Williams aims to step out of shadows of Welsh icons

Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption,

Neco Williams has won 53 caps for Wales

BySami MokbelSenior football correspondent

Published42 minutes ago
13 Comments

Neco Williams is in awe of what came before him. The names of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Craig Bellamy revered as everlasting icons of Welsh football.

But is walking in their footsteps a gift or a curse? Living up to the soaring standards set by the aforementioned trio is an expectation Williams and his Wales colleagues have no option but to cope with.

Of course, Williams is working alongside one of his heroes in Bellamy, who is currently Wales head coach.

The pair face a big week. Wales face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup play-off semi-final on Thursday before a potential final against Italy or Northern Ireland next week for a place in this summer's tournament.

The shadows of Bale and Ramsey et al continue to loom large – but are they an inspiration or a burden?

"A bit of both," Williams told BBC Sport.

"As kids, you watched the likes of Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, Craig Bellamy. You grew up idolising them. You wanted to be like them.

"And now that they've retired, it's the new generation to come in. We're not a massive country and we don't have loads and loads of players.

"But the way we are as a team and the togetherness, I think that's what drives us and gets us through.

"Where I used to see myself as a youngster, now I'm not that youngster any more. I'm more the senior player and I need to mentor these young lads coming through. We're a family."

Speaking to Williams, you quickly grasp the level of admiration he holds for Bellamy, who has entrusted the Nottingham Forest full-back to be a key part of the team he hopes qualifies for a second successive World Cup.

Bellamy's rambunctious and infectious approach to his playing career made him one of the Premier League's most effective forwards.

Williams says his approach to management is just as enthralling.

"How good he was as a player, he's the exact same as a manager. He's obsessed with football," said Williams.

"He's just constantly talking about football. He's obsessed with Wales and you want a manager like that."

Having qualified for World Cup 2022 through play-off wins over Austria and Ukraine, Williams knows all about what lies ahead over the next seven days.

Nerves, tension and stress – but Williams insists it will all be worth it if they reach the finals in June.

"It would mean everything," he said.

"I've been blessed enough to get to one and to get to another would be an incredible achievement.

"The World Cup in Qatar - our play-offs were staggered because we played Austria the first game and then because of what was happening in Ukraine, that got pushed on to the summer.

"So it felt like everything about that tournament was a little bit rushed. We were the last team to qualify. We had the last pick with basically everything - the hotels, the travel, the hotels for our family.

"And when we were there, it was all was our first World Cup, so we didn't really know what to expect.

"I think we'd do better if we get to this World Cup."

Craig Bellamy speaks to Neco Williams after a Wales game

Image source, AFP via Getty ImagesImage caption,

Williams has spoken of how impressed he is by Craig Bellamy's management style

Personal investments paying dividends

Wales' shot at World Cup qualification arrives as a welcome distraction from Forest's fight against relegation for Williams.

From a personal perspective, the 24-year-old is having the most consistent season of his career, having made 48 appearances for club and country.

Williams puts his individual improvement down to some of key off-the-field investments in recent years.

"I've got a personal trainer who works on my strength, my core, my balance, and I feel like that definitely helped my game," he revealed.

"I'm making sure my nutrition and diet is right - all the supplements, the tablets, the shots you need to take.

"I've invested in machines to help my recovery. I've got a red-light bed at home, compression boots. I've turned the garage into a full gym now.

"I work with a psychologist too. Every footballer goes through tough periods and every career is like a like a rollercoaster.

"There's downs. It's not all smooth sailing. I'm not a massive over-thinker but I definitely do have a lot of conversations in my own head, so working with the psychologist is just more about training my mind to not constantly think about stuff and to be in the moment."

Those personal investments are paying dividends. Indeed, it is understood that clubs in the Premier League and Europe are taking an interest in the versatile full-back before the summer transfer window.

Despite their struggles, talents like Williams, Elliot Anderson and Murillo are all admired at clubs traditionally higher up the food chain than Forest.

It is gearing up to be an interesting summer at the City Ground.

On his own form, Williams said: "I'd say it's probably been one of my best and consistent seasons I've had as a player.

"I think I've missed one Premier League game from my own doing when I obviously got sent off.

"I've always found it a bit difficult to get that consistency and I think as a professional you need that consistency especially when you're playing in the Premier League.

"There's no point having a good game every four or five, so I've really worked hard on trying to find that consistency. I feel, especially this season and last season as well, I found that.

"I'm not having a really good game, then a really bad game, then a really good game."

'No time to sulk' in a season of managerial changes

Yet Williams' personal achievements are tempered somewhat by Forest's collective difficulties.

Sunday's 3-0 win over fellow relegation strugglers Tottenham arrived as a major boost – but there is no escaping the fact the club's season has been underwhelming at best.

It is a far cry from last season when Forest were fighting for Champions League qualification before eventually entering the Europa League.

Of course, the managerial changes – current boss Vitor Pereira is the fourth head coach the Forest squad have worked under this season after Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche – have not necessarily helped the team find a consistent rhythm.

"Every manager or coach has their different ways," added Williams.

"I guess this is just part of the parcel of football where the manager goes, you've got to be ready for the next one and you've got to take on his ideas and his style of work straight away.

"You know, to have four different managers with four different styles and ways of working - you've just got to adapt quickly and get used to it.

"There's no time to sulk. You've just got to get on and you've got to get on board with his ideas straight away.

"If you're talking from a team perspective, we're in a position where we don't want to be in.

"After last season we're in a position now that none of us wanted to be in. We're obviously balancing the Premier League, the Europa League and we obviously had the cups earlier in the season, so it was a lot more games, but that was the reward we got for what we did last season.

"It hasn't been ideal and we do want to be higher up. Last season we were playing one game a week. Now we are playing Wednesday, Saturday, Thursday, Sunday.

"So where last season you have a game, then you recover, you train and then build back up to play again, now you play, you recover and then you play again, so you don't have time in between to recover properly or work on tactics and analysis in the training ground.

"And then at the same time, you're playing obviously a hell of a lot more games and what we're used to."