Ryan Giggs: ' Ashley Williams '

Ryan Giggs on Ashley Williams' international future, Daniel James and Wales' win over Slovakia


Monday 25th March 2019



What a start to the campaign.

Perfect start really. A clean sheet and three points.

There was a bit of pressure on us. I tried to play it down beforehand but you can't hide from the fact that the other teams had already played, and Croatia and Slovakia had got three points so there was a little bit of pressure on us but I'm glad to get those three points and a great start.







It was a big call to leave out Ashley Williams. What was the thinking behind that?

I talked about it all week and with the advantage that we had physically, I wanted every player to be playing regularly, and that was the only reason.

With Ash, we gave him 60 minutes (against Trinidad and Tobago) and I still wasn't too sure up until yesterday. It was the only position really where I was deliberating.

He came on and saw us home, and he's part of the plans going forward, but that was the only reason really.

Ryan Giggs says he agonised over the selection of Ashley Williams





How pleasing was it to see Daniel James bring his club form to Wales?

As you say, he's brought his club form into the international stage and I'm delighted.

His overall game was fantastic and to top it off with a goal was great. He was just a threat all day. He will be with that pace but he's got much more aswell.

He can go either side, he's intelligent, he works hard and he's a great lad so I'm delighted he got the winning goal.

That's what you want, you want players playing regularly and playing well for their club, obviously Dan's doing that at the moment.




How far do you think Daniel James can go in his career?

He's a talent. When you've got that raw pace, you're a threat at any level so as a winger, obviously for me playing as a winger, when I was younger, you then have to develop the other parts of your game which I feel he is doing.

He's played up front aswell which will help him because that you an appreciation of what you need to do.

He can play the position and he can play up front. He just needs to carry on doing what he's doing for Swansea, it's as simple as that.







Did you feel the younger players upstaged the senior players?

A lot has been made of playing the younger players but they're all playing well for their clubs.

As I pointed out in the dressing room, coming into the week I wanted two clean sheets. Without Chris Gunter saving it off the goal line on Wednesday, that doesn't happen. Without Ashley Williams coming on and seeing us home, Wayne Hennessey again doing what he's done for years.

So it's not just about young and old. I've been in both camps.

When you're younger, you can learn from the older players and when you're older the younger ones can be that inspiration so I'm delighted everyone contributed during the week but of course, you want to focus on the younger players.

Matty Smith was outstanding, DJ coming in, so we have got talented players, but we can't do it without the experienced players.

It's not easy leaving them experienced players out. It's not easy at all.

Leaving Williams out, moving forward, with him not playing, does that hand the armband over to Gareth Bale on a permanent basis?

No. Ash is still the captain because you never know from camp to camp who is playing regular and who is not and who's injured.

He's a great leader and you're never going to take it well. He didn't sulk and you don't want them to take it well, you want them to be upset and want them to want to be on the pitch.

You saw when he came on, the leadership qualities when he came and I'm going to need that.







You said it isn't easy to leave out senior players, does that show you have a ruthless streak?

It's not a ruthless streak, it's just weighing up everything involved. The main thing was the players I picked are playing regularly and could we use the physical advantage of having a week to build up to the game.

It was more or less two teams, the team that played on Wednesday and then getting the other team, the majority of them ready physically for this game with Slovakia having that quick.

Slovakia didn't show any sort of fatigue. They finished strong. Maybe early on when we played some really good football, it was hard for them to get into the game.

But that was the only reason really, it wasn't a case of ruthlessness. It was just trying to pick the right team and physically having the team right.


You looked dangerous in attack, but was you heart in your mouth in the second half? Wayne Hennessey had to make a few saves.

It was nervy at the end. We didn't really punish Slovakia enough in the first half and you wonder if that'll come back to haunt you because in the second half we were under pressure.

Slovakia were fantastic and we had to defend and defending includes everyone, not just the defenders but also the goalkeeper.

Wayne's done it time and time again. A couple of times we could have kept the ball better and we could have made better decisions, but it's not easy.

When a team has that momentum it's difficult to stop but we'll learn by it and hopefully it'll stand us in good stead going forward.







What did you make of the partnership of James Lawrence and Chris Mepham at the back?

It's the first time they've played together but they're obviously both good players.

James is very good on the ball and I was happy with them, and a clean sheet aswell. You want to try and create partnerships as much as you can. Who knows in the future what the partnership is going to be.

It's always nice having the right foot and the left foot, but I thought they did well.

The defenders set the tone with the composure, the goalkeeper and the centre halves. Especially in the first half, they set the tone, playing out from the back, and sometimes having to go longer and they really mixed up the play well.







The last World Cup qualifying campaign was hampered by draws, has there been an emphasis on closing out games?

We're going to learn from today because we were put under pressure at the end.

I challenged the players to get more clean sheets because I feel, with the attacking talent we've got, that we're always going to create chances.

Sometimes you're not going to score lots of goals, but we feel that at any given time, with the talent we've got in the forward positions, we're going to create chances and score goals, so that makes it even more important that we do keep clean sheets.

It's two completely different games. From Wednesday, scoring late, so it keeps you interested, to today, scoring early, and having the determination to make sure we don't concede any goals, so I'm happy about that.








You've got Croatia and Hungary up next in June, how do you view that challenge?

It's tough. two away games in June, so we've got a camp in May to bridge that gap because the Championship finishes on the 5th and the Premier League on the 12th (of May).

So we didn't want a month without football, so we've got a camp in May where we can work on stuff and the fitness.

But it's not going to be easy because it's two away games. We saw the other night, Hungary were unlucky against Slovakia in the first game so it won't be easy.

Of course, the pedigree of Croatia and what they've shown over the last few years and the quality of players they've got, everyone recognises that they're favourites in the group, so it's tough, but it'll be a tough game for them aswell with the quality that we've got.