Wales 'not good enough' to compete with top teams

Wales have now not won in 11 games

Wales suffered a painful 5-2 defeat to Poland as their winless streak increased to 11 games in Newport on Tuesday.

Rhian Wilkinson said she was "not proud" of the performance after her much-changed side lost their seventh game in a row, the nation's longest losing run since the mid-1990s.

There were signs of promise from Wales with a few young players stepping up but they were exposed defensively all too often by a Poland side ranked 26th in the world, six places higher than their hosts.

BBC Sport Wales looks at how pundits reacted to the disappointing defeat.

'We aren't strong enough, we aren't fit enough'

Speaking on BBC Radio Cymru, former Wales international Kath Morgan delivered a scathing assessment of where she thinks the team is currently at.

"The opposition we've played over the last 12 months have been world class. We need to be realistic and realise that we aren't good enough to compete against these teams," she said.

"We aren't fit enough, we aren't strong enough, we aren't good enough in one on one situations."

The loss was only Wilkinson's second friendly fixture since taking the job more than a year and a half ago.

Before Poland, Wales' last six games were all against teams ranked in the top 15 in the world.

Speaking after the game on BBC Radio Wales Sport, former striker Helen Ward offered a more optimistic judgement on Wales' defeat.

She said: "I'm really torn. In isolation, if you look at the performance and the team Rhian Wilkinson put out, and the experience and quality they were up against you'd probably say there's a lot to take out of it.

"But when you look at the overall picture, the number of games we've gone without a win and the number of games we've lost in a row, that's really difficult to take and something that Rhian Wilkinson will really have to look at."

Wales made nine changes to the side which started last Saturday's friendly defeat to Australia, a game which saw the final appearance of Jess Fishlock.

Wilkinson suggested some of the senior players involved against Poland had failed to "grab that game" when the youngsters were in need of help.

Kath Morgan "strongly disagreed" with Wilkinson's judgement.

"I would've started maybe three of the inexperienced players and surrounded them with experience, then gradually change it throughout the game," Morgan added.

"I disagree with Rhian Wilkinson's comments when she said the older players didn't help the young ones. I strongly disagree with that."

Defensive demons?

In the last seven games Wales have conceded 25 goals, a record both Ward and Morgan believe must change if they are to have any hope of improving.

"Set pieces has been a real point of failure for Wales in recent months and games, they keep conceding and we can't afford to do that," Ward said.

"She'll have to pick the bones out of this, as to why these things keep happening because it is individual moments and individual mistakes that are costing Wales at the moment.

"It's a whole team thing and they really need to address why we're conceding so many goals and why we can't put enough in at the other end."

Morgan commented: "There's a lot of defensive work to be done. So, I say the same sentence time and time again, this is where we are and we have to deal with that."

Hope for the future?

Wales will be desperate to start building momentum as they look ahead to the Nations League, which doubles up as qualifying for the 2027 World Cup.

Despite the thumping, Ward believes there were some definite positives to take away.

"I thought Teagan Scarlett had a decent first half today, I think Mia Ross had an excellent game today. If you drop them into a team with a bit more experience, perhaps they can cope at this level.

"Going into that qualification phase, it's all about finding your best 11, the best system and the best way to win football matches."