"We've had a taste of it now and we look forward to the future. We don't want to turn up to one tournament. It's about the bigger picture."

Speaking after Wales' Euro 2016 semifinal defeat to Portugal, Gareth Bale was already looking forward. So after the country's greatest international tournament performance, what can Wales do to ensure this was not an isolated incident? Iain Macintosh has some suggestions.

Extend Coleman's contract

It can be dangerous to award managers new deals just before a tournament begins, but the Welsh FA's decision to give Chris Coleman a two-year extension in May now looks to have been a very wise one. Next they might want to consider extending it further for a man who has endured mixed domestic managerial career fortunes but who has excelled himself this summer.

Coleman has cultivated an incredible team spirit and connected with the supporters. He has relished the media limelight and used it wisely, pushing messages of positivity and unity at every turn. Tactically he has been bold, deploying a back three where most managers would hide behind deep, flat lines of defence. He has used two strikers where others might risk only one.

But Coleman also works in a precarious industry and will know that one big contract from a Premier League club would bring complete financial security. Wales need to offer him that incentive first and extend his deal again.

Keep Bale talking

Bale is not the captain of Wales -- Ashley Williams wears the armband -- but he often carries himself as if he is, and that's encouraging.

Like Coleman, Bale was excellent in his news conferences throughout the tournament, asserting confidence in his teammates and gently goading the English, knowing it would galvanise his fellow countrymen. England won the game, barely, but Wales simply shrugged it off, thrashed Russia and finished first in the group.

At Real Madrid, Bale is just another superstar. And that's actually an improvement, given that he has, at times, been a scapegoat. But he's the hero for Wales -- the standout player -- and he deals well with the pressure and responsibility of that situation.

There's no obvious ego, and there are no signs of irritation at any shortcomings of colleagues, which might not be true of every star player. Whatever Coleman is doing with Bale, he needs to keep doing it. It's working.

Stay focused

Wales need to maintain the levels of intensity they demonstrated in France when the World Cup qualifiers begin. That sounds obvious, but it's not always that simple.

In 1990, having missed out on a place in the World Cup final on penalties, England regressed dramatically and only just qualified for Euro '92, from which they exited early and subsequently missed out on the 1994 World Cup.

This is a different time with different factors and a different country, but that should serve nonetheless as a warning that the thrill of this summer will wear off and will not be easy to replicate. The group dynamic might change in the coming months, and some players could slacken off while new faces try to settle into the squad.

Wales will reap the benefits of their boosted FIFA ranking in the draw for Euro 2020, but their qualifying group for Russia 2018 is challenging. Serbia, Austria and Republic of Ireland all await, as do tricky trips to Georgia and Moldova.

Give the next generation a chance

It's too much to hope that there might be another Bale out there somewhere, but Wales will need new blood soon. Williams will be 32 next month and, despite Hal Robson-Kanu's heroic Cruyff turn against Belgium, this is a team that could also do with an emerging talent up front.

Unfortunately there are few obvious contenders in the ranks. Since taking over as U21 coach in 2012, Geraint Williams has built on the work of Brian Flynn but, while the team is competitive, a bid to reach the 2017 European Championship was hampered by a meagre haul of just one point from games against Romania and Bulgaria in March.

Nevertheless, Coleman will need to keep the pathway between junior and senior teams open, and he'll have to be brave enough to give chances to prospects, in the hope that they will rise to the challenge.

Acquire expertise in genealogy

It's well-known now that a joke on the Reading training ground about Robson-Kanu's holidays in Wales led to his international call-up, but what isn't is just how many other players are out there with undeclared Welsh grandmothers.

Perhaps it's time to move on from lucky accidents. How much would it cost the Welsh FA to bring in a squad of amateur internet genealogists tasked with studying the family tree of every player in the top two divisions?

In a global game of tiny margins, why not just push the system as hard as you can? After all, everyone else is doing it.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by Iain Macintosh

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