means is that the pressure is squarely on Chris Coleman to deliver. Hardly a universally popular appointment when succeeding the late Gary Speed in early 2012, Coleman can change perceptions of him if he should lead Wales to a first major championship finals tournament since 1958.

While the contributions of captain Ashley Williams, Liverpool’s Joe Allen and Neil Taylor could be important, it is Bale and Ramsey, and—crucially—Coleman’s handling of them which will define Wales’ immediate future.

His management of Ramsey, in particular, has already come under close scrutiny. The manager took the bold (and controversial) step of taking the captaincy away from Ramsey in October 2012, shortly after Wales were hammered 6-1 in Serbia.

“I think he has felt the pressure of it,” Coleman reasoned at the time, as per BBC Sport. Williams’ promotion at the Arsenal man’s expense was, at the time, the subject of much debate.



Excepting the horrendous leg injury he suffered in February 2010, it was arguably the first major step back in Ramsey’s career trajectory to that point, having become Wales’ youngest-ever full international in November 2008 at the age of 17&...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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