Energy, discipline and ruthlessness

One of the first things I did when I took charge of Wales was to get the senior players on board.

We got a group of them in a room with a tactics board and said: “Any changes we want to make, we will run by you.” They were a committee and we got buy-in from them. When we trained it, those senior players were on board, so the rest bought into it.

I had taken charge of Wales at a difficult time. I knew the players well, having served as Under-21 coach and as assistant to Ryan Giggs with the first team. Ryan had to step back in November 2020 and initially I was put in charge for three games, for which I was in communication with Ryan.

Despite the situation, as a team we weren’t in a bad place. What Ryan had started meant we were going in the right direction, so I didn’t want or need to make wholesale changes. Instead, I made little tweaks – and it was key to treat the players with respect.

Wins from my first two competitive games in charge meant we topped our Nations League group and earned promotion to the top tier. But as 2021 came around, with Wales due to take part at the postponed Euro 2020, there was uncertainty about who would be manager. A decision needed to be made for the players as much as anybody.

When it was confirmed in April 2021 that I would continue for the Euros, it was pleasing for everybody that we knew what was happening. And it was a tournament that posed particular complexities, because it was being hosted all over Europe.

To start with we were based in Baku, Azerbeijan, where we played Switzerland first, drawing 1-1. Then we beat Turkey there, 2-0, before flying to Rome to play Italy in our final group game. 

“We could go to a 5-4-1 if we needed to, making sure the distances between units were tight”

Against Switzerland we had played a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 shape, with two sixes to plug the middle of the pitch. We did the same against Turkey and it was one of our best performances. But tactically we were quite flexible, so we changed it against Italy, who went into the game unbeaten for 29 games. We switched to a back three, because if we avoided being beaten by more than two goals we had a great chance of qualifying.

With Wales, you know you will face some teams that are better and going to have a lot of the ball. We knew, against that kind of opposition, we had to be prepared to suffer without the ball. We could go to a 5-4-1 if we needed to, making sure the distances between units were tight and restricting central passes. Then we could try to get teams on the counter-attack, often with Aaron Ramsey on the ball, Gareth Bale’s quality, Daniel James’ pace in behind, and Kieffer Moore up front. Not a bad front four. 

In Rome, Matteo Pessina put Italy 1-0 up after 39 minutes. Gareth had a great chance to equalise late on with a volley, but it ended 1-0. Italy would go on to win the tournament against England, while our results were enough to qualify for the knockouts.

In the last 16 we had to go to Holland to play Denmark, and we had a tactical dilemma about how to approach the game. I discussed it with my assistant, the Dutch coach Albert Stuivenberg, who is now with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. Albert was in favour of the 3-4-3, from a horses-for-courses point of view, whereas I wanted to keep the consistency from playing against Turkey in the manner that we did. Albert was right to suggest what he did, and with hindsight I probably should have gone with that. That was learning for me at that level.

We started the Denmark game on top for the first 20 minutes. They couldn’t get near us because we had three against their two in the middle of the park. We kept the ball really well. Then their coach, Kasper Hjulmand, went to a back four, putting one of his centre-backs in the midfield and matching us up in the middle of the park. Then it was our players against their players – and they had a strong group. Tactically, there was nothing else we could do. 

Gareth had a few opportunities in the first half an hour, coming in on his left foot and getting shots off. Denmark’s first shot went in the bottom corner.

“If you show players respect, you get it back 10 times”

There are three things I want from my players: energy, discipline and ruthlessness. You can list 20 if you want to, but you can also overcomplicate things. At any level, I want my teams to represent energy, discipline and ruthlessness in their actions. In that game, at 0-0, Denmark had one opportunity to score. We had four or five half-chances and didn’t punish them. 

Of course, Gareth was so often ruthless in a Wales shirt. He had scored the three goals that took us to the Euros. Would he have done it on his own? No, he needed everybody else alongside him, but we needed Gareth Bale on that pitch. If you’re at Real Madrid, you might have two or three other attacking players at the level of Gareth Bale. Wales had one, so I needed him on the pitch.

Managing him was so important. By that point he was at the stage of his career where fitness wasn’t straightforward, so I was prepared to work with him. I wasn’t going to insist that he had to play an 11v11 on a Thursday. Some players can’t train for three consecutive days – it’s known as the ‘third-day dip’. So I met with the medical team and sports science teams, and we’d get Gareth in the room and ask him what was needed to get him on the pitch for the game. From there, we would work backwards to organise the plan he needed. 

We got him to a position where he could go out and give us something for 90 minutes. Not everything at 100 per cent. There were a lot of games where he would have a five-minute break, because he knew if he went at high intensity for 90 minutes, he was going to blow a gasket. I am proud of the way we managed his loading through the week, giving him ownership and respect. If you show players respect, you get it back 10 times.

Going into our last two games of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, we had a chance of qualifying. Gareth had been out for two months with a significant hamstring tear, so we had to manage him carefully. He played when we beat Belarus 5-1, which set up our last group game, in Cardiff against Belgium – the number-one ranked team in the world.  

With a draw, we had a chance of being seeded in the playoffs, which would give us a home semi final. But we never went into a game to draw – always to win. We knew we could compete against the best, but to do that with Wales you’ve got to get everything right. We had to be at it from the first minute. The players had to listen to the game plan and bring their A game.

“They couldn’t get bogged down by the emotions surrounding it all”

Energy, discipline and ruthlessness were vital in games like that. Against Belgium we had energy from the first minute, then ruthlessness when Kieffer got a chance to score. And we had the discipline to see out our game plan and earn a crucial point that meant we would be seeded in the playoffs.

In the semi final we were up against a very good Austria. We knew that they had a high percentage of possession every game. We’d have to suffer without the ball and be organised in a defensive shape, knowing that we had players who could catch them on the break.

We couldn’t go toe-to-toe with them, because teams like that can play through the press at the right time. We were capable of being very aggressive in the press, but there are times – whether it’s a mid or low block – where you have to be compact and narrow. Against Austria, we had to be compact if they kept the ball for a couple of minutes. But, at the right time, we would go and press together.

We did it well and won 2-1. The playoff final would be the hardest game, though, because we were facing Ukraine not long after the war had started there. That meant there were a lot of emotions surrounding the game, which we saw in their semi final against Scotland. And Ukraine were a very good team. 

It meant we had to get every aspect of the game right, and our players could not get caught up in the emotions. On the first day of the camp, we explained to them that they couldn’t get bogged down by the emotions surrounding it all.

Of course, as people, as fathers, sons and brothers ourselves, we absolutely sympathised with the Ukrainians. I said to our players: “It isn’t right what they are going through. But this is our time to go and perform. To give three million Welsh people something to cheer about and get us to a World Cup for the first time in 64 years.” We had to be ruthless on the pitch.

“We did all this planning, but in the game against us they completely changed their press”

Again, we worked with Gareth on a plan that would prepare him. Sometimes I wouldn’t see him on the grass, but all I’d say to him was: “Come out and watch what we’re going to do without the ball, so you’ve got an idea of what is expected of you.” He scored the goal that won the game.

Leading Wales to the World Cup was the best moment of my career. The atmosphere in Cardiff, the feeling, was incredible. In meetings with administrators beforehand, I said that I wanted the atmosphere in the stadium to be electric. I wanted opposing teams to walk out and go: “Okay, this is something else.” When Dafydd Iwan sang Yma o Hyd – Welsh for ‘still here’, and apt for us at the time – it brought the crowd together. The atmosphere created by our crowd definitely played a big part in our success.

At the World Cup, we would play the US, Iran and England. Planning for the first game, I watched the US play Saudi Arabia in Alicante, and a lot of video footage. The US had a way of pressing with a number nine that meant, if you got through their press, you could overload the midfield and get your deep-lying player on the ball. So we did all this planning, but in the game against us they completely changed their press. They sat off, which meant our centre-back was the man on the ball and we didn’t have an out. We couldn’t play through and couldn’t play over because Kieffer was on the bench. So we had to make a change at half-time, when we were 1-0 down.

I took Dan James off at the break, and changed our shape. It made us better straight away. Sometimes you’ve got to make decisions that upset people, but it’s for the good of the team. We drew the game 1-1 with a late penalty from Gareth.

It is important you don’t lose the first game, so it was a positive start, but to lose the next one against Iran was disappointing. That was another lesson learned. I wanted to get our best players on the pitch, which meant Aaron Ramsey playing in midfield, instead of a League One player. I’m not sure there are many other coaches out there who would have disagreed. 

But when you consider the profile of the player we needed in that game, Iran were a very physical team. They played off the front, with two up front who could run, and they were all about second balls. As wonderful a player as Aaron is, his strength isn’t picking up second balls and having a physical battle. You want him on the ball, finding pockets and making passes for lads with pace like DJ and Bale. So it was a mistake on my part, but not exactly controversial to play someone who was playing for Juventus.

“As much as we have a detailed game plan that I go through, I do give the players ownership”

We changed formation for our last group game, against England, going with a back four. It was important for us to get pressure high up the pitch – we couldn’t be passive. It worked to the point that we went in 0-0 at half-time. In the second half, the players decided on the pitch to change the press and it resulted in an England goal. A minute later it was 2-0, and that was it.

As much as we have a detailed game plan that I go through, I do give the players ownership. For example, when we have a goal-kick, the goalkeeper should look up and think: “If the opposition have a plus one at the back, that means we’ve got the advantage somewhere, so we try to play through the press. If they’re man for man at the back, they’re really aggressive, so we play over.”

Euro 2024 qualifying started with a great performance in Split against Croatia, who’d just finished third at the World Cup. We went with a back four, with DJ playing wide left for us, but at times we’d ask him to track back and be a wing-back. You can’t just be one shape and have it set for 90 minutes – you have to be flexible. 

We knew we had to get pressure on their midfield of Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic – possibly the best midfield three in the world at that time. We went through the details and our game plan worked. It was an unbelievable performance – to equalise in the 93rd minute felt like a win.

Again, we made it to the playoffs. The semi final against Finland was one of our best – a complete performance, with the highest amount of possession we’d had in all the games. We were full of confidence going into the final against Poland.

In that game, our right-back Connor Roberts went off injured. I didn’t have an out-and-out right-back to send on and wanted to be as positive as I could, so I asked DJ to play wing-back. I felt we could go on to win.

“I left with my head held high, with great pride in having represented the country as well as all that we achieved”

We gave it our best, but lost 5-4 on penalties. Overall I was pleased with how we’d gone about things, but disappointed not to qualify. Expectations had risen with Wales, and rightly so. Off the back of qualifying for Euro 2020 and the World Cup, we had got to a place where we were expected to qualify for Euro 2024. We were one kick away.

I’d signed a contract and there was a long-term plan, including for two games we had in the summer of 2024. We contemplated cancelling those friendlies because the benefit was questionable. It was the end of a long season and eight of the lads who played against Poland didn’t make the games. In the end we decided to take a younger squad – to expose them to the environment, give them some minutes and get them ready for the next step up. That might not have been for the Turkey qualifier in September, but when they did come back they would have experience of a camp.

The board said they were happy with this plan, but when we didn’t get the results we wanted in the games, they decided to make a change. Despite the disappointment, you have to accept it – ultimately, I want what is best for Welsh football. I left with my head held high, with great pride in having represented the country, as well as all that we achieved.

Since then, I have been using my time to visit many football people and clubs, observing the development and recent patterns in all aspects of performance. I have also been reflecting on my experiences to date and refining aspects for my next opportunity. I am ready and looking forward to going back into management, and with my experience I have the openness for both domestic and international football. There have been chances to jump straight in, but I have put importance on being patient to make the best and most suited step in my career.