Netherlands V Scotland Match Thread

[todd]

28 minutes ago, NE TA in the weeg said:

3-0 feels a bit harsh, but it shows how important being 'clinical' is.

Fuck that overused pundit word, does my fuckin head in

Edited March 22 by todd

[ProudScot]

Shouldn’t blame Shankland, McTominay and McGinn missed great chances too.

My word we crumbled and defended poorly.

That was worrying tbh cos that was as good as we’ve played for large parts of that game but we’ve been absolutely horsed 4-0 by a fairly average team. 

[Burj_Alba]

1 minute ago, ProudScot said:

Shouldn’t blame Shankland, McTominay and McGinn missed great chances too.

My word we crumbled and defended poorly.

That was worrying tbh cos that was as good as we’ve played for large parts of that game but we’ve been absolutely horsed 4-0 by a fairly average team. 

Think that is the major problem. When Tierney went off the defence was simply awful. (No idea where or what they were doing) All three second half goals totally avoidable. 

[todd]

30 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

All I wanted was to get out of the group stage for the first time ever. Can't see it happening now. FFS even Wales and RoI have done that.

🙄

[JECK]

11 minutes ago, Templeton_Peck said:

This game highlights what we all know.. We are strong in the midfield and at wing back but at this level we dont have the solid defence and striker we are well short.. 

Also Souttar dropped a disaster class when he came on which didnt help. 

It’s the age old problem, I bet Souttar strolls through domestic games playing for the old firm but essentially gets found out when playing up a level as not use to it. 

[losinkiltpins]

Souter had a mare.

[Templeton_Peck]

I just realised we are playing Giibraltar and Finland as warm up groups before playing Germany at the Allianz arena a week later in the aeuros opener. 

Are we mental?? What the fcuk are these games going to prepare us for. 

[Lion Rampant]

1 minute ago, Templeton_Peck said:

I just realised we are playing Giibraltar and Finland as warm up groups before playing Germany at the Allianz arena a week later in the aeuros opener. 

Are we mental?? What the fcuk are these games going to prepare us for. 

Who should we be playing? 

[Templeton_Peck]

1 minute ago, Lion Rampant said:

Who should we be playing? 

Maybe not one of the worst teams in international football.

 

[dezmondo]

5 minutes ago, Templeton_Peck said:

I just realised we are playing Giibraltar and Finland as warm up groups before playing Germany at the Allianz arena a week later in the aeuros opener. 

Are we mental?? What the fcuk are these games going to prepare us for. 

I know. Let's play France or the Netherlands and get our confidence up. 

[Toepoke]

4 minutes ago, Templeton_Peck said:

Maybe not one of the worst teams in international football.

On tonight's showing we need all the shooting practice possible.

 

[TDYER63]

Folk are understandably pissed off. For a fair bit of that game we more than held our own. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter how shit the defence is, if we dont convert chances like we had tonight we are still not going to win. That is our real problem because the opportunities are there. 

[Lion Rampant]

4 minutes ago, Templeton_Peck said:

Maybe not one of the worst teams in international football.

 

So it's just the Gibraltar game you have an issue with? 

Bear in mind that game will come about a month after the championship in England has finished, 2 weeks after the English premier league has finished and and I think 2 weeks after Serie A has finished. 

Will likely be used as an easy ish game for players on the fringes to get some game time.

Finland will be a decent test. 

[Hertsscot]

I'd rather get the harsh lesson in a friendly now rather when the tournament begins. Hopefully we can learn. Reminds me of the rugby, potentially very good but not taking chances and all the good work being undone by stupid errors.

[Caledonian Craig]

To me it is clear we rely a heck of a lot on the Robertson/Tierney partnership when that is not in place our defence ships goals. We saw that in the few games when they were out where we leaked goals and as soon as Tierney went off we went from 1-0 down and well in the game to 4-0 down. That is no coincedence. We need to learn to organise the defence far better when Tierney or Robertson are out.

A real disappointing scoreline which flattered Netherlands as for two thirds of the game we were the better side. We have to dust ourselves down and tighten up at the back and start finding the net on Tuesday. We really need a win to end this bad run and build confidence.

[ceudmilefailte]

Think we know now why Paterson is 3rd choice at Everton..

As soon as Gilmour went of we lost all our composure in midfield.

After tonights  performance for the first hour I am pretty sure we can make it out of the group stages.

[Lion Rampant]

I'm putting a lot of these reactions down to the shock of losing so heavily when we played so well for probably 85mins of that game. The 2 late goals skewed that game beyond belief. 

Even after the 2nd we played reasonably well and had a really good chance that McTominay missed. 

I genuinely can't remember Scotland playing away to a team of the level of the Netherlands and playing so well. The passing was superb, we pressed so well, winning numerous balls close to their box and creating some great chances from those. 

Clearly taking chances was and is an issue but I've sat through so many games where we've lost 4-0 and more where we've been outclassed for the whole game. That wasnt tonight, we held our own and more. 

Had that been a competitive game Gilmour and Tierney wouldn't have went off and we probably wouldn't have lost control. 

I get that we're on a bad run but we've played some very good teams and mostly away from home. It's maybe not the disaster that we're maybe feeling it is. 

 

 

[scotlad]

7 minutes ago, Templeton_Peck said:

I just realised we are playing Giibraltar and Finland as warm up groups before playing Germany at the Allianz arena a week later in the aeuros opener. 

Are we mental?? What the fcuk are these games going to prepare us for. 

I thought the point of playing top nations in friendlies was to learn from them and to improve. Well, that's three top nations we've played friendlies against over the past six months - England, France and the Netherlands (although I don't think they're quite as good as the English or French) - and the stats are:

P3 W0 D0 L3 For 2 Against 11

Add in the qualifier against Spain - another top side - and it's:

P4 W0 D0 L4 For 2 Against 13

I imagine if we played a fifth of sixth top team we'd be on the receiving end of another two heavy defeats, and we'd be going into the Euros with our confidence completely shot.

39 minutes ago, MacGuff said:

We need a central midfielder who knows how to anchor. Gilmour can't do his job without a partner. And Mctominay needs to be further forward. He drifted way too much and left gaps. 

A good case tonight for Macgregor retaining his role or giving Christie a chance in the position he plays in the PL. Keep Mctominay out of there

I'm a wee bit surprised he didn't play Christie there tonight, considering that's where he plays for Bournemouth and by all accounts playing well. Then on comes Ferguson, who has excelled for Bologna in a more advanced role, playing deeper. 🙃

I guess if you are going to try things out and make mistakes this is the time to do it though.

[Toepoke]

2 minutes ago, scotlad said:

P3 W0 D0 L3 For 2 Against 11

Add in the qualifier against Spain - another top side - and it's:

P4 W0 D0 L4 For 2 Against 13

 

And Harry Maguire is our joint top scorer.

 

[bonzo]

Just now, Toepoke said:

And Harry Maguire is our joint top scorer.

 

🤣

[Ally Bongo]

You learn more from defeats than wins

Plenty time till the Euros and minds will be focused when those games come around

It's not as if it's like the bad times when we looked like collapsing after the first goal went in

[scotlad]

6 minutes ago, Lion Rampant said:

I'm putting a lot of these reactions down to the shock of losing so heavily when we played so well for probably 85mins of that game. The 2 late goals skewed that game beyond belief. 

Even after the 2nd we played reasonably well and had a really good chance that McTominay missed. 

I genuinely can't remember Scotland playing away to a team of the level of the Netherlands and playing so well. The passing was superb, we pressed so well, winning numerous balls close to their box and creating some great chances from those. 

Clearly taking chances was and is an issue but I've sat through so many games where we've lost 4-0 and more where we've been outclassed for the whole game. That wasnt tonight, we held our own and more. 

Had that been a competitive game Gilmour and Tierney wouldn't have went off and we probably wouldn't have lost control. 

I get that we're on a bad run but we've played some very good teams and mostly away from home. It's maybe not the disaster that we're maybe feeling it is. 

 

 

We played some good stuff in the first half and in the early part of the second - proper, possession-based football that you would expect from a midfield four consisting entirely of EPL players.

The worry though is the missed chances. The Dutch hadn't played together for a while either and it's hard to imagine we'll be presented with as many chances to score in the Euros as we were tonight. That is a wee bit out of character for us: for all that we've been out of form lately we're usually able to score. 

It's not the end of the world though, and I agree, we were still in it until the subs were made at the end of the game. I think perhaps Clarke learned a thing or two about some of his players tonight.

[scotlad]

8 minutes ago, Toepoke said:

And Harry Maguire is our joint top scorer.

 

Sad but true! 🤣

[Lion Rampant]

3 minutes ago, scotlad said:

We played some good stuff in the first half and in the early part of the second - proper, possession-based football that you would expect from a midfield four consisting entirely of EPL players.

The worry though is the missed chances. The Dutch hadn't played together for a while either and it's hard to imagine we'll be presented with as many chances to score in the Euros as we were tonight. That is a wee bit out of character for us: for all that we've been out of form lately we're usually able to score. 

It's not the end of the world though, and I agree, we were still in it until the subs were made at the end of the game. I think perhaps Clarke learned a thing or two about some of his players tonight.

If course the issue is the missed chances. Also whilst we might not create as many chances in the Euros games as we did tonight, we might not miss as many. 

Clarke learning a thing or two about the players is what these games are all about. Would be nice to win them (or not get beaten) whilst he is learning mind you 

[daviebee]

I think tonight showed we don't have strength in depth coming off the bench.  Probably right to take KT off as we need to wrap that guy in cotton wool.  Surprised to see Gilmour go though as the gaps then started appearing in the middle of the park.  We don't have anybody else remotely like him.

Until these substitutions we'd been brilliant - away from home against a top side and knocking the ball about like that and creating chances? We played some great stuff. Pity Gunn decided to play that fkin ridiculous pass out to Patterson which led to the 2nd and then everything fell apart.