The Aftermath

[Tartan blood]

Once again , despite the result, i feel proud of the team. However unlike similar games in previous years, where we showed spirit, fight , determination etc alone, we showed composure, skill, technical ability and tactical awareness in abundance tonight. These are all things we can take forward into other games.

In previous years we tended to raise ourselves and produce one-off performances in these types of games, however tonight we showed we are a solid team, there was no miracle, Paris type of fluke in our performance.

The fact that the world champions were attempting to run the ball into the corner against us shows just how far we have come. If we can continue this consistency and momentum we seem to have this group won't cause us too many problems.

Swap a fit Brown for Morrison and slot Snodgrass in there and I wonder what we could have accomplished tonight.

You are spot on, we were playing quick passes and great through balls and even had periods of possession that really pinned the Germans back. We gave them quite a fright. And i think we will have struck fear into the hearts of our competitors tonight, too.

[DC92]

Great to celebrate the goal but I have to admit I thought we were crap tonight. On another day we'd have lost by 2 or 3...

If that was a crap performance then I've never seen us play well.

[Toepoke]

If that was a crap performance then I've never seen us play well.

I may have exaggerated there but forgive me I've been on the batter all day.

That said I thought our ball retention was absolutely dire tonight

[BremnerLorimerGray]

Losts of positives to take from tonight.

I thought Fletcher did well to an extent, but he still looks a bit away from competing at international level.

I can't really see why Whittaker is getting so much flak, I thought he had a decent yet unspectacular game.

Great performances from Anya, Naisy, Bannan and Marshall. S Fletcher did well when he came on too.

Negatives.

Hanley was again the weak link in the team. He is nowhere near up to playing at this level.

Martin was found wanting for the 1st goal, both in positioning and in effort.

I've watched McArthur play better games than he did tonight, I thought he was a bit over awed by the occasion though I don't think there is a great deal he can do for the second Muller goal.

Mulgrew was extremely stupid and had been let off several times during the match for petulance. The ref wasn't shy however in flashing the second yellow.

An incredibly weak refereeing performance from another so called "Elite" official.

Edited September 8, 2014 by BremnerLorimerGray

[AbductedbyAliens]

Tremendous goal. Somne basic errors at the back but can take great heart from that perfromance.

[er yir macaroon]

That's exactly the team i would choose, and probably the one that will take us to the Euros.

I'd say the only interchangeable positions are the CBs but unfortunately none of the young CBs breaking through look like they will be ready in the next couple years. The other is Steven Fletcher's. On his day, he is fantastic and i'd happily have him lead the line in all our games. But i i think, with the system we play, we could do with a faster, counter attacking centre forward that can get on the end of through balls. But that is nit-picking.

Though saying all that, Bannan was excellent tonight. I'd have no reservations with playing him at RM again.

Bannan was good and could replace Snodgrass in that team while he's out. A fully fit Forrest would be a great option for us on the right with Anya on the left, who along with Hutton and Robertson would give us unbelievable pace down the flanks. If you have clever players like Naismith, and Fletcher centrally then you're in business.

[PASTA Mick]

Bannan was good and could replace Snodgrass in that team while he's out. A fully fit Forrest would be a great option for us on the right with Anya on the left, who along with Hutton and Robertson would give us unbelievable pace down the flanks. If you have clever players like Naismith, and Fletcher centrally then you're in business.

Good post.

Centre-back remains a problem position for us and until better options come along we just have to hope Hanley and Martin learn with experience and continue to improve.

[betsy123]

Thinks I learned from Yesterday.

1,If Scotland play like that in every game they will finish second.

2,Germany aren't as invincible as once thought and they may drop points further long in the campagin.

3,It wouldn't matter if Pep Guardiola was the Irish manager,we would still play badly away from home against "lesser" teams.

4.Poland/Lewandowski state early intentions.

[er yir macaroon]

Thinks I learned from Yesterday.

1,If Scotland play like that in every game they will finish second.

2,Germany aren't as invincible as once thought and they may drop points further long in the campagin.

3,It wouldn't matter if Pep Guardiola was the Irish manager,we would still play badly away from home against "lesser" teams.

4.Poland/Lewandowski state early intentions.

Georgia away gives me nightmares. You're Glaswegian forward did you a turn there.

[MadridTA]

Obviously gutted at the defeat but I think if we are going to lose, lets lose like that...feeling angry and knowing we could get more...I think that anger can be chanelled in the right way...I can see us fly out the traps against Georgia at home now!

[Bingo Foot Soldier]

Second half was a great effort . Weak for the 2nd goal with the defence showing bomb scare tendencies . The Germans have been weakened by retirements at the back and it shows

[er yir macaroon]

I don't think enough was made of our own injuries. We lost 3 nailed on starters - a country of 82 million can cope more easily with such losses than us.

[Big Col]

I shouldn't be upset because we played a lot better than I thought we would.

But to give away such a sloppy goal.

[bremner]

at last the green shoots of recovery are showing and something to build on .hard to be critical thought fletch was a wee bit of the pace and a lot of his passes went to german players.referees international status should be questioned and mulgrew doesnt need to be told he was a bit daft at the end

[saintlyscot]

played well but that was the best time to play Germany and we could and probably should have got a point. what a boost that would have been. what with Ireland's result it was a disappointing night. it has ramped things up a bit for the double header next month. need to take a minimum 4pts or we will be behind the eight ball again. the attacking intent has improved hugely however and should stand us in good stead.

[Alt-Del]

Twenty-minute spell in the second half gives cause for optimism, but there was lot wrong apart from that... One or two players (including, sadly, Darren Fletcher) really don't look up to it (although they won't be playing Germany every match).

Think we know what our best front four is, though (as said above): Anya-Naismith-Snodgrass behind S. Fletcher. Back four also probably picks itself, although less encouragingly. Choose a goalie and somebody to play alongside Brown and hope they all stay fit...

[andyD]

Negatives.

Hanley was again the weak link in the team. He is nowhere near up to playing at this level.

Martin was found wanting for the 1st goal, both in positioning and in effort.

I've watched McArthur play better games than he did tonight, I thought he was a bit over awed by the occasion though I don't think there is a great deal he can do for the second Muller goal.

Mulgrew was extremely stupid and had been let off several times during the match for petulance. The ref wasn't shy however in flashing the second yellow.

"Hanley was again the weak link in the team." I thought we did reasonably well defensively all night. When you think what the germans are capable of, we pressured, we blocked and we stayed organised for almost the full 90 minutes. they didn't rip us apart and if one of our center backs was a terrible as you're making out we'd have lost by a lot more.

"Martin was found wanting for the 1st goal, both in positioning and in effort." huh? there was very little we could do with the first goal once the cross is hit. muller's got up really well, he's being challenged by martin and hutton, they're right on him, but the ball and his jump is inch perfect. the only chance we had there was to stop the ball coming in in the first place. anya's got sucked inside i think due to mulgrew being out of position and whittaker's not stepped up to cover the wide man. he leaves anya with both and covers a guy who's already marked by 3 instead. then when the ball comes across anya (understandably) can't get there quick enough. blaming it on martin (and questioning his effort!?) i really don't understand.

"I've watched McArthur play better games" no question. he was pretty ineffectual in every way when he came on. I don't remember a single game for us where he's actually played as well as he can. just one of those that can't do it at international level. I'd rather see us use morrison deeper or give macdonald a shot than see mcarthur play again.

"Mulgrew was extremely stupid" i guess. seemed incredibly harsh to hand out the second booking so quickly for a relatively minor offense, especially after drum and muller's fouls. i wonder if the ref didn't realise it was mulgrew until after he'd gone for the card. silly to have kicked it, it gave teh ref the opportunity to make a harsh sending off.

My take-away from the reaction on here is we're far too down on our dfensive players. i've seen people criticising martin, hanley, whittaker, mulgrew and morrison.. who exactly do they think stopped the german midfield just running roughshod over us for 90 minutes? hutton and fletcher by themselves? it was a decent team effort, we stay organised for the most part (notable exception being the 2nd goal) and while we had a few last ditch challenges, they were made. we got blocks in and while marshall had a few notable saves to make, against the world champions it was a good display. Better teams than us have lost by a lot more, very recently and many good teams have failed to be as much of a threat to beating them as we were.

I'm gutted to have lost, but there's no way in the world that half the team played as badly as some would have you believe.

[Hertsscot]

I don't think enough was made of our own injuries. We lost 3 nailed on starters - a country of 82 million can cope more easily with such losses than us.

I think that's a very good point, the missing guys last night would have been in the team. I think the encouraging thing is that even with losses in key areas that Strachan's able to get people playing as a team and its that which gives me confidence. Generally I feel that sooner or later we were going to lose, no team can keep an unbeaten run going forever and I'd rather lose to the Germans than some of the others especially if we made a game of it as we did in the second half.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Hertsscot

[Jimbo]

Twenty-minute spell in the second half gives cause for optimism, but there was lot wrong apart from that...

This

Game could have been virtually over by half time but fair doos we showed a bit of belief in the 2nd half and played much better and created a few good chances

[McVinceSCT]

We had 4 big chances to score and only scored one. Naismith should have scored 1 of the 2 chances he had.

Anyway, it's very promising. Can't wait for Georgia game!

[Caledonian Craig]

This

Game could have been virtually over by half time but fair doos we showed a bit of belief in the 2nd half and played much better and created a few good chances

Stand back and take deep breaths. We were playing the WORLD CHAMPIONS and we haven't reached a major tournament since 1998 so what were you expecting? There is a gulf in class between Germany and Scotland and that is just a fact so we have to scramble and scrap for results like these especially with three certain starters ruled out of the game through injury. The fact we hung in there is a testament to how far we have come as a spirited and well-organised unit under Strachan. It is a given that Germany will walk this group so it was always going to be about how we do against the rest. The real action starts next month and we cannot afford any slip-ups. If we play with the same spirit and organisation and attack-minded style as we did V Germany we will get the required results in those games of that I am sure.

[Jimbo]

So you disagree with me?

[Caledonian Craig]

I disagree with the fact you seem to agree with Alt-Del who said he saw a lot that was wrong with our performance (or words to that effect). That is just nonsense because?:-

A. Germany are World Champions and we haven't reached a major tournament for a generation now.

B. There is a difference in quality in the German side compared to ours.

C. We were away from home.

D. We were missing three certain starters from our team.

We lost 2-1 despite those pertinent facts so I struggle to see how there was so much wrong with us. The only things that disappointed me was Whittaker's performance, the softness of the goals we conceded and the ref and end result. So all things considered I cannot see how on Earth there was so much wrong with us.

[Langtonian]

the germans were missing a number of key first team starters along with retirees

[Caledonian Craig]

the germans were missing a number of key first team starters along with retirees

I am sure they had seven members of the World Cup winning squad/team in the side though. That is seven more than we will probably ever have - that is the difference in the gulf in class so a 2-1 defeat over there is certainly not an occasion to claim we had a lot of things wrong with us. That is the point I am making here.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Caledonian Craig