Euro 2016: Five lessons England can learn from Wales, including know your best team and winning back the fans

England's early exit to surprise package Iceland has been made all the worse by rivals Wales reaching the semi-finals

There is plenty for England to learn from Wales's success at Euro 2016 (Getty)

Play the British way

A Le Figaro analysis of “Le secrets gagnants du Pays de Galles” (‘the winning secrets of Wales’) majored on something more fundamental than Chris Coleman’s much-discussed three-man defence. It was the heading strength of the team, who before the semi-final had won an average of 27 aerial challenges per game.

“The purest Anglo-Saxon style” is how the paper described the team. The lesson for England is that there is nothing shameful in incorporating traditional British strengths in their game. The Football Association’s “DNA” document is bizarrely prescriptive of players and what they should do in possession.

Wales has produced a document articulating a ‘Welsh Way’ of playing too but is not a prisoner to it. The team have proved that a physical aerial approach and creativity on the ground are not mutually exclusive concepts.

Know your best team

Ten players started at least five of Wales’ six matches in France and though it meant others were disappointed, there was an incredibly clear idea of the task in hand and how it was to be carried out. This particularly helped Wales when they struggled initially against Belgium in the Lille quarter-final and went a goal behind.

Compare the fog and muddle of Roy Hodgson making six changes for a last group stage game and waiting until the tournament had started before trying Wayne Rooney out in midfield. The Welsh esprit de corps was also helped by many of the players have grown up together through the Welsh junior ranks.

Build a bridge to your fans

Wales once had a real problem getting supporters through the turnstiles. Just 4,071 turned up for a friendly with Azerbaijan in June 2009 and 8,194 for a qualifier with Montenegro - the lowest crowd for a qualifier in the Welsh capital, that year. Journalist Chris Wathan’s book ‘Together Stronger’ (St David’s Press £13.99) reveals how the FAW’s imaginative #TogetherStronger social media campaign, with Bale, Ramsey and Ashley Williams lending the hashtag authenticity by using it, brought change and a zeitgeist.

Now everyone knows what it means. Good antennae have also helped. A Zombie Nation number - Kernkraft 400 – played on the stadium PA system in Brussels on the night of the Euro qualifier in which Wales secured a vital point – became cult among fans. So the Welsh FA ensured that it was played on the PA system when the Belgians arrived to play in Cardiff. Small details - each immensely relevant to the English FA, given that many people in England have no affection whatsoever for the team.

Be proud of the nation

It’s not only the ‘Anglos’ in the Welsh side who say that the efforts to provide knowledge about Wales and what it represents have helped build the bond. These included hearing the patriotic folk tunes of Dafydd Iwan to visits to the cemeteries of Welsh soldiers killed at the Battle of Passchendaele which kept them in Belgium until late afternoon on the day after their qualifier win there. The ‘Anglos’ felt the need to get to grips with ‘Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau’, because their teammates had. Hotels were asked to give players’ rooms Welsh names to provoke some conversation and laughter. Wayne Hennessey might find himself in the ‘Shirley Bassey Suite’ rather than ‘Room 205’ and a teammate in the ‘Tommy Cooper Room.’ The prevailing culture made players receptive. There’s nothing embarrassing about national pride.

Wales' players applaud their supporters in Lyon (Getty)

Find yourself a good quizmaster

England, like Wales, sought recreation in France. Their darts tournaments were co-organised by Joe Hart. But the way the Welsh players talked about their quizzes at the squad’s Brittany base created the unmistakeable sense that everyone was involved. Defenders Ben Davies and Neil Taylor appeared to be prime quizmasters. Bale often won – naturally. No-one could apparently touch his six-man team for the picture quiz of Premier League players with the faces blurred out, after the quarter-final.

There were forfeits for the losing team and quizzes took place before meals, making them inclusive. The players are not at all averse to the squad guitar being produced, either. “Fun,” was a word the players used, again and again. This seemed an utterly alien concept for England whose squad forfeit was to carry the toy lion mascot around for a day. The lion was found dumped in a skip at their Chantilly base when they’d left.