Taylor1996

At 107 in the World, they're the lowest ranked team we've faced since we switching to three at the back. Just shows how many decent teams we have placed in recent times, and never disgraced ourselves. In their last 10 matches they've won 3, lost 3 and drew 4 They're be more scared of us than we are of them. We'll win 4-0. Marshall Hanley - Gallagher - McKenna Hendry Robertson McTominay - Tierney McGinn Dykes - Fraser Manchester United christen their double-pivot "McFred". It's time for us to introduce "McTierney" 😛

I suppose it's possible. If you can gain insight and knowledge, it doesn't really matter where you get it from.

Yeah. He wasn't great, but there was a lot of that going around. The United bashers say that "he hides", "he can't pass" and "he isn't a defensive midfielder". The last one is 100% true. He needs to stop ball watching and allowing his man to have space and time. He's guilty of it at Manchester United, but we don't have Fred to bail him out. We can only hope that he matures and begins to be more proactive. He could do worse than watch some United videos, specifically the 09/10 season, and study Darren Fletcher. That season Darren Fletcher was world class. His pressing, his passing, his tenacity and his general leadership, was Roy Keanesque.

Have Scotland ever won the 6 nations? I'm guessing no. Won the 5 nations in what, 99? Yeah. Such winning mentality. If we're going to take mentality advice from sportsmen: there's Andy Murray, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Gary Anderson, Jamie Murray, Jackie Stewart, Sir Alex Ferguson, Kenny Dalglish, George Graham, Peter Wright, Walter Smith, Graeme Souness, etc. We might as well ask Vinny Jones and his Wimbledon colleagues to give the players a pep talk. Watching a rugby match is akin to watching the 90s Crazy Gang, without the entertainment.

In reflection, and looking at things in the big picture, we are progressing. In two matches, we didn't play well, against Israel even more so, but we still scored three and got two points. At least 2 of the 3 goals we conceded were avoidable. In neither match did we give away any clear cut chances. A few tweaks here and there (Getting the two midfielders to PRESS!!) and we could very well punch above our weight. Steve Clarke missed a trick by not including Gilmour and Gauld, and maybe even Turnbull. Will we qualify, though? We beating Denmark twice and Austria once, and then taking points off the other teams would probably be the only wa. Remember, only the winner goes through. 2nd team gets a playoff. The 3rd team gets nothing.

Definitely. Last night was disappointing, but when is the last time we played so badly, and still got a point? We've come back three times in the past two matches, it does show a certain amount of grit. But yeah, the next step is to be more offensive and actually press higher. We are progressing.

Yes. With the 3, all the teams we played were in the top 86. With the four, we played Cyprus and Kazakhstan and San Marino 6 times. All three are outsid the top 100.

The numbers are interesting: Previous 10 games with a 3: Won 5, drew 3, lost 2. Scored 9, conceded 8. Average ranking of opposition: 55.3 Previous 10 games with a 4: Won 5, lost 5 Scored 16, conceded 19. Average ranking of opposition: 94.4 So, playing with a three, we have played better teams, on average, we've won the same amount, but we've lost less. We've scored less (you have to counter in the superior opposition with that one) and we've conceded a lot less. We all wanted to be "hard to beat" and "hard to score against". Is this a case of "be careful what you wish for"? If you look at it like things in the big picture, I'd say that we are making progress.

D'oh I meant Philips. Just goes to prove how unrecognizable their midfield is. I was thinking of Kelvin Wilson, the forwe Nottingham Forest player.

Absolutely. We stood off them time, after time, after time. We did the exact same thing against Austria and we conceded from it. Chelsea play the system that we played last night (3-4-2-1) but their double-pivot presses the opposition and snapped at their heels! Ours? They step off and treat Israel players like they're superstars. The current system isn't to blame. It's either the manager's tactics or the players making mistakes. By and large, though, the "3", weren't to blame last night. Comparing our previous 10 matches (with a 3) to our previous 10 matches (with a four) we've lost less matches and lost a lot less goals playing with a three. And one of those 10 (with a four) was against San Marino. If we go back to a four then we might as well not attend Euro 2020, as we'll get pulverised.

Yeah. I'd say so. Just checked. They played Latvia in 2019, who played with a three, and Israel won 3-1.

Nah. I got it. No idea, to be honest. I had a glance at their results, they usually play against teams that play with a four. So it's hard to gauge.

Scotland will be fighting for third with Israel. Austria and Denmark will run away with it.

The only positive is we got a point. So many players played badly... but we did get a point.

Just wish Gilmour had the forum to prove it and develop.

It's less the back three than the midfield. In the past two matches, we've lost at least two out of three goals as a result of lack of high pressing and ball watching. The balance in midfield is off. We only have one anchorman. So when Jack is out, we are in trouble, even against the likes of Israel.

Don't care if Gilmour isn't playing club football. He can do the basics better than anyone in our squad. Not to bring England into this, but Gilmour is better than Rice and Wilson. As for Gauld, he's one of the best performers in the Portugese top league. Why these two, particularly, aren't the squad is strange.

It's best to forget about this match and just look forward to the Faroe match.

Yep.

The back three didn't do anything wrong tonight. It was McGregor and McTominay that let the lad strike it. We can blame tactics and formations and Clarke all we like. If one of these two got in the face of Peretz, he wouldn't have scored. Whilst playing with a back three there's no reason for our midfielders to keep backing off and ball watching. We need to find a defensive midfielder who really excels at pressing. If Jack was fit, I don't think Peretz would've scored.

Brilliant! We've swapped a guy that will throw his weight around and give defenders a nightmare of a time (Dykes) for a guy with "pace" who can't finish (Adams). Our system depends on a focal point. Adams is many thing, but good in the air, he is not. This will not be pleasant viewing.

Oh. There's zero percent chance of that being the team. It would be interesting to see Tierney and McTominay playing there, though. McTominay is like Dykes, but far better. And Tierney, I honestly think could play anywhere without any time needed to adapt. Not all players are adaptable, I mean, I wouldn't trust Gallagher in midfield, etc, but those two are top players.

I would love to see the reintroduction of the "B" team. It would be a good platform for players like Porteous, Morgan, Liam Henderson, Gauld, Nisbet, Gilmour, Johnston, etc, to give Clarke food for thought.

My autocorrect does that, too.

In terms of all round game? Yes, he is. In terms of finishing. No. Adams is a great goalscorer, but he is a scorer of great goals.