Luxembourg game thread

[Blantyre_Braveheart]

Gutted for Gilmour, he came on was very impressive and could've put himself in the frame to start against the Czechs. Instead he's probably got a concussion that puts him out for a week.

 

Patterson attacking and technique wise is a massive improvement on O'Donnell. 

 

Both of these young lads will become mainstays for us in the coming years and will end up very special players. Adding them to McTominay, McGinn, Tierney and Robertson is a very promising looking foundation of a squad. 

 

[Caledonian Craig]

3 minutes ago, Blantyre_Braveheart said:

Gutted for Gilmour, he came on was very impressive and could've put himself in the frame to start against the Czechs. Instead he's probably got a concussion that puts him out for a week.

Lets not jump the gun. I'd say it purely precautionary that he was taken off hence why he was sitting in the stands after being subbed and not being rushed off to hospital for checks etc.

[Tartan blood]

13 minutes ago, Taylor1996 said:

Gilmour is an extraordinary talent.

He was only on the field for 30 minutes but he was my man of the match.

He has to start the Euros. His range of passing is world class and the speed in which he does things... amazing.

Callum McGregor is good, but he can't pass a ball longer than 5-10 yards. He is what he is.

I wasn't going to say it, but you're not wrong. If Gilmour had even got 45mins I'd have said he gets MOTM. What an unbelievable talent. He did everything Callum McGregor did and so much more. I'd honestly start him against the Czechs. 

[Third Lanark]

1 hour ago, thesaint said:

McTomminay has been rotten.Looks out of place playing in that position.

Is it just lack of fitness? Why was he put on the left with McGinn on the right? Baffling.

[Caledonian Craig]

Just now, Tartan blood said:

I wasn't going to say it, but you're not wrong. If Gilmour had even got 45mins I'd have said he gets MOTM. What an unbelievable talent. He did everything Callum McGregor did and so much more. I'd honestly start him against the Czechs. 

Gilmour offers so much more going forward. McGregor's strengths are the short passes in midfield to keep things ticking over. Gilmour is far more dynamic and can do things McGregor can't. I'd now prefer to see him in midfield but I cannot see Clarke making that call.

[Tartan blood]

1 minute ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Gilmour offers so much more going forward. McGregor's strengths are the short passes in midfield to keep things ticking over. Gilmour is far more dynamic and can do things McGregor can't. I'd now prefer to see him in midfield but I cannot see Clarke making that call.

Gilmour was just everywhere. He has everything you can ask for in a midfielder. He even made 2 very good chances by himself, which I didn't know was a part of his game. If he'd been given the 90 I think he may have forced Clarke's hand. 

He'll be the first name on the team sheet in the (hopefully) near future.

[breeks_mctavish]

I think it’s certain Gilmour will at least get minutes at the Euros. I think this Clarke is too cautious thing is a bit of a myth. People were surprised when called up the youngsters. He’s not daft. He will have seen the impact Gilmour had on our side. His performance probably confirmed to Clarke how important he’ll be and he took him off immediately to increase the chances he’ll be available next week.

[gkm_vancouver]

The way Gilmour took the game by the scruff of the neck was outstanding and the challenge by Thill was shocking and should have been red carded, friendly or not. Would have been good to make more of our chances but we did create them so still good to keep a bit of an unbeaten run going into our first game.

 

[Stu101]

Gilmour 100% has to start after that. Cant see it happening though.

[TDYER63]

36 minutes ago, ParisInAKilt said:

Shame we didn’t see more of Gilmour, his positivity was a difference. 

Patterson showed he belongs in the squad. 

Still think we huff and puff too much but shouldn’t disgrace ourselves next week. 

Agree with all of that. Gilmour has surely done enough to convince Clarke, though Strachan would probably say he is too wee 🙄

Whilst it was underwhelming  I cant see us being battered ,  though possibly by England if we dont step up a gear. 
Like everyone is saying , the finishing needs to improve , headers in particular. 

[Guest Scot1]

Liked the performance of Patterson, a bit naivety  / inexperience showing with him making a bad pass for the sake of it and allowing Luxembourg to counter. But I’m sure he’ll learn from it. When he starts to fill out in the coming years he’s going to be hard to stop. 
O’Donnell too showed a lack of composure in one instance, we had a corner and the ball was cleared out to O’Donnell who aimlessly punts it back into their keepers hands instead of RETAINING POSSESSION, which he could’ve easily done with a side wards pass to one of the centre halves.

[Guest Scot1]

1 minute ago, TDYER63 said:

Agree with all of that. Gilmour has surely done enough to convince Clarke, though Strachan would probably say he is too wee 🙄

Whilst it was underwhelming  I cant see us being battered ,  though possibly by England if we dont step up a gear. 
Like everyone is saying , the finishing needs to improve , headers in particular. 

Not sure about Dykes bring offside or Adams fouling. I couldn’t really tell from the tv if this was the case. We did have the ball in the net a couple of times and did have other good opportunities. Hopefully we are keeping the goals for the big occasion 

[Malcolm]

I think our starting line up might be

 

 

                                Marshall

odonnel.   Hanley.    Cooper.    Tierney.   Robertson

                                  Mcgregor

                     Mctominay.       Armstrong

                                      Mcginn 

                                       Dykes 

[ProudScot]

Gilmour & Patterson can take McGregor & O’Donnell’s places right now IMO

[Guest Scot1]

The two Centre halves (other then Tierney) is a tough one. They all played well. I think I’d go with Gallagher in the middle of the three and Hanley on the right. But a case could be made for Hendry, Cooper, McKenna was decent tonight. I do think we need Gallagher in the middle for his height. Although you could put Hendry or McKenna in there. Choices for Clarke to make, good choices though.

[ProudScot]

3 minutes ago, Scot1 said:

The two Centre halves (other then Tierney) is a tough one. They all played well. I think I’d go with Gallagher in the middle of the three and Hanley on the right. But a case could be made for Hendry, Cooper, McKenna was decent tonight. I do think we need Gallagher in the middle for his height. Although you could put Hendry or McKenna in there. Choices for Clarke to make, good choices though.

For me Hendry & Cooper are better players than Hanley & Gallagher. 

[Taylor1996]

43 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

I wasn't going to say it, but you're not wrong. If Gilmour had even got 45mins I'd have said he gets MOTM. What an unbelievable talent. He did everything Callum McGregor did and so much more. I'd honestly start him against the Czechs. 

The team that I watch most is Manchester United. If Fred is worth £50m then Gilmour must be worth £100m.

Growing up, my favourite Scotland midfielders were McAllister, Collins, McCall and Lambert. Billy Gilmour seem to be a hybrid of all four (all that's missing is Collins's free kicks)

As you say, he does what McGregor does, but quicker, better and so much so, so he has to start the Euros.

I don't care what age Gilmour is, he's the best midfielder we have. A double-pivot with Gilmour and McTominay would be interesting. With McGinn buzzing between the space between them and the strikers.

Today's performance wasn't the best, but what struck me is even when we play badly, we still have a solid structure. It's a sign of good coaching and it's a sign that the squad is now totally at ease and they understand the currently system.

[TDYER63]

11 minutes ago, Scot1 said:

Not sure about Dykes bring offside or Adams fouling. I couldn’t really tell from the tv if this was the case. We did have the ball in the net a couple of times and did have other good opportunities. Hopefully we are keeping the goals for the big occasion 

Yes the lack of replays made it difficult to check the decisions, plus I dont know if it was just because I was viewing on Now TV with a delay , but the picture was very jerky at times. 
It would be unfortunate if we had legitimate goals disallowed, and I was pleased by the fact we were making chances, but we need to get more clinical. As you say, hopefully we are keeping them for next week  !

What I would say is that Clarke got his team experiments in the right order. I know he was probably forced into the Netherland game selection due to covid/injuries, but I think we would have been beaten  by Netherlands on todays line up, and that would have given our confidence a bit of a bashing. 

[Guest Scot1]

3 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

For me Hendry & Cooper are better players than Hanley & Gallagher. 

Be interesting to see who Clarke chooses, but the competition for places is good. And we have Centre Halves with decent pace now.

[Caledonian Craig]

5 minutes ago, ProudScot said:

For me Hendry & Cooper are better players than Hanley & Gallagher. 

Going on the last two games it looks that way.

[COLT NY]

I was a bit disappointed that Lux got the red card as it meant there was probably less to learn from the game. Definite red though, and the challenge on Gilmour would have been a clear red in rugby so shouldn't be any less in a football game.

Disappointed that we had so many corners and didn't get anything out of them. We should be doing a lot of work on dead ball plays ahead of the tournament. That could make all the difference.

Despite scoring and having one chopped off, I thought Adams was wasteful. I haven't seen him play much, but I expected him to have better technique than what was shown today.

[Guest Scot1]

1 minute ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Going on the last two games it looks that way.

The only concern I have about Cooper playing in the centre of the 3 is his height. I’m not sure who plays up front for the Czechs or Croatia but if it’s a big centre forward I’d be a bit concerned 

[exile]

Thuggish players should be punished in a meaningful way. I don't know what.

If you injure a player deliberately you should be out the game as long as the victim is?

Obviously I haven't thought that through. Maybe difficult to prove intent - of extent of injury - maybe hash to take their livelihood away. But some deterrent, to make anyone think twice about going deliberately to take someone out the game.

Edited June 6, 2021 by exile

[bigfingers]

I thought we missed energy in the middle like Armstrong’s runs from the previous match. I’m not sure if dykes and Adams together is the way to go. A midfielder playing off one of them would be better. 

[Guest Scot1]

I would’ve subbed Adams for Nisbet and had a look at how Dykes and Nisbet linked up