Scotland v Albania

[1320Lichtie]

It's definitely an awkward formation for Tierney & Robertson.  Over the past two games, there's been a few times where an opposition player gets a lot of space in behind down their side. Almost as if they expect the each other to pick the guy up. O'Donnell played better at RWB yesterday than I can remember Tierney ever playing at RB for Scotland so it seems silly to me to sit him on the bench so quickly. I know it's only one game though so he shouldn't be the guaranteed RWB for the next year+ just yet. Tierney looked more consistent attacking down the left for me yesterday than Robertson did so it might be a bit whac-a-mole like until we get it right.
The 3-5-2 does seem to be help with getting more players forward though. I think almost every outfield player other than Souttar (and McTominay's last 10mins) had a shot last night. I don't think we were too bad going forward against Belgium either.

The problem is, that we need a good holding midfielder to play it. Every position suits each player but we’ve not got a guy who’ll be disciplined and sit, if only Scott Brown was available...

I’d personally play Shinnie or McTominay over McDonald every time, McDonald doesn’t Harry and win the ball back and he doesn’t control the game either. McTominay is better on the ball and Shinnie is better off it but they’re both pretty good all round at both.

McGinn / Armstrong/ McGregor roam all over the joint. Ryan Jack just isn’t good enough to play it.

It’s the missing piece of the puzzle for me.

If everyone was fit

McGregor

Souttar/Hendry
McKenna/Mulgrew
Tierney

Fraser/Forrest
Armstrong
McTominay/Shinnie
McGinn
Robertson

McGregor
Griffiths/Naismith

Is what we should be looking at.

[Coooombe]

26 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

 

The problem is, that we need a good holding midfielder to play it. Every position suits each player but we’ve not got a guy who’ll be disciplined and sit, if only Scott Brown was available...

I’d personally play Shinnie or McTominay over McDonald every time, McDonald doesn’t Harry and win the ball back and he doesn’t control the game either. McTominay is better on the ball and Shinnie is better off it but they’re both pretty good all round at both.

McGinn / Armstrong/ McGregor roam all over the joint. Ryan Jack just isn’t good enough to play it.

It’s the missing piece of the puzzle for me.

If everyone was fit

McGregor

Souttar/Hendry
McKenna/Mulgrew
Tierney

Fraser/Forrest
Armstrong
McTominay/Shinnie
McGinn
Robertson

McGregor
Griffiths/Naismith

Is what we should be looking at.

 

I wouldn't have Fraser at RWB - he looked like a lost puppy there against Belgium with no idea how to defend. I'd have him on the right of a 4-2-3-1, but if we're going 3-5-2 it has to be O'Donnell/Tierney/Paterson for me. 

I agree with the rest though. We definitely felt it defensively when McDonald went off last night as we didn't have anyone sitting, but against teams like Albania we'll get away with that.

[ArabianKnight]

1 hour ago, 1320Lichtie said:

 

The problem is, that we need a good holding midfielder to play it. Every position suits each player but we’ve not got a guy who’ll be disciplined and sit, if only Scott Brown was available...

I’d personally play Shinnie or McTominay over McDonald every time, McDonald doesn’t Harry and win the ball back and he doesn’t control the game either. McTominay is better on the ball and Shinnie is better off it but they’re both pretty good all round at both.

McGinn / Armstrong/ McGregor roam all over the joint. Ryan Jack just isn’t good enough to play it.

It’s the missing piece of the puzzle for me.

If everyone was fit

McGregor

Souttar/Hendry
McKenna/Mulgrew
Tierney

Fraser/Forrest
Armstrong
McTominay/Shinnie
McGinn
Robertson

McGregor
Griffiths/Naismith

Is what we should be looking at.

 

Sod instead of Fraser and that's our strongest line up IMO

[Poet of the Macabre]

McGinn was such a battler in the midfield but was a liability at times and could have directly cost a couple of goals if we'd been playing a better side.

Really impressed with O'Donnell.

Enjoyed people who said we couldn't judge the Belgium game because they're really good, saying we shouldn't mention the fact Albania are a complete gang. We are nowhere near the best sides and comfortably better than the dross.

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

Hendry is shite. The Celtic version of Ryan Jack.

[1320Lichtie]

Hendry is shite. The Celtic version of Ryan Jack.

Souttar and Hendry are effectively the same player in my opinion. Extremely similar.

[Gordopolis]

4 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

 

Souttar and Hendry are effectively the same player in my opinion. Extremely similar.

 

I'd agree with that. Both potentially very good as well. Hendry is suffering a dip in form and confidence but he'll recover.

[Spring Onion]

4 hours ago, Poet of the Macabre said:

McGinn was such a battler in the midfield but was a liability at times and could have directly cost a couple of goals if we'd been playing a better side.

I thought Mcginn had a below average game. Too many simple mistake that could have really cost us. Maybe its better he cuts his teeth as a regular in inernationals against the likes of Albania and Israel as his mistakes were not punished.

[Guest DAVIDB69]

Noticed Greece losing in a c section , so Finland top of this group as things stand , would be preferable playing them further down the line

[Granny Danger]

I keep reading all these negative comments about McGinn and wonder if it’s the same McGinn that I was watching.

 

[Diamonds are Forever]

7 hours ago, MarkoRaj said:

Honestly I think Naismith's link up play is far better than Griffiths.

The way he comes deep and takes the ball in tight spaces, laying the ball off and getting into really clever positions was the catalyst for how we overran them in the advanced midfield areas and something we've missed.

Don't see why he should drop out while he's still on form for hearts

 

Griffiths has barely kicked a ball in months, he's scored 3 goals since January - against Hamilton, Partick and Suduva. Hasn't started a game since April. And other than his free-kicks has never really done it for Scotland, take out the England game and he's scored 2 in 18 for Scotland. Also looks a bit 'out of shape'.

The clamour for him to start is bizarre. I completely get that we are chronically short up front, but people seem to be thinking that this is the Leigh Griffiths who was scoring 40 goals a season a couple of years back, it's not, and McLeish was correct not to play him.

[Guest DAVIDB69]

So scotland , Finland, Bulgaria , Montenegro if the c groups stopped today.

Two games against two of those doesn’t look so bad, looks preferable compared to other choices to Greece , Serbia , Rumania all of who would likely beat us.

Still a medium way to go.

[LinkinFighter]

Griffiths will get a lot more game time now that Dembele is away.

[Ro Sham Bo]

Israel's result against Northern Ireland tonight is another source of encouragement.

[Big Chief Toffee Teeth]

Very happy with the result and particularly the performance. Positives for me were:
Midfield looked dynamic, pressed the opposition hard, were comfortable on the ball and McGinn, Armstrong and McGregor are all capabable of taking the ball past a man and driving forward. Compared to midfielders in the past like Fletcher, Brown, McArthur, Adam, Bannan, and while they had their own attributes, none of them were going burst forward with the ball. We had to rely only on wide players to do that.
McGinn in particular stood out. I agree with the 'calm down' comments above, and clearly he needs to channel his enthusiasm into the good stuff he does and not giving away possession in his own half. If he can cut out the errors, he'll be a cracking box to box midfielder for us.
We finally have central defenders I'm starting to have hope for. I would prefer McKenna or Berra to Mulgrew, but not much you can do when both are injured.
 
On the negatives:
Despite how it actually worked out, I'm really not sure why Eck started with Naismith up top. He's always been a decent option for Scotland in the number 10 role, where he gets lots of chances making late runs and wins a disproportionate amount of headers for his size, but he's never been a true finisher. He needs several goods chances to score, so if you are playing a bigger team or away from home he's an option to lead the line just to work hard and hold the ball up, but you wouldn't bet on him getting a goal. At home, when you're getting lots of chances, much better to have Griffiths and by all means play Naismith in a deeper role if he's in form.
On that note, I was beginning to worry if we would get a goal – there was a lack of composure around the box, and being honest, Naismith was going to miss with that first one if it hadn't deflected in, so we need to be more clinical – Griffiths, McGregor and Armstrong should all be able to weigh in with goals in the future. McGregor got so many opportunities with the ball at his feet in the box last night, but didn't quite get it right. I'm hoping with more experience he'll calm down and finish the way he does at club level because his movement to create the space and chances was excellent.
Not sure what the answer is at holding midfield. Clearly we didn't need that position against Albania, which was why Armstrong came on in the second half, but we probably will need someone to do it in the next too games. McArthur would be an experienced choice but has ruled himself out. McGinn can't be trusted just yet, McTominay is young and not getting games, while McDonald has not impressed so far at international level.
 
Overall though, it was great to see us dominate a team so comprehensively. The one advantage of playing Belgium first was it made it look so much easier playing against 'normal' opposition.

Excellent analysis of the game, our prospects and things to consider for the future. Are you sure you're on the right forum?

[velo army]

55 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

I keep reading all these negative comments about McGinn and wonder if it’s the same McGinn that I was watching.

 

Same here. He had a couple of brain farts, but his ball-winning was excellent. I’d love to see his stats on tackles made/won etc. I noticed that after his first mad moment he demanded the ball and immediately drove the team forward, tremendous attitude.

[charger29]

51 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

I keep reading all these negative comments about McGinn and wonder if it’s the same McGinn that I was watching.

 

He's unbelievable at winning the ball back but his passing has been dire at times. He should be starting but he has to calm down and realise he's not Xavi just yet. Trying to chip sideways passes over an opposition player in your own half is a recipe for disaster.

[Big Chief Toffee Teeth]

 

Griffiths has barely kicked a ball in months, he's scored 3 goals since January - against Hamilton, Partick and Suduva. Hasn't started a game since April. And other than his free-kicks has never really done it for Scotland, take out the England game and he's scored 2 in 18 for Scotland. Also looks a bit 'out of shape'.

The clamour for him to start is bizarre. I completely get that we are chronically short up front, but people seem to be thinking that this is the Leigh Griffiths who was scoring 40 goals a season a couple of years back, it's not, and McLeish was correct not to play him.

Agree with a fair bit of this - much as it pains me to do so with someone from the wrong side of Coatdyke Cross...

Griffiths needs to start for Celtic every week to do it for Scotland. If ever there were a striker whose game is built on confidence, he's yer man. Many of his Scotland appearances have been as sub, and he is rarely going to make an impact in that role. For Scotland, as as a subbie for Celtic in European games, he tries ( and invariably fails ) to do it all himself when he's given 15 minutes.

Yes, he"s had some injuries, but the 40 goal a season man was sacrificed by Rodgers to the hypeing of the recently departed Dembele. Good business for Celtic, but one of the erse cheeks has cost Scotland a potentially prolific striker.

 

[Trackdaybob]

10 hours ago, Savage Henry said:

£20 is still way, way over the odds.

No.

[BFTD]

10 hours ago, Gaz said:

See on games where Hampden isn't going to sell out, why not close off rows from the back instead of sections?

Excuse the poor diagram, but close it off like on the right, and not on the left?

Having empty sections looks terrible. At least that way all fans would be together, they could cover the back rows with something so it didn't look like there are thousands and thousands of empty seats.

I'm guessing they can save money in stewarding and police costs by cramming everyone into a couple of areas rather than spreading them around the whole ground.

But that might just be the old romantic in me talking.