My Match Thoughts

[Orraloon]

One thing that should be noted is it is England who treated the game more like a 'cup final'. They were well up for it. That's the best I've seen them play for a while, unfortunately Scotland looked too polite and too tired. Could have been a cracker if we were up for it. No harm done really. Lost to a good team and Strachan and the players may have learnt a few lessons. Good education for the youngsters. I assumed Martin was up front as he is big and strong but to be honest Ross McCormack is a better target man than that. I thought Mulgrew was good and young Robertson kept battling and deserved his reward. Nice to see Gordon back in a Scotland shirt. D Fletcher needs to get more club games as looks rusty (he should come to Leeds Utd).

I thought that as well but a lot of folk were slagging him off on the radio on the way home. Just shows you there are lots of different opinions in football.

[Fairbairn]

Aye, but that's the problem. We all know he no Gordon McQueen but he is probably the best we've got and Strachan can't just magic a centre half out of thin air.

I agree but I think while we have him in the starting XI he'll continue to be a weak link. He's young so could still improve and hopefully will but I'm nervous about him every time he plays.

[Orraloon]

I agree but I think while we have him in the starting XI he'll continue to be a weak link. He's young so could still improve and hopefully will but I'm nervous about him every time he plays.

Me too, but I've been nervous about all our centre backs for about a decade. We just don't seem to produce good centre backs any more.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Orraloon

[Fairbairn]

Me too, but I've been nervous about all our centre back for about a decade. We just don't seem to produce good centre backs any more.

When Danny Wilson broke through I really had high hopes for him but he doesn't seem to have kicked on. He probably left Rangers a season or 2 too early at the time. I'd probably have Berra beside Martin at the back for now.

[Orraloon]

When Danny Wilson broke through I really had high hopes for him but he doesn't seem to have kicked on. He probably left Rangers a season or 2 too early at the time. I'd probably have Berra beside Martin at the back for now.

Danny Wilson looked really classy as a youngster and I also thought he could be the guy we have all been waiting for but I don't know what's happened to him. For me, Berra is kinda tainted by his association with Caldwell. That pair were the most scary of all for me. But maybe just having to play alongside Caldwell made Berra look worse than he is. Might be worth giving him another go with another partner. Hanley will get suspended before the end of the campaign anyway so will have to try something else at some point.

[er yir macaroon]

I 'd like to see Wilson and Souttar go to better leagues, although I still think Souttar could end up in midfield.

[Pool Q]

As someone said above England were bigger, stronger and faster all across the park. And technically superior as well. A team full of players regularly performing at the top end of the EPL outplayed a bunch of guys from the Championship. No great surprise. To be fair many in our side did look tired, our game against Ireland clearly took a lot more out of the Scotland players (physically and mentally) than the Slovenia one had out of the English, who also have greater strength in depth to 'rotate'. I was impressed by England. A number of good young players and they were clearly well up for the game.

Positives? Not many. Got the result and performance in the game that matters. Good to see Gordon back, ditto Darren Fletcher. Robertson still clearly has a lot to learn, but the potential is definitely there. Mulgrew had two good games, looked surprisingly confortable against high quality players.

Biggest worries remain at CB and up front. Martin and Hanley do a job for us, but are going to struggle at the top level. No immediate alternatives out there though. And the way we play is too reliant on one player, Steven Fletcher, without him and his movement and link-up play, we look very limited. Martin looked like a journeyman lower league player, didn't offer anything at the level he was playing last night. I know Rhodes is a very different player but if Martin merits a place in the squad so does he.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Pool Q

[Caledonian Craig]

Look we played crap (collectively) as a team last night. There should be no scapegoats here as even stalwarts such as Broon and Naismith had stinkers. It was a bad day at the office and wasn't helped by us missing Fletcher up front and having Martin in as a replacement.

[Orraloon]

Look we played crap (collectively) as a team last night. There should be no scapegoats here as even stalwarts such as Broon and Naismith had stinkers. It was a bad day at the office and wasn't helped by us missing Fletcher up front and having Martin in as a replacement.

Aye, you're right. Nae scapegoats.

[Caledonian Craig]

Aye, you're right. Nae scapegoats.

Alright - fair enough.

However, Martin hasn't impressed in all the games I have seen him in for us whereas others that had stinkers for us last night have excelled for us in many games such as Brown, Naismith and Mulgrew. They have shown they can live at international level but Martin hasn't hence my remark.

[Auld_Reekie]

Still think Steven Fletcher is being over-rated. It wasn't so much that he was missed as it was Chris Martin just isn't good enough. We lacked something with Fletcher up top against Georgia and we hardly pummeled Ireland's goal on Friday night. While Strachan deserves credit from trying to play with 2 strikers, I'd still rather see us play 4-5-1 and Naismith leading up front. Another midfielder last night would have been more beneficial for us and would enable a defensive midfielder to support Hanley/Martin.

[Bannannan]

I said it in another post. England put up their best performance of the year last night. We gave our worst.

They had a relatively easy game on Saturday. Ours was a bruising.

As hard as it is to lose to them, we've had one of our best years for a long time. We are going into the remainder of the campaign with anticipation. In the last couple of campaigns, we were already doomed by this time.

Roll on 2015.

[blackcountry jock]

I watch the game in an English pub with loads engerland fans my thoughts were we looked lost and knackered as a team worse game we have played under gws.... The reaction from the engerland fans I watched it with were obvious delight but also they were disappointed in a way because as one lad put why the feck didn't they play like that in the World Cup so yeah our worse game in years but there best game in years

[Caledonian Craig]

We were very poor. And reading views elsewhere England put on their best performance in a while so we got the result we had.

We didn't do too bad for the first quarter of the match but conceded a soft goal. We then lost our way and we are not set up well for chasing games when Fletcher is not there - that was obvious last night. We then conceded another soft goal early in the second half and it was game over. We made changes and that did give us a better shape or more life. We snatched a well-worked goal but in keeping with the night conceded a third soft goal immediately. Too many poor performances in blue and you cannot do that against a half-decent international side - it will cost you.

[morrison1982]

Still think Steven Fletcher is being over-rated. It wasn't so much that he was missed as it was Chris Martin just isn't good enough. We lacked something with Fletcher up top against Georgia and we hardly pummeled Ireland's goal on Friday night. While Strachan deserves credit from trying to play with 2 strikers, I'd still rather see us play 4-5-1 and Naismith leading up front. Another midfielder last night would have been more beneficial for us and would enable a defensive midfielder to support Hanley/Martin.

Our worst spell of the game last night was the 20 minutes in which this was done (between half time and when May came on). There was also a big difference in the performance v Germany between the first half (when it was 4-5-1 with Naismith isolated) than the second half (Fletcher came on and was supported by Naismith).

[SwinnyTravel74]

We never got near them. If we had any chance last night we had to be in their faces, but too often they picked the ball up in yards of space. At that level, we'll always be punished for that. The game was crying out for a few hard challenges to fire up the crowd, and the team. Unfortunately it looked like both teams agreed not to tackle. Nothing but a glorified friendly. A rip off at the prices they charged.

[Blantyre_Braveheart]

Positives:

Robertson's goal was a lovely piece of play.

Russell came on and was very impressive; his link up play with Robertson was impressive and they seem to have a better understanding than Robertson and Anya.

Some decent passages of play.

Negatives:

Robertson's lack of awareness at both goals (he's only 20 so, I don't want to be too harsh).

Overall despite some decent passages of play; we where quite poor. England set up in a way that made it hard for us to stick to our natural game and deserved their win.

C.Martin, the difference with him upfront in comparrison to Fletcher is redicoulous, anyone who slates Fletcher and wants someone else up top, either doesn't know anything about football or has an agenda. Our best passages of play in recent game have come when he is up top. He may not be a predator in the box but his link play, vision and close control are far superior to anyone else we have up top.

Marshall and Gordon's kicking abilites. Marshall's kicking ability seem to go backwards every game we play; quite a few wayward kick from Gordon also.

All in all England deserved their win and tbh I said to my dad before the game this is a friendly to us, whereas for England it will be more like a competitiive match. The game meant more to England and you could see it in their performances.

Out of all our players I'd give pass marks to Robertson, Mulgrew, Russell and D.Fletcher

[Orraloon]

I try not to read too much into friendlies even if it is against the Auld Enemy. There were 5 subs at half time and another 4 around the 60 minute mark which totally disrupts the flow of the game. The fact that England looked so much better in the 2nd half maybe only tells us that they have better substitutes than we do.

So, in as far as comparing the teams The only bit I think is important is the first half and whilst England looked better than us they weren't that much better. They didn't create many chances and the goal they scored was down to our usual defensive problems. Fair enough it was a decent cross into the box but the guy who scored wasn't challenged and didn't even have to jump for the header.

We tried to play the passing game that has been working recently but England were far better at stopping us doing that than Ireland were. They forced us into doing it across the back 4 and even using Marshall as the outlet of a good few occasions. It was good to see that he didn't just punt it every time he got it but managed to keep the passing going. Even if it was deep in our own half.

So overall I don't that 1st half was that bad. England were the better team, no doubt, but not that much better. I think it's probably a good wake up call for a lot of folk. After narrowly beating Ireland some folk were starting to think that we would walk through the rest of the group and maybe win it. England are a far, far better team than Ireland and that is the level we need to learn to compete against.W e are not that far away but our passing and ball control needs to be much better than it was last night.

[Caledonian Craig]

Positives:

Robertson's goal was a lovely piece of play.

Russell came on and was very impressive; his link up play with Robertson was impressive and they seem to have a better understanding than Robertson and Anya.

Some decent passages of play.

Negatives:

Robertson's lack of awareness at both goals (he's only 20 so, I don't want to be too harsh).

Overall despite some decent passages of play; we where quite poor. England set up in a way that made it hard for us to stick to our natural game and deserved their win.

C.Martin, the difference with him upfront in comparrison to Fletcher is redicoulous, anyone who slates Fletcher and wants someone else up top, either doesn't know anything about football or has an agenda. Our best passages of play in recent game have come when he is up top. He may not be a predator in the box but his link play, vision and close control are far superior to anyone else we have up top.

Marshall and Gordon's kicking abilites. Marshall's kicking ability seem to go backwards every game we play; quite a few wayward kick from Gordon also.

All in all England deserved their win and tbh I said to my dad before the game this is a friendly to us, whereas for England it will be more like a competitiive match. The game meant more to England and you could see it in their performances.

Out of all our players I'd give pass marks to Robertson, Mulgrew, Russell and D.Fletcher

Spot on. I cannot disagree with any of that.

[Caledonian Craig]

I try not to read too much into friendlies even if it is against the Auld Enemy. There were 5 subs at half time and another 4 around the 60 minute mark which totally disrupts the flow of the game. The fact that England looked so much better in the 2nd half maybe only tells us that they have better substitutes than we do.

So, in as far as comparing the teams The only bit I think is important is the first half and whilst England looked better than us they weren't that much better. They didn't create many chances and the goal they scored was down to our usual defensive problems. Fair enough it was a decent cross into the box but the guy who scored wasn't challenged and didn't even have to jump for the header.

We tried to play the passing game that has been working recently but England were far better at stopping us doing that than Ireland were. They forced us into doing it across the back 4 and even using Marshall as the outlet of a good few occasions. It was good to see that he didn't just punt it every time he got it but managed to keep the passing going. Even if it was deep in our own half.

So overall I don't that 1st half was that bad. England were the better team, no doubt, but not that much better. I think it's probably a good wake up call for a lot of folk. After narrowly beating Ireland some folk were starting to think that we would walk through the rest of the group and maybe win it. England are a far, far better team than Ireland and that is the level we need to learn to compete against.W e are not that far away but our passing and ball control needs to be much better than it was last night.

Again I'd agree. I do think it was clear a few of our key players under-performed which didn't help. I watched Broon set England through on goal by giving the ball away and Naismith looked lost without Fletcher. No complaints about the result though and as you say it serves as a wake-up call. We have improved a lot in the past year but we still have some way to go.

[Tartan blood]

Positives:

Robertson's goal was a lovely piece of play.

Russell came on and was very impressive; his link up play with Robertson was impressive and they seem to have a better understanding than Robertson and Anya.

Some decent passages of play.

Negatives:

Robertson's lack of awareness at both goals (he's only 20 so, I don't want to be too harsh).

Overall despite some decent passages of play; we where quite poor. England set up in a way that made it hard for us to stick to our natural game and deserved their win.

C.Martin, the difference with him upfront in comparrison to Fletcher is redicoulous, anyone who slates Fletcher and wants someone else up top, either doesn't know anything about football or has an agenda. Our best passages of play in recent game have come when he is up top. He may not be a predator in the box but his link play, vision and close control are far superior to anyone else we have up top.

Marshall and Gordon's kicking abilites. Marshall's kicking ability seem to go backwards every game we play; quite a few wayward kick from Gordon also.

All in all England deserved their win and tbh I said to my dad before the game this is a friendly to us, whereas for England it will be more like a competitiive match. The game meant more to England and you could see it in their performances.

Out of all our players I'd give pass marks to Robertson, Mulgrew, Russell and D.Fletcher

For positives, i'd add in May's debut. He had a hell of a lot more fight than Martin and came close to getting a chance a couple of times. Over 90mins, I think he could be quite useful and score the odd goal. Did more in his cameo than Martin did in his whole Scotland career.

I'd also say Maloney deserves pass marks. The only one of our attackers that didn't look intimidated.

[Toepoke]

We never got near them. If we had any chance last night we had to be in their faces, but too often they picked the ball up in yards of space. At that level, we'll always be punished for that.

Aye, look at the first goal, Wilshire gets too much room (maybe Brown at fault?) and bop it's 0-1 and we're chasing the game...

[stactuso85]

I pretty much agree with what Strachan and Brown said after the game.

Disagree with what I'm reading about Anya being disappointing, the only times we looked threatening in the first half was when we switched the ball out wide to Anya and Robertson when they were in space. Anya looked dangerous and quick which is the least you'd expect against a big team. Surely people don't expect him to destroy every single full-back he plays against? Not gonna happen.

I thought Naismith was poor. Mulgrew tried his best. Chris Martin was not suited to the role he played imo (miss Kenny Miller) and also he was starved of service. I understand sometimes you have to go backwards to go forwards but far too many times last night we got into good crossing (or passing) positions near the box and bottled it, going back back back...

England rattled us and the underlying lack of belief showed when we went backwards from good positions too many times. England played like an overpowered version of Ireland - pressing up high, chasing us everywhere, physical strength...except they had more pace and ability than Ireland.

I don't expect Robertson to be at Hull City for a very long time. May and Russell looked good when they came on.

On a positive note, as mediocre as we were, we still hung in and got a goal which gave us a fighting chance of getting back, albeit briefly.

[er yir macaroon]

It would have been good to mix it up a bit and put Anya on the right for a while. He tends to get to the bye line and want to put it onto his right foot. We should be looking at getting some early, accurate balls across the face of goal now and again.

[wanday]

We are developing a bad habit of losing goals after we score.