JUSTICE FOR JOE
Photo by Lewis Mitchell [lewismitchellphoto.photoshelter.com]
Megan Feringa
Outrage at squad announcements isn't new. Neither is outrage at game-by-game squad selections. Getting monumentally upset at a decision over which a fan has no categorical bearing whatsoever is a sacrosanct right of fandom. Like owning a bucket hat, or bemoaning a foul that was unequivocally a foul but because it was committed by one’s own player, its foul-ness is immediately terminated. Some might even argue it’s an existential duty. Fair enough.
What is not a right is to continue that outrage past the point of it being disproved.
The line is blurry. Football outrage knows no real boundary. That’s part of its charm. But haven’t we passed the part of slating Joe Morrell in the social media comments section before a game?
No, really. Because it’s bigger than Morrell. Only recently, how little top-flight football Wales’ first-choice team and squad players actually played at club level in comparison to their relative international footballing triumphs served as a massive source of pride for fans.
Wales have always reigned as an unsolved mystery in that sense, an ineffable case study in how the perceived logic around how international football should best be tackled is total rubbish. According to general international football canon, the best teams are those whose players are playing regularly in the top leagues. The more top-flight minutes under belts, the better. Period. End of discussion.
There are, of course, exceptions, but over the last decade Wales have cut themselves as the theoretical stumbling block to this edict. Specifically, how Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale (especially Bale) could be capable of slipping back into Wales-mode without a hitch despite all the hitches in fitness and drama at club level.
Ramsey is riddled with injuries and has only played 98 minutes all season for Juventus? Let’s have him score three goals and provide an assist in Wales’ historical World Cup qualifying campaign across two months. Only 83 minutes under Bale’s belt in nearly eight months and an entire country accusing him of slurping back Euros like oysters at Mardi Gras? Let’s score the greatest free-kick of all time and lead a country to a first World Cup in 64 years.
That all sound okay?
And that logic-defying quality wasn’t reserved solely for Bale and Ramsey. Over the last few years, it’s as if it has been taught to the rest of the squad, learned and absorbed via PowerPoint presentations or Oasis’ “Wonderwall” being gently played to the entire camp during sleep hours (science calls this hypnopædia).
This season while on loan at Rennes, Joe Rodon has already surpassed the 500 minutes he accrued while at Tottenham Hotspur all last season. Daniel James was previously the poster child for cobbling minutes together. Ethan Ampadu’s mishmash of minutes has dissertation-length Twitter threads devoted to it. A Wales goalkeeper playing consistently at club level? Never heard of ‘em.
For those players whose minutes did arrive consistently, they came at less-elite levels: Championship, League One and League Two.
Yet, the cries of “the power of the shirt” and “dragon on my chest” were not, despite the cringes from outsiders at the unabashed cliches, shouted in ironic jest when these players continued to flout convention. A palpable, inexplicable truth resided within it all, and it went along the lines of: Don’t ask us, but the shirt has superpowers.
That power is as much part of Wales’ allure as it is a strength, yet recently it has become a hotbed of contention and infighting within the fanbase. Joe Morrell – a player plying his trade with League One Portsmouth – represented the latest flashpoint in a stream of discontent against Rob Page’s squad selection and, more specifically, his preference for selecting players playing in lower leagues.
The temptation arises to view the argument as a them-versus-us case: The older generation of fans blame the new generation for their lack of knowledge of the “dark days” and their need to be grateful for the table they’re currently dining at. The newer generation blame the older generation for their inability to realise their neck deep in nostalgia quick sand and football in Wales has changed.
The party lines, of course, are not that straightforward, and there’s an argument to be made for fleshing out squad selections. Should Chris Gunter or Jonny Williams continue to be in the squad? Have Matt Smith, Dylan Levitt and Tyler Roberts been given enough chances?
But there are also the important factors of loyalty and remuneration, intangibles that reign incredibly important to Page. Those players currently within his ranks are those who have stood by him through unprecedented turbulence and won qualification to a first World Cup in 64 years. The culture fostered within the squad is delicate, and ultimately plays a critical role in selection, as does Page’s sense of giving a player time to prove themselves. To wrench a player out now, as Page has stated before, sends a poor message about loyalty to those within the squad and in the lower ranks, especially less than two months out from a World Cup.
"I'll be loyal to the group of players that have got us there,” Page said on Saturday when asked if the World Cup squad is already selected. “They deserve that right to play in the World Cup.” But Page admitted complacency won’t be tolerated and pointed to Luke Harris’ and Jordan James’ recent call-ups as evidence that the senior door “is always open”.
Is there room for that type of sentimentality in international football? Arguably not, particularly if competing at the top level is the ultimate goal. Ruthlessness wins silverware.
It would be remiss, though, to pretend Wales’ talent pool runs miles deep. Any new talent would arise predominantly from blooding youngsters like Harris and James, rarely a seamless process (even Brennan Johnson took two years). The limited talent pool will, eventually, grow, especially with funds accrued from qualifying for more major tournaments (hello, World Cup). But any meaningful growth will require patience.
Is this a growing pain of Wales’ recent success and the expectations that come with it? Absolutely. And the shouts against certain selections emerge from a good spirit (to see Wales continue succeeding at the highest levels). Yet, they risk ignoring the history from which that spirit has been allowed to grow in the first place.
If any player epitomises the friction between these two camps, it’s Joe Morrell. The 25-year-old has played just 85 league minutes this season due to a groin injury. Before the international break, he came off the bench to provide a vital assist in Portsmouth’s 2-2 draw with promotion rivals Plymouth. It was his first stint of competitive football longer than half an hour.
Yet, upon his entry into Thursday evening’s clash with Belgium, Morrell helped alter the game. There was no glamour to it, but with Morrell there never is. Instead, it’s an unflagging tenacity and straightforward ability to do the simple things consistently right. A player with limited minutes under his belt belying those minutes. Sound familiar?
If Wales are to push forward on the international stage, a rebooting of the squad is inarguable. But it’s important to remember the collective power Wales harbours to sprint from a standing start and perform greater than the sum of its parts. Wales’ standard from the bottom-up is lifting, but it won’t change overnight.