Craig Bellamy said managing Wales had allowed him to “calm down” as he embarks on his attempt to lead his country to the 2026 World Cup.
Wales host Kazakhstan in Cardiff on Saturday in their first qualifier to reach the tournament. Bellamy is unbeaten since taking charge last July and has made the best start of any Wales manager.
Bellamy expressed excitement about the campaign after a four-month gap since Wales clinched promotion in the Nations League. The 45-year-old former Wales captain has spent five years coaching at Anderlecht and Burnley, predominantly as an assistant and first-team coach to Vincent Kompany, but Wales represent his first senior management job.
Asked about the shift between working at domestic and international level, in a week that Thomas Tuchel referenced needing to adjust to his role with England, Bellamy said: “Not playing week in, week out, two games a week, not having that: recover, prepare, game, recover, prepare, game. It’s actually really nice. But also maybe the stage I was at as a coach, maybe actually this is good for me at this present moment.
“It allows me to look back, calm down, actually just go through how the week was, what could be improved, what was good, so it probably allows me … maybe it has given me that space and time to improve and reflect, but you have to make good use of it. Time will tell if I’ve made good use of it. But I believe that’s probably more important. I haven’t managed before, Thomas has managed before so he will have a different view of it.
“My view of working day to day and now actually being a manager, it’s a really good environment in which to learn. You have to have good people around you and I definitely have good coaches, but also good people above you who plan your days, plan your weeks, keep you active.
“I’m definitely grateful for them. They’ve managed to keep me active … probably too active. I don’t feel like I’ve had a big break, I feel like I’m constantly at work.”
Ben Davies, the Wales captain in the absence of Aaron Ramsey, who recently underwent hamstring surgery, said the team’s poor showing at the 2022 World Cup, when they finished bottom of Group B without a win, was a driver for the squad to reach another major tournament.
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“It is something that sticks with me and I’m sure it sticks with a lot of the guys,” the Tottenham defender said. “The best moment of Qatar for us was probably just the Ukraine [playoff final] game in getting there and it was disappointing out there and it was something that was tough to get over for a while. We didn’t really show how good we can be on the world stage and that hunger to go and do it again is definitely there.”
Bellamy said the experience of qualifying for a World Cup would serve him and his squad well. “I can just sit back and let them [the players] do it,” he said. “It’s so valuable. Their calmness with it as well, they’ve been there [to a World Cup]. But also the crowd, they’ve been there as well. It’s so important because they’ve got to experience major tournaments.
“When we say ‘Together stronger’ [the Wales slogan], it’s everyone. I expect expectations, I welcome them. I’d be concerned if we didn’t have them. I’ve never tried to play them down but, at the same time, we have to play our game, no matter what goes on.”
Source: theguardian.com
