Nation League Group C

[Texas Pete]

7 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

One-nil would be a fantastic result. No irony.

Agreed. 

[romanticscot]

We won 2 nil, and are sitting top of the group with one played.   I think this nations league is a success.  I watched France and Holland the other day when normally I would not care to watch other qualifiers or friendlies.  

If we did not have a play off spot to play for, it is very possible that this tournament thing would not be so engaging unless you were sitting in League A. 

[magicTs]

Massive opportunity to win this group. We should definitely be beating Israel at home but of course its the 2 away games that will be pivotal. A win in either or 2 draws will be enough to win the group. Looking at the rest of League C you would probably anticipate Serbia/Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria/Norway being the other group winners for the play offs. It is possible that one or two of the teams could qualify automatically through the normal Euro 2020 qualification which would mean they are replaced by poorer sides in the play offs but by no means definite. 

 

[Texas Pete]

On 9/8/2018 at 11:51 AM, Bino's said:

Yes they'll be stuffy

But at home we should have enough to beat them 1-0

 

As long as we don't pass the ball to them in front of our own nets

McGinn did this again last night Albania still couldn’t score. A better team would have punished us. 

[er yir macaroon]

3 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

McGinn did this again last night Albania still couldn’t score. A better team would have punished us. 

True, but he also did the most things right. He’ll learn. 

[Texas Pete]

Just now, er yir macaroon said:

True, but he also did the most things right. He’ll learn. 

Yeah he was decent enough apart from giving the ball away needlessly a couple of times. 

If he cuts that out he’ll do very well for us. 

[McDange]

Northern Ireland playing Israel in a friendly tonight on Sky. 

[romanticscot]

One positive note about the next round of fixtures is we have our competitive game first and then go into Portugal so we can be fresher for the first game and then not came about the Portugal game if we have anyone pick up a knock - I would even use that game to try some different players.  Make it count for something other than a demoralizing defeat.

[scotlad]

22 hours ago, magicTs said:

Massive opportunity to win this group. We should definitely be beating Israel at home but of course its the 2 away games that will be pivotal. A win in either or 2 draws will be enough to win the group. Looking at the rest of League C you would probably anticipate Serbia/Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria/Norway being the other group winners for the play offs. It is possible that one or two of the teams could qualify automatically through the normal Euro 2020 qualification which would mean they are replaced by poorer sides in the play offs but by no means definite. 

 

I'd expect Serbia to qualify automatically through the group stages, they're a good side.

[Texas Pete]

8 hours ago, scotlad said:

I'd expect Serbia to qualify automatically through the group stages, they're a good side.

They can’t be that good if they’re in League C. They’ll be pot 3 at best for the qualifiers so I wouldn’t bank on them finishing in the top 2. 

They also drew with Romania at home on Monday night. 

[wanderer]

1 hour ago, Texas Pete said:

They can’t be that good if they’re in League C. They’ll be pot 3 at best for the qualifiers so I wouldn’t bank on them finishing in the top 2. 

They also drew with Romania at home on Monday night. 

UEFA co-efficient is based on last 3 cycles, and Serbia had a poor WC 2014 campaign (only finished 2 points above us) and a extremely poor Euro 2016 campaign that has dragged them down, as since 2016 their form has been excellent (aside from the World Cup, they have only lost two competitive matches since since Sep 2015), so even if they are in pot 3 for next years Euro draw, a top 2 finish for them is not out of the question, and probably find a lot of teams are wanting to avoid them.

Edited September 12, 2018 by wanderer

[Squirrelhumper]

We should be beating Israel home and away. They are shite.

[Orraloon]

44 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

We should be beating Israel home and away. They are shite.

They are pretty shite but that's why they are in the same league as us.

After one competitive game I am feeling reasonably confident and I think we can beat them home and away but I wouldn't go as far as saying that we should do it.

[Potted Heid]

Quote

Isreal were beat 3-0 by NI last night and are on a run of defeats.  Our next game against them is a great opportunity to get three points on the road and put us in a great position to top this group.

 

[Orraloon]

49 minutes ago, Potted Heid said:

 

They got beat 3 - 0 away from home by a League B team and we got beat 0 - 4 (could have been a few more) at home by a League A team. Fairly similar IMO. Both friendlies though so I wouldn't read too much into either result.

[Tartan Chris]

4 points against Israel should be very realistic and things would be looking very good then.

Albania would need to win in Israel then and no guarentee that will happen.

[Grim Jim]

23 minutes ago, Tartan Chris said:

4 points against Israel should be very realistic and things would be looking very good then.

Albania would need to win in Israel then and no guarentee that will happen.

I'd say as likely as us getting nothing in Albania.   Let's get a win in Israel and put us in the driving seat.

[Squirrelhumper]

32 minutes ago, Orraloon said:

They got beat 3 - 0 away from home by a League B team and we got beat 0 - 4 (could have been a few more) at home by a League A team. Fairly similar IMO. Both friendlies though so I wouldn't read too much into either result.

You can't really compare NI who are on a downward curve to Belgium, regardless of what pot they are in!

Belgium scudded Iceland who are in Pot A, 3-0 last night in Reykavik!

Edited September 12, 2018 by Squirrelhumper

[Tartan Chris]

Think Norn Iron and Iceland are actually really good examples of teams who've overachieved last 4 years and are now in groups beyond their abilities so this new format is penalising teams who've played well recently.

Not complaining but they could be good ones to pick up if they're still in pot 2 or whatever when the euros draw is made.

I'd still prefer to get 2nd in those groups than have to rely on a play. Achievable if Scotland are in pot 3 which seems will happen if this group is won and then you draw a weak seed from the first two pots like the two above.

[weekevie04]

Slovakia were on a bad run too and we got pumped 3-0 there.

I hope we win in Tel Aviv, but it will be a difficult game.

Iceland are definitely on the down curve, I can't see them winning a point in their group (They've not won -friendly or competitve game since a B friendly v Indonesia in January ; before that their final WC qualifier against Kosovo in October) .

Northern Ireland are a decent side and were very unlucky against Bosnia-Herz. The better side lost.

[Orraloon]

17 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

You can't really compare NI who are on a downward curve to Belgium, regardless of what pot they are in!

Belgium scudded Iceland who are in Pot A, 3-0 last night in Reykavik!

That was kinda my point. Both those results are fairly irrelevant in trying compare Scotland with Israel. The reason we are in the same League, is because in recent years we have been of a similar standard. I would like to think that we are a wee bit better than them now, but I have no evidence to back that up until we beat them. 

Israel getting humped by NI will mean nothing at kick off time in Israel.

 

[Orraloon]

23 minutes ago, Tartan Chris said:

Think Norn Iron and Iceland are actually really good examples of teams who've overachieved last 4 years and are now in groups beyond their abilities so this new format is penalising teams who've played well recently.

 

I see where you are comong from, but in terms of EURO2020 qualifying it is still better to be in Leagues A and B though. Iceland are virtually guaranteed a play off spot if they need one. NI will probably get one as well. It also helps them for the EURO 2020 draw for the qualifying groups. Iceland can't be lower than pot 2 and NI can't be lower than pot 3 even if they both get humped in every Nations League game.

[Bino's]

37 minutes ago, Orraloon said:

That was kinda my point. Both those results are fairly irrelevant in trying compare Scotland with Israel. The reason we are in the same League, is because in recent years we have been of a similar standard. I would like to think that we are a wee bit better than them now, but I have no evidence to back that up until we beat them. 

Israel getting humped by NI will mean nothing at kick off time in Israel.

 

from the highlights Israel really struggled with deep cross balls, the kind Robertson throws in for a Naismith

 

so is fairly relevant im sure to a McCleish/Grant

[borojock]

I really think we should be winning all 4 games in this group both Albania and Israel are teams we should be hoping to beat 

I though Albania would be better then they played on Monday maybe had a bad game but they were awful - however i think our pressing and quick passing put them under pressure from the start

I read a couple of comments from McLeish about flexibility of formation and style and i think this 3 -5 -2 formation will work well against pot 3 to 6 teams and will help us overcome the problem we have had over the last x amount of campaigns of putting the Lithuanias and Georgias of this world away. However against pot 1 and 2 teams i feel we would get caught out using that formation and would have to be a bit more defensive minded 

But great game against Albania hopefully we win the next 3 competitive games (dont care about result or performance against Portugal) and that would give us great momentum and give us a lot of successful experience with this new team format

Looking forward to the future  

[Texas Pete]

5 hours ago, wanderer said:

UEFA co-efficient is based on last 3 cycles, and Serbia had a poor WC 2014 campaign (only finished 2 points above us) and a extremely poor Euro 2016 campaign that has dragged them down, as since 2016 their form has been excellent (aside from the World Cup, they have only lost two competitive matches since since Sep 2015), so even if they are in pot 3 for next years Euro draw, a top 2 finish for them is not out of the question, and probably find a lot of teams are wanting to avoid them.

I’m not sure I would call a 2-2 draw at home with Romania or a 0-1 away win against Lithuania as excellent form. We pumped Lithuania 0-3 in Vilnius recently and Serbia needed a penalty to beat them a few days ago. I realise Lithuania could be a lot better now but it still hardly indicates an in form team that should be expected to qualify for Euro 2020 via the qualifiers.

Of course they have a chance to qualify through their group next year. So do we. To expect it to happen is a little bit strange though. They could even be pot 4 if they’re not careful.