Scotland v Ukraine-here we go again

[TDYER63]

5 minutes ago, mccaughey85 said:

Not sure we would have necessarily  lost with a back 5 and robbo playing.  The back 5 has worked in the past because tierney plays and is comfortable carrying the ball out of defense and into midfield freeing up space for the midfielders and helping to pull opposition players out of position.

Personally i think the players actually turned up last night and we really need them to do that more often. The back 4 was good but a back 5 that has tierney in it has yielded decent results as well.

Ppl are too quick to blame the formation as the main reason when we win or lose.  Last night mctominay also played his best match in a scotland shirt and we need him to do that more often if we want to get results. Tierney is also key to our success and we look a much better team with him in it. Problem is hes injured half the time.

Going forward i would like to see a back 4 but whats important is we get good performances from our best players and last night that happened regardless of formation.

 

Agree.

Any time we play well is when we properly get stuck in and fight for every ball like we did last night for a good part . Not sure if Ukraine were a bit blase thinking they just needed to turn up, but  they definitely were rattled in the second half.

Ireland may have been the same after the result in June but they are now going to be more aware of our threat. It’s imperative we play with the same grit . 

[Orraloon]

1 hour ago, todd said:

When's the last time we had 24 attempts at goal?  Against anyone, never mind a team ranked higher than us! 

I think we went for whole campaigns with less than that in the recent past. Certainly seemed like it. 😂

[ErsatzThistle]

1 hour ago, todd said:

When's the last time we had 24 attempts at goal?  Against anyone, never mind a team ranked higher than us! 

We had 32 shots against San Marino at Hampden back in 2019.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49949350

[SamP]

Hi Guys.  New here but always like having a look at what is going on.  Been following Scotland for a long time and last night was maybe the best I have seen them.  Held the first half and blew them away in the second.  Bring on the Irish.

[Texas Pete]

7 hours ago, vanderark14 said:

Listening to the sportsound debate on whether Tierney or Robertson should play. Leanne Crichton got it spot on, they could play a game each or just move Tierney to left mid..

We also have another full back debate now.....hickey or Patterson. 

It's absolutely mental to think we have 8 EPL, 1 Serie A, 1 celtic player player playing in the CL.......OK we have one jambo but its a massive upgrade on where we were 2 or 3 years ago.

Even the Jambo was good enough to play in the EPL in his prime and has CL experience. 

Pity he isn’t 10 years younger. 

[Squirrelhumper]

4 hours ago, ceudmilefailte said:

He was pretty much forced into it with definite starters Hanley and Robertson missing, 

He near enough had to change to a back 4. I would still say he has been over defensive for Scotland 

He literally played a guy that's been playing centre half in a back 5, in centre mid. 

Could have easily have played a back 5 last night with Hickey/Taylor, KT, Hendry. McKenna, Patterson. 

[Kirk]

15 hours ago, todd said:

Not sure mate, bit drunk, could've been directed at anyone!

Shitebag 😂

Hope you had a nice evening 

[Texas Pete]

6 hours ago, Och Aye said:

Hopefully Armstrong isn't too deflated, think he felt he was going to cost us the game with those misses. Other than possession these are impressive stats 

I’m surprised about the possession stats. At first I thought it was typical BBC inaccuracy but everywhere I’ve checked has something similar. 

They did nothing with their possession  advantage though. Passing the ball about in your own half doesn’t win you games. 

[Hertsscot]

Nice article on McTominay on the back of last night's performance

Scotland 3-0 Ukraine: Scott McTominay shines in Hampden renaissance - BBC Sport

[todd]

1 hour ago, Kirk said:

Shitebag 😂

Hope you had a nice evening 

Had a great evening, not so great today mind! 🤢

[ceudmilefailte]

Just noticed that Mcgregor saw the ball more times than any one else in the team and had a 96% pass success rate.

Says it all about the guy. Think it helped Mctominays game too. 

[Orraloon]

1 minute ago, ceudmilefailte said:

Just noticed that Mcgregor saw the ball more times than any one else in the team and had a 96% pass success rate.

Says it all about the guy. Think it helped Mctominays game too. 

And, on top of that, there is all the work he does off the ball, which a lot of folk often tend not to notice. 

[Texas Pete]

3 hours ago, ErsatzThistle said:

We had 32 shots against San Marino at Hampden back in 2019.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49949350

My son’s school team could manage 32 shots against San Marino. 

[ErsatzThistle]

8 minutes ago, Texas Pete said:

My son’s school team could manage 32 shots against San Marino. 

That sounds like you are throwing down a challenge ....

[Texas Pete]

1 minute ago, ErsatzThistle said:

That sounds like you are throwing down a challenge ....

😂😂😂

If the San Marino FA are monitoring this forum they can send me a PM. 

[ceudmilefailte]

3 hours ago, Squirrelhumper said:

He literally played a guy that's been playing centre half in a back 5, in centre mid. 

Could have easily have played a back 5 last night with Hickey/Taylor, KT, Hendry. McKenna, Patterson. 

I would imagine a lot on here were glad to see him out of the defence. He really is a midfielder, and a vastly improved one if you believe the Manchester United fans. 

We have quality fullbacks now so with Robertson missing it was surely the right thing to do getting Tierney into his preffered position. Way I see it is you have to move mctominay and Tierney in to their more natural positions. 

Do that and you have no one that can play as the forward moving centre backs. I like Cooper in a back four be has nowhere near the skill set to do it as was proven against the Ukraine. It isn't as simple as sticking any old centre half there. 

Of course if you accept that it also means you have an extra player in midfield. 

[ceudmilefailte]

4 hours ago, Squirrelhumper said:

He literally played a guy that's been playing centre half in a back 5, in centre mid. 

Could have easily have played a back 5 last night with Hickey/Taylor, KT, Hendry. McKenna, Patterson. 

Actually not sure were I posted but that was my back three, with Armstrong out of the midfield. I am the master of hindsight though and glad Clarke picks the team! 

[Tartan blood]

5 hours ago, Texas Pete said:

Even the Jambo was good enough to play in the EPL in his prime and has CL experience. 

Pity he isn’t 10 years younger. 

Yup. And no disrespect to Hearts, but Gordon did say something along the lines of, he went to Hearts partly to prolong his Scotland career. The man has more than proven himself at every level. It's kind of irrelevant who he plays for. As long as he is playing.

[mccaughey85]

7 minutes ago, Tartan blood said:

Yup. And no disrespect to Hearts, but Gordon did say something along the lines of, he went to Hearts partly to prolong his Scotland career. The man has more than proven himself at every level. It's kind of irrelevant who he plays for. As long as he is 

Would be great for gordon to play at the next euros. Would be a great farewell for a guy who always turned up even when scotland were playing poorly.

He deserves a major tournament.

[daviebee]

1 hour ago, mccaughey85 said:

Would be great for gordon to play at the next euros. Would be a great farewell for a guy who always turned up even when scotland were playing poorly.

He deserves a major tournament.

He could play into his 60's if every game is as quiet as last night's for him!  Can't recall a save.

[Orraloon]

I think Ukraine have 12 players on a yellow card. Hopefully they double up on a few more on Saturday.

[Grim Jim]

Going home, I couldn't remember Gordon having anything to deal with but pass-backs and bye kicks, but the TV highlights had him intercepting one low cross at the front post and later coming out the box once to prevent a shot on goal.

Says a lot about the team in front of him.

[Kirk]

6 hours ago, todd said:

Had a great evening, not so great today mind! 🤢

Sounds about right 🍻

3 hours ago, mccaughey85 said:

Would be great for gordon to play at the next euros. Would be a great farewell for a guy who always turned up even when scotland were playing poorly.

He deserves a major tournament.

No reason Gordon can't play for another few years yet, he seems to be as fit as ever and still making great saves. We don't really have anyone coming through either. McLaughlin scares the shite out of me and sadly Mcrorie isn't even close to a game

[ErsatzThistle]

25 minutes ago, Kirk said:

Sounds about right 🍻

No reason Gordon can't play for another few years yet, he seems to be as fit as ever and still making great saves. We don't really have anyone coming through either. McLaughlin scares the shite out of me and sadly Mcrorie isn't even close to a game

I have a feeling that McLaughlin will chuck it if he's not guaranteed game time in the upcoming November friendly.

[Kirk]

9 minutes ago, ErsatzThistle said:

I have a feeling that McLaughlin will chuck it if he's not guaranteed game time in the upcoming November friendly.

Fucking hope so, I honestly thought he was a decent keeper but his recent escapades terrify me.