Peru v Scotland - Wed 30th May 2018

[1320Lichtie]

 
Quite honestly I’d take Alan Hutton back before seeing SOD again and we all know Hutton is bang average. SOD only in the squad because of Killies purple patch we won’t see him again.
 
Thank f**k there’s another 4 people ahead of Lewis Stevenson in the pecking order.

So would I but I’m sure he’s retired. We genuinely do not have a right back.

Grimmer at Coventry and Tait at Motherwell only two I can think of. Maybe Ralston will come good.

[accies1874]

A lot has been made about our defensive shape in the first half, which was good, but it was almost as if McLeish entirely focussed on drilling their defensive work with nothing on the attacking side. I didn't see any semblance of an attacking plan other than shelling balls up to Phillips, who didn't hold it up. It was almost as if they were deliberately giving Peru the ball back just to test how comfortable they were in defence. 

Out wide, McLean couldn't get into the game whatsoever, and I was surprised to not see him drifting inside more. I know he liked to drift out to the right for Aberdeen, either to create space for himself or play sexual diagonals, but it seemed like he was actually being asked to play as a proper winger. Murphy did nothing. 

I liked McGeouch and McTominay. The former had a ropey start - a couple of wayward passes in the first few minutes - but he grew into it; his awareness to find space to help build from the back was good, as was his control of Scotland's build-up. It was his positioning that also helped nullify Peru, as they were fond of shelling balls to their striker from deep, but he managed to cut that supply off. He played almost exactly like he has at Hibs (other than properly showcasing his excellent close control), which I'm absolutely fine with. 

I focussed on Shinnie for the five minutes between his introduction and me going to bed; I wasn't impressed. He just didn't have that discipline or intelligence that McGeouch has, and he was taking up as good positions when the ball was with the centre-backs. I like Shinnie and he deserves his call-up for his form over the years, but I don't think he should be near our midfield.

The other subs failed to grab my attention. 

I think the individual faults of the back four were covered up by the organisation, evidenced whenever the ball went in behind and broke their shape. The full-backs looked ropey whenever they were isolated by a ball in behind or in between them and the centre-back. I have more faith in O'Donnell than Stevenson just because the former's younger and pretty much our only right-back. 

McGinn offered nothing. He's supposed to be the most attacking midfielder, but I seldom saw him occupy the space that Phillips created by drifting wide. I'm struggling to think of any instance that he actually picked the ball up from McGeouch and did something inspired with it.

I saw 80 minutes of it before going to bed, so hopefully someone can fill me in on what I'm sure was an exciting final 10.

 

[The Moonster]

Some amount of rage in here for a B team friendly.

[DrewDon]

Watched the highlights on the BBC and read through the thread.

Good to read that McKenna did well enough, despite giving away the penalty - he's an excellent defender and I'm sure he will be a huge asset for the team going forward. Another valuable experience for him. 

Archer isn't particularly good. It was surprising to me that Millwall were in contention for the play-offs in the Championship as long as they were with him as their first-choice goalkeeper. 

Overall, pleased I didn't stay up for it. 

[JamesM82]

2 minutes ago, DrewDon said:

Watched the highlights on the BBC and read through the thread.

Good to read that McKenna did well enough, despite giving away the penalty - he's an excellent defender and I'm sure he will be a huge asset for the team going forward. Another valuable experience for him. 

Archer isn't particularly good. It was surprising to me that Millwall were in contention for the play-offs in the Championship as long as they were with him as their first-choice goalkeeper. 

Overall, pleased I didn't stay up for it. 

McLaughlin has obviously had the better season of the two, and is more experienced. I hope and assume that he will play v Mexico. I think Archer was played last night because he's been around the squad for a year or two and hasn't had a sniff of a game until now. It isn't fair to expect folk to travel a lot for years on end for no real opportunity or reward,

[Dullard Bluteau]

Yet another pathetic display and defeat. McLeish is a very bad appointment for quite a number of reasons. The goalie was rubbish, as was Phillips as usual. The guy who came on , McBurnie, looked like a juniors player. Morgan was the only decent player, surrounded by duds.

[Paco]

Archer deserved a shot for his patience and if nothing else, the fact that he’s young and could improve.

Last we’ll see of him for a while though. Good grief. I’m not sure McLaughlin would be in the squad if he still played down south, but he should and presumably will start against Mexico. Every chance Bain will get the second half though, given McLeish’s noises about giving everyone a cap.

[John Lambies Doos]

It's laughable that we had no shots and litterly no possession. What has happened to our game. Shame on the SFA... One failure after another.

[Austinho]

2 hours ago, Savage Henry said:

 

It’s literally impossible to have a non-subjective opinion.

I don’t like McKenna as a player. Others think he’s perfectly fine. Some people rate McGinn, others don’t. Some people think Alex McLeish was an excellent, forward thinking appointment.

It’s all subjective.

 

McGinn was officially awarded two MOTM awards against Netherlands and Denmark. That’s pretty objective. 

[ekfootball]

I called it yesterday with Archer. The lad is still young and has had some very good games this season but on the big occasions he has made some terrible mistakes and the same happened last night. I can only think that McLaughlin will play the next game.

Peru are a team going to a world cup with a full team out last night and are unbeaten in 11 games which included game against Colombia, Uruguay and Argentina. We had numerous debutants and a pretty unbalanced team in all honesty due to call offs. There is absolutely no way we can be judging McLeish based on these friendlies that he himself wouldn't have wanted had he been in charge earlier.

The good thing about these games is that we are seeing what players are capable of making the step up and who isn't. For me Gordon, Tierney, Robertson, Armstrong, Forrest and Griffiths all start if fit. You then have the likes of Fraser, Ritchie, Cairney, Snodgrass, McArthur all playing at a good level. We were down to some of our 4th and 5th choices in certain positions last night and for a country our size that is always going to be tough.

[forameus]

The state some people are in over this game 

18 minutes ago, Austinho said:

McGinn was officially awarded two MOTM awards against Netherlands and Denmark. That’s pretty objective. 

Well, not really.  It's the subjective opinion of whoever is awarding it.  If MOTM awards were completely objective, then football's fucked given some of the choices Thistle made this season.

[Savage Henry]

38 minutes ago, Austinho said:

McGinn was officially awarded two MOTM awards against Netherlands and Denmark. That’s pretty objective. 

It's quite literally the most subjective thing that can possibly happen in a football match!

[Frankie S]

Having watched 3 matches on TV this week from start to finish (Scotland v Togo in Toulon, Champions League Final and Peru v Scotland), I’m left with three general impressions, from a parochial Scottish point of view.

1) Andy Robertson has improved immeasurably since joining Liverpool and now looks like a world class full back. Been a long time since we’ve had a player absolutely thriving at the top level. We’re lucky to have him.

2) There are, at best, a handful of players spread over the Scotland squads in Toulon and Peru, that we’ve seen in action so far, that might have at least some peripheral future utility at international level.

3) The rest - you’d be as well chopping them up and using them as kindling.

[velo army]

Far too much rage from last night.

I remember people carping at Craig Brown for not trying different players and line-ups in friendlies due to them being "nothing games". McLeish plays a team that wouldn't start in a testimonial never mind a qualifier. and people are losing their heids.

The lessons learned will be that Archer perhaps doesn't have it in him to be a reliable international GK, and that some other outfield players don't either.

There are young players out there who will play more for Scotland (McKenna, McTominay, McGinn and possibly McGeouch) who now have the extra experience of playing in a boisterous arena against a highly experienced South American side (500 caps in that team) who are going to a world cup. This can only be a positive for them, I think. 

McLeish put out a team with the players he has available. Without all the call-offs we'd have probably beaten Peru, or at least been part of a thoroughly entertaining draw. 

Lewis Morgan really is a fine player too.

[LondonHMFC]

1 hour ago, ekfootball said:

I called it yesterday with Archer. The lad is still young and has had some very good games this season but on the big occasions he has made some terrible mistakes and the same happened last night. I can only think that McLaughlin will play the next game.

Basically cost Millwall a playoff spot with some of his displays. Has a touch of the Joe Harts about him when trying to get down low to his right. 

Defending for that second goal was absolutely honking, fair enough it was a make shift side but there should at least be an attempt of trying to ingrain a style of play. Just seem void of ideas again. 

[Enigma]

Far too much rage from last night.
I remember people carping at Craig Brown for not trying different players and line-ups in friendlies due to them being "nothing games". McLeish plays a team that wouldn't start in a testimonial never mind a qualifier. and people are losing their heids.
The lessons learned will be that Archer perhaps doesn't have it in him to be a reliable international GK, and that some other outfield players don't either.
There are young players out there who will play more for Scotland (McKenna, McTominay, McGinn and possibly McGeouch) who now have the extra experience of playing in a boisterous arena against a highly experienced South American side (500 caps in that team) who are going to a world cup. This can only be a positive for them, I think. 
McLeish put out a team with the players he has available. Without all the call-offs we'd have probably beaten Peru, or at least been part of a thoroughly entertaining draw. 
Lewis Morgan really is a fine player too.

Spot on. Hear hear.

[DrewDon]

Watched the full 90 minutes on iPlayer. It wasn't as bad as I expected. 

We didn't carry much of an attacking threat, although I thought Phillips worked hard in the first half and that he lacked support. McTominay was generally tidy and attempted to impose himself, and McGeouch did most of the simple things well enough. McKenna was authoritative and assured - again. Mulgrew was also fine, although questions could possibly be asked of his positioning at the second goal. Of the substitutes, Morgan caught the eye - he took responsibility and tried to make something happen offensively. 

Probably the biggest disappointment for me, given that he is one of the fringe players more likely to be competing for regular starts, was McGinn - I thought too much of the game passed him by and that he struggled to assert any real control. I'm a big McLean fan, but he also struggled to make his mark in a somewhat unfamiliar role; he became slightly more influential centrally in the later stages, though. Murphy didn't contribute much of note. O'Donnell and Stevenson gave their all, but you could tell it was a step up at times. 

Happy to see Shinnie involved from the bench, purely because it means so much to him and he has had to bide his time. I'd imagine he will start at left-(wing)-back against Mexico. 

[DrewDon]

7 hours ago, Savage Henry said:

The back four was O’Donnell, Mulgrew, McKenna and Stevenson. That’s where the problem lies. Not one of those players should be in the squad, let alone starting. Also, Alex McLeish is the manager. God knows how much damage he’s going to do.

Out of interest, which centre-backs are Mulgrew and McKenna undeservedly keeping out of the squad?

[craigkillie]

Hard to even see which right-back(s) O'Donnell was keeping out for that game - it's not like we have a stack of them sitting in reserve.

[Enigma]

Hard to even see which right-back(s) O'Donnell was keeping out for that game - it's not like we have a stack of them sitting in reserve.

We’re probably still better off playing Tierney there, of Fraser if we go with a back three.