Anyone passing just a cursory glance over Wales’s pre-match team photos in recent years would notice there’s something just not quite right about them. In fact, they’re just a bit loose, weird even.
From the numbers not stacking up (four at the back, seven at the front anyone?) to the lopsided nature of the players’ arrangement when a more traditional six-plus-five formation is put into practice, it would appear members of the Welsh national team have a curiously skewed idea of what symmetry is or just can’t get a professional pose together when the heat is on.
Then again, it’s more likely that they’re just extracting a little mirth from an old footballing ritual. In recent months it has been pointed out to various members of Chris Coleman’s squad that they’re not very good at arranging themselves in two simple lines. Without Joe Allen and Aaron Ramsey in midfield, the same could be said about their in-game formation in the 1-1 draw with Georgia on Sunday night.
The bizarre team photo before the Georgia match, and Gareth Bale’s smirk, would appear to suggest that the Wales team are well aware of their reputation and are perhaps offering up satire by way of response. Are they reducing the numbers at the back in their formation game by game? If they employ a 2-9 pre-match line-up against Serbia on 12 November, we’ll definitely know the answer.
Here are a collection of rather odd Wales team photos from down the years.
The haphazardness goes way back. This effort was taken back in 2002, before a match with Italy.
