Euro 2024 qualifying: Armenia defeat a 'slap' Wales need, says boss Rob Page
- Published
Wales manager Rob Page looks on after the sending off of striker Keiffer Moore
Euro 2024 qualifying - Group D: Turkey v Wales |
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Venue: Samsun Stadium, Samsun Date: Monday, 19 June Kick-off: 19:45 BST |
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Sport website & app; live text commentary on BBC Sport website & app; highlights on Match of the Day Wales |
Manager Rob Page described Wales' humiliating 4-2 home defeat by Armenia as a "slap" his team might need.
On a chaotic Friday night, Wales were stunned by opponents 71 places below them in the world rankings.
The result leaves Wales third in their Euro 2024 qualifying group behind Turkey and Croatia.
"Everything happens for a reason. Perhaps this is the slap we need, a little bit of a reality check," said Page.
"Everybody's getting starry-eyed and carried away. Yes, we've had a great start in March but there's no bad teams now anymore.
"I felt such in a positive place before the game, full of confidence, and I didn't see that coming. That's really shocked me as much as anyone else.
"The fundamentals of what we stand for, what we represent, the hard work… we were too expansive and that's not what we're all about.
"We're hard-working and we pride ourselves in doing the not-so-pretty side of it. They [Armenia] taught us a lesson in that, how to do the not-so-pretty side of the game."
Friday's defeat was as chastening as it was surprising for Wales, who had made a promising start to this campaign in March by drawing in Croatia and then beating 1-0 Latvia at home.
But the display against Armenia saw them regress to the kind of levels they demonstrated during last year's World Cup, in which they exited at the group stage after three wretched performances.
"When you play the way we play against their formation, you have to be compact as a team and we were far too expansive and got done on four transitions," said Page.
"They were probably the worst goals you're ever going to see. They were clinical.
"I'll never question the attitude of those players. We as coaches, we take the responsibility. The attitude of the players has been incredible all week."
Wales must now pick themselves up for Monday's trip to Turkey, whose late victory in Latvia took them to the top of Group D.
"We'll be up first thing in the morning, we'll watch it [the Armenia defeat] back and we'll learn from it.
"The positive is we've got a game on Monday to put it right."