bazmidd

I would be loathe to call up to many u21 players whilst they are in such a great position to qualify for the euros in god knows how long and Clarkes point about allowing that team to grow is a good one. In saying that there are a couple of glaring positions needing filled in the seniors and there is undoubted quality in the u21s. Snodgrass retiring opens the door for Mikey Johnston if he can get fit before Cyprus. Ryan Porteous is better already than Gallagher, Findlay and Devlin with the potential to play at a much higher level. We don't have a right back and Ross McCrorie has just played his finest game yet there for Portsmouth tonight whilst also playing very well there for the u21s. Then there is also Fraser Hornby who is playing very well for his club right now in Belgium. These are probably the 4 at this moment in time I would consider promoting, all talented players and all playing positions in which the senior team needs filled.

Norwood is a deep lying playmaker, we have McGregor or McLean for that role. Fleck is a box to box ball winner. We have McGinn or McTominay for that, Fleck as back up which isn't too bad.

Our last manager experimented... He failed. A 3 at the back doesn't conquer Europe pal so give it a rest

I know that Leonard, Mcpake and Ethan Ross came through the schools as well, all cracking players

Wonder how many actually came through the performance schools played tonight

Yeah you are right there actually they are the first performance school group, puts the schools in a good light.

We've made it to the Elite round regularly the last few years at u17 and u19 level, it is basically the final qualification hurdle before the finals but only the best teams are there, it is difficult to qualify as it is a small euros but this team look good

Brilliant second half performance, did well to keep it tight and play our way into the game first half, goal gave us a lot of confidence and belief, and so we should have belief as we are actually very good on the ball when we have the confidence to trust our ability. Great to see and well deserved win

Yeah we definitely miss Mikey Johnston at times he is a quality player and can relieve a lot of pressure on the defence by taking the ball for a run. Can also make something happen out of nothing. Actually a not too bad looking team we have at u21 level would love to see them qualify as I have watched most of these lads come through from u17 level, probably the first time in a long time I have watched a Scotland youth team grow together. One player missing from those sides who was probably their best player back then is Jack Aitchison. Would like to see him get in the squad soon

Good result but really irks me that we still just punt aimless balls to the big striker at every opportunity. We never play through Midfield which is very surprising as Gilmour is one of the best at his age for playing this way. Defo not seeing the best of Gilmour playing this style but very sound defensively from Scotland

Shankland actually gets into some decent positions, was unlucky not to score, better than I thought he was.

Jeez chill out

This does suspiciously seem like the same person chatting to themselves on an internet forum, quite creepy actually haha literally far too much back slapping and agreement going on there. Anyway a back 3 with even more mediocre SPL defenders playing at the half way line fills me with even more dread.

I do take your point about two up front though, we give these teams nothing to think about, it is too comfortable for them, at least two strikers would occupy their defenders

Can you honestly name these decent centre halves with decent pace who can play in man for man situations to allow us to play a high line up the pitch? Because I can't. Our best centre halves are McKenna and..... Hmm I honestly don't know they are all utter crap lol. And McKenna is only really decent at best right now unproven at a higher level, he is best at doing the basics, heading, positioning, holding a line, but he doesn't have great pace, he isn't comfortable playing high up the pitch he is comfortable defending his box. As for the rest Hanley is similar to McKenna so the same applies to him as McKenna, Mulgrew would probably prefer to play higher up the pitch starting attacks as he is useless at defending his box but he has no pace and basically can't defend in one on one situations. Who else is there?

In my opinion our central Defenders aren't good enough to allow us to play a high pressing game, which is unfortunate for us as our best attacking players all play a high pressing game for their clubs, that is our conundrum right here. Our central Defenders are whats letting us down. Even having 2 decent EPL quality centre halves like N. Ireland have would u prove us ten fold

No punting the ball up to a striker who can't hold up the ball or punting the ball in that general direction and giving it straight back to the opposition is what doesn't allow our players to get up the pitch. I am all for building attacks through Midfield which will allow our Defence to push up which is when McGregor would come into his own, but our central Defenders are so bad they can't be trusted to come anywhere near the half way line. They have no pace and make piss poor decisions, they can't handle opposition Attackers on their own, they need help. They need protected. They are really that bad. They are no where near the standard of even Celtics central Defenders who have the pace and ability to push further up the pitch. We might get away with playing that way against San Marino fine but against Russia or especially in Kazakhstan when we got destroyed. The quick transitions I am talking about aren't Kamikaze runs from central Midfield, it is sitting deeper, 3 men in midfield, one anchor and two who are ball winning central Midfielders who can also go box to box who can win the ball and move it quickly to fast wide men before joining in an attack. There are many ways to defend and attack but it ultimately comes down to the personnel you have available

McTominay and McGinn should play together, dovetailing each other as box to box midfielders. They are quite simply our best Midfielders and can both do a bit of everything very well. Against better opposition McGregor is just a passenger he offers nothing that we need. Fine against San Marino or Cyprus etc we need creative players in there to break teams down, but against better sides we need players who are ball winners in there who can play in quick transitions and go box to box with one man behind them anchoring. McGinn and McTominay would be my central two every single game, with Fleck coming in as an anchor against better sides and McGregor or Christie coming in against sides we need to break down.

That's a good point about the effect our defence is having on our Midfield. Almost every one of our Midfielders and Robertson all enjoy pressing the play from the start for their clubs, Fraser, McGregor, McGinn, Forrest, Christie, Armstrong all like to press and play on the front foot. With the defence we have behind them though they just can't play their natural game. Our centre backs aren't suited to playing a high line and are woeful when not protected by Midfield. It is a major issue which is stifling our best players attacking instincts. Unfortunately two pacy solid centre backs aren't going to appear overnight so the defence we do have needs protected, which means sitting a bit further back, and playing ball winners in midfield and having pace on the counter. I'd much rather see Scotland play up and at em football pressing from the off but we just don't have the defence to do it.

How did the big centre half Jamie Hamilton play, I thought he looked quite a promising ball playing centre half in the first game until he fecked it for a Belarus goal. Hope it didn't knock his confidence much

Jesus man you really don't like Ryan Fraser do you. He is superior to all those players at all those things.

Would also like to see this tried also offers a bit more defensive cover that some have been asking for

Mulgrew has been our worst centre back for the past 4 or 5 games he is anything but inspirational and certainly not leading by example. He needs dropped instantly, clearly loves playing for his country but making far too many mistakes and you can see him visibly crumbling under the pressure of being the experienced centre half in there he isn't holding things together at all. It is very unfortunate Cooper is injured I'd like to give him the same run in the side Mulgrew has had see how things go as he is the captain of Leeds. Interested by some Aberdeen fans comments on McKenna, how has he been playing before his injury, is he capable of stepping up the levels?

I'd like to think he'd be delighted playing anywhere for Scotland

Snodgrass and Fraser, the team shape, and our organisation is not how we were beaten in Russia. Individual errors from centre backs, a wonder goal and then a defensive capitulation that again stemmed from an abysmal central defence cost us that game. Snodgrass is not what we need agreed, but I say that in an attacking sense as he has no pace on the counter. Who do you suggest we bring into the wide positions to strengthen things defensively because we will never get up the pitch if we stick 4 central Midfielders along midfield