Tartan blood Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 18 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said: Its basically the 3 at the back system thats allowing mediocre centre backs a chance to be part of a more cohesive unit and therefore making it easier to defend. Our centre backs are still very average or poor(bar maybe Cooper) and would be exposed if they played in 442 or 451. Clarke is making us hard to beat by going for this defensive system which is great. We do however look less likely to score alot of goals. The hope is we can get our more creative players back and look better attacking in games. It's promising signs but I have seen false dawns before and knowing Scotland we could easily go back to looking like absolute shite anytime soon. I think calling them "mediocre" is a tad harsh. McKenna has the makings of a top CB, Cooper captains Leeds, and McTominay & Tierney are 2 of our best players, albeit not natural CBs. But, I agree, I am worried this defensive unit may result in some of our most creative players not fitting into the starting 11. I'm not really sure how we will be able to play Christie, McGinn and Fraser at the same time, who I think all have to start for us to be a creative force. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccaughey85 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 5 minutes ago, Tartan blood said: I think calling them "mediocre" is a tad harsh. McKenna has the makings of a top CB, Cooper captains Leeds, and McTominay & Tierney are 2 of our best players, albeit not natural CBs. But, I agree, I am worried this defensive unit may result in some of our most creative players not fitting into the starting 11. I'm not really sure how we will be able to play Christie, McGinn and Fraser at the same time, who I think all have to start for us to be a creative force. Mediocre was being generous lol, Cooper has played his entire career in the championship and league 1, McKenna is currently English championship with a poor Nottingham forest team, as you said mctominay and Tierney aren't really centre backs. Our other centre backs play for motherwell and Aberdeen. If we compare them to top class centre backs who play for top European clubs they are Mediocre at best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceudmilefailte Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 3 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said: Its basically the 3 at the back system thats allowing mediocre centre backs a chance to be part of a more cohesive unit and therefore making it easier to defend. Our centre backs are still very average or poor(bar maybe Cooper) and would be exposed if they played in 442 or 451. Clarke is making us hard to beat by going for this defensive system which is great. We do however look less likely to score alot of goals. The hope is we can get our more creative players back and look better attacking in games. It's promising signs but I have seen false dawns before and knowing Scotland we could easily go back to looking like absolute shite anytime soon. Think you've nailed it there with regards to the centre backs and in particular (no disrespect to Gallagher or McKenna) the central role. Hopefully Arsenal will continue with a back 3 and then Tierney will play with Cooper for cover. McKenna can play with Gallagher as cover. Just leaves us with McTominay on the right with no cover. McTominay and Tierney are both well capable of moving and passing the ball forwards and this would help us get up the park quicker. An awful lot depends on how well McTominay can adapt to a role he won't play at Man Utd. Would be surprised if Man United ever play a back 3 unless they end up in a relegation battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tartan blood Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 2 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said: Mediocre was being generous lol, Cooper has played his entire career in the championship and league 1, McKenna is currently English championship with a poor Nottingham forest team, as you said mctominay and Tierney aren't really centre backs. Our other centre backs play for motherwell and Aberdeen. If we compare them to top class centre backs who play for top European clubs they are Mediocre at best. Well Tierney does play in a back 3 for Arsenal, so he's not really being played out of position. McKenna "currently" plays for Forest. But he's still young and will only get better with age. I don't really mind him playing with them, but he has the potential to rise higher. Cooper, I'll give you, but so far he's been doing well in the EPL and for Scotland. So I think he deserves credit. Well you're going to have a depressing time if you are comparing our players to the top European clubs. We aren't quite there yet. But signs are certainly there, and our weakest position just arguably got stronger. Most international teams have problem positions, we are not alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 21 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said: Mediocre was being generous lol, Cooper has played his entire career in the championship and league 1, McKenna is currently English championship with a poor Nottingham forest team, as you said mctominay and Tierney aren't really centre backs. Our other centre backs play for motherwell and Aberdeen. If we compare them to top class centre backs who play for top European clubs they are Mediocre at best. Frankly, I don't give a rat's where our players play club-wise as long as they put in a good shift for Scotland. Who knows we may have got put of the group stages in 82 if it weren't for Hansen's calamitous error. Who did he play for again at that time? The all-conquering Liverpool side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccaughey85 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 14 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said: Frankly, I don't give a rat's where our players play club-wise as long as they put in a good shift for Scotland. Who knows we may have got put of the group stages in 82 if it weren't for Hansen's calamitous error. Who did he play for again at that time? The all-conquering Liverpool side. Yeh thats the same with me, but it's still a fact that individually we have mediocre centre backs. If they can play well in Clarkes system then great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian Craig Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Just now, mccaughey85 said: Yeh thats the same with me, but it's still a fact that individually we have mediocre centre backs. If they can play well in Clarkes system then great. But is it fair to label them mediocre if they are playing well at international level in Clarke's system? Seems a bit contradictory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccaughey85 Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 3 minutes ago, Caledonian Craig said: But is it fair to label them mediocre if they are playing well at international level in Clarke's system? Seems a bit contradictory. Mediocre players can play well together and be better than the sum of their parts. Centre backs who play for motherwell, Aberdeen and Nottingham forest in the English Championship are Mediocre centre backs. If they were any good they would be playing in a top 5 European league or for celtic or Porto etc. I ain't knocking them, they are doing well for Scotland but let's not pretend that the system that Clarke is playing is not the main reason for their recent success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErsatzThistle Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 Paul Hanlon's been added to the squad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 So...... interesting chat on radio scotland. we win tonight with a clean sheet with mctominay, Gallagher, consedine.... do they retain the jersey for Serbia with cooper and tierney on the bench? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanderark14 Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 1 hour ago, Malcolm said: So...... interesting chat on radio scotland. we win tonight with a clean sheet with mctominay, Gallagher, consedine.... do they retain the jersey for Serbia with cooper and tierney on the bench? Any of those 5 is fine with me. Considine has slotted in like he has been playing along side those guys for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazmidd Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 Scott 'McSauce McTerminator' McTominay! Hold your head high son! Thrown in at the deep end again in an unfamiliar position and stood up to be counted. Love this guy's attitude and mentality and by the way he can play. He is such an important part of this new system, he is the only one in there with the ability to step into Midfield and play passes through the lines, and his positional sense has improved massively each game he plays. I actually wish we had two Scott McTominays because we need another one in Midfield in place of the invisible yet again McGregor. This boy never hides or shys away from responsibility, could do with plenty more of his type in the squad. Well played Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
er yir macaroon Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 2 hours ago, bazmidd said: Scott 'McSauce McTerminator' McTominay! Hold your head high son! Thrown in at the deep end again in an unfamiliar position and stood up to be counted. Love this guy's attitude and mentality and by the way he can play. He is such an important part of this new system, he is the only one in there with the ability to step into Midfield and play passes through the lines, and his positional sense has improved massively each game he plays. I actually wish we had two Scott McTominays because we need another one in Midfield in place of the invisible yet again McGregor. This boy never hides or shys away from responsibility, could do with plenty more of his type in the squad. Well played In terms of stepping into midfield, Tierney does this very well with Arsenal from LCB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazmidd Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 2 hours ago, er yir macaroon said: In terms of stepping into midfield, Tierney does this very well with Arsenal from LCB. Agreed Tierney is more than capable also, would be good to have him back beside two others in central defence to allow McTominay to go back into Midfield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
er yir macaroon Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 4 hours ago, bazmidd said: Agreed Tierney is more than capable also, would be good to have him back beside two others in central defence to allow McTominay to go back into Midfield. Yeah maybe, but also good to have the option of two centre halves with an ability to get up the park. What could possibly go wrong. 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BucksburnDandy Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 Full credit to Scott McTominay, been a standout in all three games this week. His attitude has been spot on, his awareness off the ball defensively has gotten better and the bonus of him carrying the ball forward is welcome too. Well done big lad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceudmilefailte Posted October 15, 2020 Share Posted October 15, 2020 4 hours ago, bazmidd said: Agreed Tierney is more than capable also, would be good to have him back beside two others in central defence to allow McTominay to go back into Midfield. Can't see any way of getting Mctominay into the midfield until we find a right footed central defender Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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