Reasons for optimism

[Taylor1996]

Having watched the Czech match again (Either I'm a masochistic or I don't have a life... well... I'm definitely not a masochistic...) there's reasons to believe that we can still make it through.

Marshall made a few good saves. Yes, he made a howler by thinking he was Neuer and trying the "sweeper keeper" schtick, but that shouldn't overshadow the saves the saves that he made.

The three centerbacks were solid. Especially Grant Hanley... was he always this fast? 

Robertson was amazing. He lead by example. 

From the first few minutes when O'Donnell let the ball trickle through his legs, it was obvious that he was nervous. He allowed the cross to come in for the first goal.

McTominay wasn't as bad as I first thought. Fine, he rarely came short to receive the ball, but he never does. It's just not what he does. On the ball he was efficient. He made a couple of crunching tackles. He could've easily have won a penalty when he was fouled in the box.

McGinn tried to influence the game as much as he could. Even when he has a bad match, he's always a warrior.

The three in midfield started in a "V" shade with McGinn and Armstrong the more advanced players and with McTominay at the pivot. The dynamic was all wrong. Armstrong should be nowhere near the midfield. He cannot be trusted in the engine room He would be a decent number 10, as he has one string to his bow, and that's driving forward, usually recklessly. McTominay is a fine player, but he, too, prefers to bomb forward, same with McGinn. 

We needed a conservative presence in midfield. Apart from one dodgy incident, McGregor did well.

We've seen with Kante, Kimmich, Casemiron, Busquets, etc, how important an anchorman is to a team. The only one that we had (Ryan Jack) is sadly out. 

Dykes had probably his worst performance. But the good thing Is that, not playing well, he still worked hard and was on the end of a few chances.

Adams came on and injected a lot of pace and energy into the side. He'll be a good acquisition. 

I'm not sure why people are saying Christie was poor. He set up a golden chance for Robertson and he might have scored himself if he didn't get tackled by O'Donnell. 

We played some nice stuff, we created at least half a dozen good chances. We kept our shape. In another day we would've won that match.

The dynamic of the midfield was all wrong. We were lopsided, as O'Donnell offered us zero in the way of anything.

Ultimately, the difference was a £40m striker.

Bring in Gilmour, take out O'Donnell and If we play the same against England and Croatia as we did on Monday, we can get enough points to get out of the group. 

[Tartan blood]

I actually agree with Clarke. It was  a decent display. O'Donnell aside, I don't think anyone had a particularly bad game.

We've been making steady and noticeable progress over the past 2 years, and the one missing piece of the jigsaw is goals.

We have so many alternative options all over the pitch that we know we can comfortably swap one player for another if they are having an off day or it's not working. 

Up front is exactly the same, however, none of them (so far) are that talisman that we need to bury half chances. The Czechs have that. And that was the biggest difference between the 2 teams.

[Taylor1996]

12 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

I actually agree with Clarke. It was  a decent display. O'Donnell aside, I don't think anyone had a particularly bad game.

We've been making steady and noticeable progress over the past 2 years, and the one missing piece of the jigsaw is goals.

We have so many alternative options all over the pitch that we know we can comfortably swap one player for another if they are having an off day or it's not working. 

Up front is exactly the same, however, none of them (so far) are that talisman that we need to bury half chances. The Czechs have that. And that was the biggest difference between the 2 teams.

Yep.

Let's be honest, if we were offered that type of performance, the structure we have, plus a place at Euro 2020, two years ago, we would've taken it.

We've got a good foundation. We now have a system that we're comfortable with. If we can add Gilmour, a right back and a goalscorer into the mix, it would make the world of a difference. 

[Haggis_trap]

Good post : we played ok against Czechs. Which of course makes result harder to accept. They were simply more clinical at crucial moments in game. 

Tierney might have made a huge difference (organising defence and playing out) : please let him be fit for Friday...

Edited June 16, 2021 by Haggis_trap

[mccaughey85]

Nice to see a bit of positive response. We are at a tournament so let's enjoy it. We should be good enough to qualify for the euros regularly now it's 24 teams and the monkey is off our backs with regards getting to a tournament. 

Let's try and get a good showing in these last 2 games then go into the wc qualifiers with guys like gilmour, Patterson and turnbull replacing the dead wood. 

[Diamond Scot]

Everybody keeps saying that the 1 missing thing from this team is goals. I actually think that our main issue atm is we are weak defensively. Not so much in terms of individual players or formation, more in terms of we constantly give away very soft goals.

I cant remember the last goal we lost that I thought, nothing much we could have done about that.

Its constantly things like not tracking a runner, not getting close to a player who then gets the knock down, not closing down a cross / letting the player run across us to win the header or a GK error.

We create lots of chances. Yes we need to start putting more away but creating chances is the hard part. 

[ron.]

no wonder we re crap

accept crap and thats what you ll get

[Tartan blood]

32 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Nice to see a bit of positive response. We are at a tournament so let's enjoy it. We should be good enough to qualify for the euros regularly now it's 24 teams and the monkey is off our backs with regards getting to a tournament. 

Let's try and get a good showing in these last 2 games then go into the wc qualifiers with guys like gilmour, Patterson and turnbull replacing the dead wood. 

I agree with you to an extent, but I kind of feel like Clarke has already gotten rid of the deadwood. I was very encouraged to see the 3 youngsters included. There are maybe 2 or 3 I can see being phased out during the next campaign, but on the most part, I think this squad will be pretty settled for the next wee while. Also, I don't think we should talk about players that aren't here, or discarding current players, until after the tournament.

As you say, the curse has been lifted. We now have a squad with tournament experience, which will stand them in good stead next time. Saying that, I'm most certainly not giving up hope on this group. Anything can happen in a one off game against England, and Croatia are definitely beatable.

[mccaughey85]

3 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

I agree with you to an extent, but I kind of feel like Clarke has already gotten rid of the deadwood. I was very encouraged to see the 3 youngsters included. There are maybe 2 or 3 I can see being phased out during the next campaign, but on the most part, I think this squad will be pretty settled for the next wee while. Also, I don't think we should talk about players that aren't here, or discarding current players, until after the tournament.

As you say, the curse has been lifted. We now have a squad with tournament experience, which will stand them in good stead next time. Saying that, I'm most certainly not giving up hope on this group. Anything can happen in a one off game against England, and Croatia are definitely beatable.

We get a draw on Friday then it's all to play for against Croatia.

[Rolling hIlls]

55 minutes ago, Taylor1996 said:

Yep.

Let's be honest, if we were offered that type of performance, the structure we have, plus a place at Euro 2020, two years ago, we would've taken it.

We've got a good foundation. We now have a system that we're comfortable with. If we can add Gilmour, a right back and a goalscorer into the mix, it would make the world of a difference. 

We have a right back. His name is Patterson.

[Arbroath1320]

We're not so blessed with resources that we can lose a world class player and not notice the difference. Had Tierney played, it would have been a different game. O'Donnell was good enough for the qualifying phase but now we're playing other teams that have also qualified and... well, he doesn't look so good. Patterson is young and in the squad to pick up experience; I can't see him playing against England. We're still a work in progress - strong down the left (if everyone's fit) but weaker on the right hand side. 

[Tartan blood]

1 minute ago, Arbroath1320 said:

We're not so blessed with resources that we can lose a world class player and not notice the difference. Had Tierney played, it would have been a different game. O'Donnell was good enough for the qualifying phase but now we're playing other teams that have also qualified and... well, he doesn't look so good. Patterson is young and in the squad to pick up experience; I can't see him playing against England. We're still a work in progress - strong down the left (if everyone's fit) but weaker on the right hand side. 

You're right. We have 4 proven top class players (McTominay, McGinn, Robertson and Tierney). Losing a quarter of them is a huge blow. It must have affected the players at least a little.

I say 4 "proven" because there are at least 4 or 5 other players that might prove that they are on that same level. Either in this tournament or the coming years. It's quite possible that Gilmour, Turnbull and Patterson are lumped into that. Plus, I'm a big fan of Fraser, who, at his best, is a match winner. If he'd not had so many fitness issues, I think he'd be one of the first names on the teamsheet.

[er yir macaroon]

1 hour ago, mccaughey85 said:

Nice to see a bit of positive response. We are at a tournament so let's enjoy it. We should be good enough to qualify for the euros regularly now it's 24 teams and the monkey is off our backs with regards getting to a tournament. 

Let's try and get a good showing in these last 2 games then go into the wc qualifiers with guys like gilmour, Patterson and turnbull replacing the dead wood. 

If they’re dead wood, get them out now. I can’t stand this play it safe attitude, it will get us nowhere. 

[Diamond Scot]

19 minutes ago, Rolling hIlls said:

We have a right back. His name is Patterson.

Do you think Patterson will be the 1st choice right back for Rangers next season? If not then does not not put some concerns about him being the 1st choice right back for Scotland?

Ie Come October, would you rather play ODonnell who has played 15 games in the Scottish Prem or Patterson who has played 2 or 3?

[Lion Rampant]

17 minutes ago, Arbroath1320 said:

We're not so blessed with resources that we can lose a world class player and not notice the difference. Had Tierney played, it would have been a different game. O'Donnell was good enough for the qualifying phase but now we're playing other teams that have also qualified and... well, he doesn't look so good. Patterson is young and in the squad to pick up experience; I can't see him playing against England. We're still a work in progress - strong down the left (if everyone's fit) but weaker on the right hand side. 

Yeah.

Take Schick out of the Czech team on Monday and I doubt they score either of the goals that they did.

[Bristolhibby]

55 minutes ago, Diamond Scot said:

Everybody keeps saying that the 1 missing thing from this team is goals. I actually think that our main issue atm is we are weak defensively. Not so much in terms of individual players or formation, more in terms of we constantly give away very soft goals.

I cant remember the last goal we lost that I thought, nothing much we could have done about that.

Its constantly things like not tracking a runner, not getting close to a player who then gets the knock down, not closing down a cross / letting the player run across us to win the header or a GK error.

We create lots of chances. Yes we need to start putting more away but creating chances is the hard part. 

Yes, getting to the second ball was annoying me. They were faster and seemed to be exactly where the ball would break. We would get a touch in breaking up the play or a header but they would pick it up.

 

J

[Bristolhibby]

20 minutes ago, Arbroath1320 said:

We're not so blessed with resources that we can lose a world class player and not notice the difference. Had Tierney played, it would have been a different game. O'Donnell was good enough for the qualifying phase but now we're playing other teams that have also qualified and... well, he doesn't look so good. Patterson is young and in the squad to pick up experience; I can't see him playing against England. We're still a work in progress - strong down the left (if everyone's fit) but weaker on the right hand side. 

Agreed, we missed his overlapping runs and balls with Robbo.

Painfully under-utilised the right all game.

Meant we were narrow and predictable and wooomph! Launched from the back for Czech centre half’s to gobble up meat and drink headers.

J

[thplinth]

Going back as far as 1999 we have played the Czech's 5 times in competitive football matches. (I am excluding friendlies and that nations league pish). Our record is 4 losses and 1 draw including the other night.

Yet reading the comments on here on the match thread we were 'expected to beat teams like the Czechs'. How in fuck does anyone come to that conclusion. 

When you are endlessly eating a shit sandwich I suppose after a while you just tell yourself it is really a caviar and truffle buttie.

They scored from half way FFS.  

I'll be optimistic if we can select a goalkeeper who is not insane. That would be a step in the right direction.

[TDYER63]

Reasons I can think of are :

We are certain underdogs for Friday and I think that suits us. Have been quite surprised at the number of English people I know who have said we were unlucky on Monday and they think an upset could be on the cards. They are not normally overly generous on the Scottish National team. When you are emotionally invested its sometimes hard to see positives after a defeat. 

Think if we should go for it and put some younger players on. Dont agree that inexperience will be a problem, it works both ways, England will not know what to expect and could be caught by surprise. And if we get nothing on Friday it will take a small miracle to get us through. 

If we dont let emotion take over and lose the head we have the ability  to turn chances into goals.  We need to be more controlled but chances will come, especially if Tierney is back. 

[Bobby Russell's Lovechild]

1. England have a fantastic record of beating teams below them in the rankings. At Wembley, they're virtually unbeatable (3 years ago was their last defeat and that was to Spain)

2. Our record against top teams is pretty abysmal. When was the last time we even achieved a draw, away from home against a top ranked side?

Sorry, love the optimism, but I can't see anything different on Friday

[er yir macaroon]

1 hour ago, Diamond Scot said:

Come October, would you rather play ODonnell who has played 15 games in the Scottish Prem or Patterson who has played 2 or 3?

Patterson all day long, 

[Taylor1996]

2 hours ago, Rolling hIlls said:

We have a right back. His name is Patterson.

Of all the 26 players, he's the biggest unknown quantity. And the one with least experience. 

Plus, 6 starts in a whole season. It's a no from me.

If he has any intention of being Scotland Scotland wingback, he'll move away from Rangers... or he can go down the Lee Wallace route. 

Edited June 16, 2021 by Taylor1996

[exile]

On strikers. What about Nisbet? Not hearing much of an opinion on him, yet he scored the other day against NL.

On absence of strikers. If we are putting in too many balls that are too difficult for our strikers to put away, should we change the way we attack?

[exile]

7 minutes ago, Bobby Russell's Lovechild said:

1. England have a fantastic record of beating teams below them in the rankings. At Wembley, they're virtually unbeatable (3 years ago was their last defeat and that was to Spain)

2. Our record against top teams is pretty abysmal. When was the last time we even achieved a draw, away from home against a top ranked side?

Sorry, love the optimism, but I can't see anything different on Friday

We beat England at Wembley in 1999 (albeit, they could afford to lose 1-0).

[Bobby Russell's Lovechild]

2 minutes ago, exile said:

We beat England at Wembley in 1999 (albeit, they could afford to lose 1-0).

Don't want to quote the obvious, but that was 22 years ago. They also still put us out

Edited June 16, 2021 by Bobby Russell's Lovechild