Yahoo Sports What do the stats tell us about Craig Bellamy’s Wales?
After just six games in charge, Craig Bellamy has got Wales fans, players and pundits purring over his new style of play.
His Wales side's comeback win over Iceland on Tuesday night ensured promotion to League A of the Nations League and maintained Bellamy's unbeaten start to his managerial career.
"A breath of fresh air", said former captain Ashley Williams - but what do the stats tell us about Craig Bellamy the manager and what he's done with Wales?
Six games is admittedly a small sample size but there are already several trends.
So what's different? And where can Wales still improve?
Bellamy's desire to 'dominate'
Bellamy's Wales want the ball. The simplest - but most significant - change.
In his six matches in charge, Wales have averaged just over 56% possession - with his three home games topping 60%.
Only in Turkey did Wales have less than 50% of the ball and you could see the wry frustration on Bellamy's face afterwards.
"I want to dominate everything," he said after the goalless draw, before regretfully stating, "I didn’t dominate today".
For comparison, Wales averaged less than 43% possession across Robert Page's final six competitive games.
As a result of this desire to dominate matches, Bellamy's Wales make far more passes.
They made more than 2,400 successful passes across the Nations League campaign, with an accuracy of 85%. That is 500 more than the previous six competitive games, in which Wales managed less than 80% pass completion.
But it's not possession for the sake of possession. Wales now work the ball into more advanced positions. Bellamy's Wales made far more passes in the opposition half than in Page's final six games or at Euro 2016. They also play fewer long balls.
Interestingly though, Wales don't go on to take more shots under Bellamy. But the chances they do create are better quality. Their expected goals per 90 is now higher.
Although only Austria missed more big chances in the recent Nations League B campaign - showing there's room for even more improvement.
The case for the defence
This is not an exercise in undermining the work of past Wales managers.
In fact, Bellamy himself has praised the work of his predecessors.
After the draw in Turkey, Bellamy said Wales were "exceptional at defending the box", something he immediately credited to the men who went before him.
Page's Wales, for example, actually conceded fewer shots, fewer shots on target and made more tackles in his final six competitive games than Bellamy's Wales did in his first six matches.
In terms of expected goals conceded, Wales were one of the worst in League B of the Nations League - at 9.3. In reality, they only conceded four.
It will be interesting to see if they can keep defying their defensive stats in the World Cup qualifying campaign.
Individual stars
Bellamy can be rightly proud of his team as a whole, but Harry Wilson has undoubtedly been one of the stars of his tenure so far.
Four goals and an assist is an excellent return, especially given he is not currently starting games for Fulham.
He created the most big chances (5) out of every player in the most recent Nations League B campaign. Only two players scored more goals in Slovenia's Benjamin Sesko and a certain Erling Haaland.
He averaged 30 successful passes a game, compared with just 20 in the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign. In short, he has become Wales' key man under Bellamy.
Brennan Johnson has also improved under Bellamy. He has gone from averaging fewer than 10 successful passes a game in the Euro 2024 qualfying group to averaging more than 20 per game in the Nations League.
In goal, Bellamy was always keen to point out he does not yet have a number one pick. But Karl Darlow's individual stats stood out.
No goalkeeper in the four groups of League B recorded a higher save percentage (87.5%) and he was behind only Ireland's Caoimhin Kelleher in terms of goals prevented.
What's next for Bellamy's Wales?
The draw for World Cup 2026 qualifying will take place in Switzerland on 13 December. Wales are among the second seeds.
That campaign will take place throughout 2025.
Wales will hope to qualify automatically - but they could have a precious back-up in the form of a play-off after winning their Nations League group.
For Bellamy himself, he says he plans to spend time with other coaches to study how they work, while also developing his understanding of analysis technology.
As he reflects on his first six games as Wales boss, he will like what he has seen.
But the stats also show the ceiling for this Wales squad is much higher yet.
