Get the latest Welsh rugby news sent straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

So, you thought Wales' Euro 2016 tactics were simple... pack the defence and then give the ball to Gareth Bale!

It is, however, far more sophisticated than that, as Chris Coleman reveals in a game by game breakdown of the methods used to drive Wales to France this summer.

The Wales boss gives a fascinating insight into how his tactics differed match by match and putlines why he made particular changes during the 90 minutes of certain qualifying games.

He spelt out the methods in a tactical analysis class given to aspiring coaches at a seminar held by the FAW Trust, which World Cup winners Thierry Henry, Marcel Desailly and Patrick Vieira attended.

Coleman reveals how Wales deliberately pushed Bale as high up the field as possible to try to expose gaps left by adventurous left-back Jan Vertonghen against Belgium.

"But Vertonghen played with Gareth at Tottenham and knew he could be devastating. So he paid us a huge compliment by staying back for the whole game," said Coleman.

The Wales boss outlines how he deliberately used Bale and Aaron Ramsey as two number 10s in the 3-0 win away to Israel, with Hal Robson-Kanu tasked with the selfless role of running around to deliberately create space for those two.

The plan worked a treat as Wales battered Israel, with Bale and Ramsey running amok in their free roles and scoring the goals.

(Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire)

He also explains how in the 1-0 home win over Belgium, Ramsey complained after 20 minutes that the tactics adopted left him 'too much ground to cover.'

Wales tinkered by telling their defenders to push further up the field and in the end the system worked magnificently.

Underpinning everything during the campaign, Coleman points out, was a move away from 4-4-2 and choosing three centre-backs for the most part, supplemented by Chris Gunter and Neil Taylor as adventurous wing-backs.

When Coleman first adopted the more defensive system in the opener away to Andorra, many reckoned he had lost the plot.

After its first airing saw his talented team struggle to overcome minnows Andorra , the doubters seemed to have a point.

But as Wales begin their final preparations for Euro 2016 the system is firmly established as the ‘Welsh way’.

Coleman worked tirelessly with his defenders to make it work.

Read more:Cardiff City manager Paul Trollope set to quit Wales job as Chris Coleman says 'he can't do both'

He said: “Throughout the qualifying campaign they’ve learned to become comfortable in uncomfortable positions. By the time we’d beaten Belgium I knew they’d cracked it.”

Here is the inside story, in the words of the Welsh manager, of how an idea sparked during a journey home from north Wales evolved into the system that led our nation to a first tournament since 1958 and why Coleman stuck to it in the face of heavy criticism.

"Before we kicked a ball Osian Roberts and I spoke in depth about a new system I wanted to switch to ahead of the Andorra game," said Coleman.

"Like most other teams, we had played a 4-3-3 but I wanted to come away from that and get something different up our sleeves ahead of the Euro 2016 campaign.

"Our biggest problem was being short on time. Trying to implement a new way of playing in a few days certainly wasn’t easy.

"It took a lot of work from the coaches to convince the players how three central defenders, holding midfielders, wing-backs and two number 10s could work because it was completely different from a 4-3-3.

"Some say it’s very defensive but it can be offensive if the two wing backs play high and wide and the striker and number 10s run with pace."

GAME BY GAME: COLEMAN'S TACTICAL BREAKDOWN ON HOW WALES GOT TO THE EUROS

Andorra 1-2 Wales

(3-5-1-1)

Hennessey

Chester Williams Davies

Gunter Ramsey Allen King Taylor

Bale

Church

Coleman: Without being disrespectful to Andorra they were a team who we expected to beat but this game didn’t pan out the way we wanted it to.

We were heavily criticised afterwards, but we knew this was the way we wanted to go through the campaign.

I even spoke to our psychologist Ian Mitchell about creating a ‘Plan B’ but he told me Plan B was getting Plan A right.

He was correct. This campaign has shown you should believe in what you want to do, stick to it and see it through.

I saw this as a system that could be stubborn and get results in places like Belgium, Bosnia and Israel.

To be honest we got away with it in Andorra and when we got back we spoke diligently about the plan for Bosnia.

Opinion:Chris Coleman has been worth every single penny as Wales boss after winning over his Army of early critics

Wales 0-0 Bosnia

(3-1-3-2-1)

Hennessey

Chester Williams Davies

Ledley

Gunter King Taylor

Bale J Williams

Church

Coleman: After struggling against Bosnia’s diamond midfield in the past we decided to start with one ourselves as well as keeping the three centre backs and wing backs.

The attacking plan was for Simon Church to stretch the centre halves to create space for Gareth Bale.

But once the game started their diamond midfield was giving us too many problems.

They were getting closer and closer to our goal so we decided to switch to a flat back five.

That is negative but with our history of poor starts to campaigns, I really didn’t want to lose that game.

We were going to be stubborn and try to create something from nothing. At full time we were happy to have four points from the first six.

Wales 2-1 Cyprus

(4-2-3-1)

Hennessey

Taylor Chester A Williams Gunter

King Ledley

J Williams Bale Robson-Kanu

Church

CC: Even though we didn’t tell the players, we knew we needed three points from this game.

We switched back to a 4-3-3 because we thought we’d get more possession and, with due respect, we were better than Cyprus.

After 35 minutes we were 2-0 up and it was working but they scored to make it 2-1.

We reverted back to two banks of four when they had the ball and when Andy King got sent off on 50 minutes it became a real test.

We kept the two centre backs and put two sitters in front of them and we dug in for win we needed, which was vital to take momentum to Belgium.

Craig Bellamy's Euro 2016 verdict:Wales will get out of group and Slovakia are a bigger 'concern' than England

Belgium 0-0 Wales

(4-2-3-1)

Hennessey

Gunter Williams Chester Taylor

Allen Ledley

Robson-Kanu Ramsey Cotterill

Bale

CC: Suddenly we had a real belief in the camp and we thought we could go to Belgium and win.

Belgium are a top team and would have lots of the ball but we worked really hard on stopping them playing quick passes around our box.

To be honest this was one where it was more about rolling our sleeves up than formations or tactics but we started with a back four solely because we had success playing that way against them previously.

Our plan was to get Gareth Bale as high up the pitch as possible to expose Jan Vertonghen, expecting him to surge up the pitch as usual.

But he played with Gareth at Tottenham and knew he could be devastating, so Vertonghen paid us a huge compliment by staying back for the whole game.

(Image: EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

When we looked at the stats we found that Gareth only touched the ball 18 times that night, which is very low.

We had to admit that we didn’t get the best out of him. It was a great result but the plan didn’t really work for us.

Israel 0-3 Wales

(3-4-2-1)

Hennessey

Collins Williams Davies

Gunter Allen Ledley Taylor

Bale Ramsey

Robson-Kanu

CC: For this game I really wanted three centre backs and Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale doubling up as number 10s.

If we could get those two in possession high up the pitch, I knew we could do damage.

It wasn’t easy because the players had never played that system before but Hal (Robson-Kanu) was instrumental in creating space for Bale and Ramsey.

We fancy those two against anybody, even if they’re being man marked.

We gave Israel a real shock because they thought we were going to defend for 90 minutes but we went for them from the start and dominated possession.

At this point I could see the players enjoying the formation because we were so expansive.

Israel 0-3 Wales highlights:

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Injury news:Wales' Euro 2016 rivals Slovakia's hopes hit by absence of all-time top scorer Robert Vittek

Wales 1-0 Belgium

(3-4-2-1)

Hennessey,

Gunter Williams Chester

Richards Allen Ledley Taylor

Ramsey Bale

Robson-Kanu

CC: Things had to change a bit for this game because Belgium are a quality team but the system was really starting to take shape.

They were always going to dominate possession but after 20 minutes Aaron Ramsey complained he had too much ground to cover.

It wasn’t Aaron’s fault, he’s incredibly fit but the centre backs and full backs were staying too deep and that was causing him a real problem.

Jazz Richards started coming out of his comfort zone and putting pressure on their left back. You have to be quick and bold to do that but he was brilliant on the night.

We’ve got clips of him leaving Eden Hazard to go to Vertongen at full back. It looked as though he was leaving Hazard on his own but the ball never got that far.

That night we executed the plan brilliantly.

The national anthem during Wales 1-0 Belgium:

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Cyprus 0-1 Wales

(3-4-2-1)

Hennessey

Gunter Williams Davies

Richards Edwards Allen Taylor

Bale Ramsey

Robson-Kanu

CC: By this stage the players had grown into this way of playing and had mastered the system.

We know we can be vulnerable in wide areas and fast wingers can destroy us but we have a plan for that.

Belgium’s wide players played high and wide, made it hard for our centre backs and forced them out of position but we coped and came away with a great win.

It was similar against Cyprus and once we’d won that we were looking really good.

We kept the same shape for the games against Israel home and Bosnia away, the only slight change we made was to flatten out to a 4-5-1 if we were getting wrecked out wide.

We always knew we had Andorra home last and the plan was to still be in contention going into that final game but thankfully, in the end, we didn’t need it.

*Chris Coleman was speaking at the FAW Trust National Coaches Conference 2016

Welshfootballtrust.org.uk