Billy Gilmour

[DiegoDiego]

The best “team” doesn’t always mean the 11 best players regardless of what position they play. If it did then we’d end up playing a 2-8-0 probably.

How bad is our third best defender if David Marshall is considered a better player? 3-8-0 for me, please; rush keepers.

[Marshmallo]

14 minutes ago, eez-eh said:

Not necessarily. There might be a formation we can play that includes all of them and works well, but there’s no point just cramming so many centre mids in for the sake of it either. You risk losing balance and hampering the rest of the team when you do that.

The best “team” doesn’t always mean the 11 best players regardless of what position they play. If it did then we’d end up playing a 2-8-0 probably.

Another one that just looks at the graphic Sky flash up before the game or players' positions on FIFA

[eez-eh]

3 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

Another one that just looks at the graphic Sky flash up before the game or players' positions on FIFA

Fucking lol. Shouldn’t have expected any sort of reasonable debate from yourself.

If you want to propose your team that includes all 5 of those players though (and explain how it would work) feel free.

Edited July 7, 2020 by eez-eh

[Marshmallo]

Marshall

Tierney McKenna Cooper Robertson

McTominay Gilmour McGregor

McGinn Armstrong

McBurnie

[eez-eh]

In fairness it looks better written down, but I’d worry we’d get overrun on our left hand side if Robertson is caught forward.

I’d rather have Christie playing as well as he’s done well cutting in from the left. McGregor would be my first to be sacrificed as I don’t think he’s been up to much in his recent caps.

Still got Fleck to factor in too. Our midfield options are crazy.

[Marshmallo]

Just now, eez-eh said:

In fairness it looks better written down

[GTG_03]

9 hours ago, Marshmallo said:

You seem to be assuming all "centre mids" are identical to each other. If it says "CM" on FIFA that doesn't mean the players need to play one of the middle two spots in a 4-4-2 in real life. Have you watched a Southampton game this season, for example? Armstrong has been playing wide in a front three and has been their best player apart from Ings over the last few months. Robertson gives you the width you're missing down the left.

Players need to be fluid and being comfortable on the ball and tactically aware of how to do a number of different things is far more important than making sure the position goes green on Ultimate Team.

If you think McBurnie is "rank rotten" then I don't know what to say to you. Sheffield United have confounded all expectations this season and he's a nailed on starter for them after paying 20m for him. I'd imagine you'd have them pushing Liverpool if you were in charge instead of Chris Wilder, given how dense he must be to pay that much for a "rank rotten" striker and then start him in every game.

Obviously players can play different positions, it's just nonsensical to play 5 players whose most comfortable positions are in the centre. You could play a 4 3 3 and get 3 in but playing all 5 makes the team far too narrow. Just saying that Robertson would give us width isn't enough.

Would you leave out Fraser and Forrest? 

20 million isn't much down south, he's scored a handful of goals this season and was dropped earlier in the season for being pish. He's never scored for Scotland either.

Maybe stick to FIFA mate.

 

 

[J_Stewart]

12 hours ago, Marshmallo said:

We need to come up with some sort of formation that lets us start all of Gilmour, McTominay, McGregor, McGinn and Armstrong. Potentially the latter two playing off McBurnie in a narrow sort of 4-3-3.

Pie McBurnie to the bench as an impact sub and play 4-6-0. Could it work?

[Marshmallo]

28 minutes ago, ThatBoyRonaldo said:

My main objection to Marshys XI is the lack of Christie tbh - he's looked great for Scotland the last few games. Mad that we have 6 central midfielders plus Fraser and Forrest competing for 5 places.

Could go 4-2-3-1 and drop either Gilmour or McGregor. Play McGinn in the middle of the three with Armstrong and Christie nominally outside of him but interchanging between the three of them. Alternatively play Christie instead of McGinn or Armstrong.

[ahemps]

13 hours ago, Carnoustie Young Guvnor said:

Aye unfortunately about 45% of people in Scotland grow up as Old Firm fans and it brings a myopia that has stunted the careers of many of our best players.

It feels more like 85% to me. 

[ahemps]

13 hours ago, Carnoustie Young Guvnor said:

Look at Calum Mcgregor now wtf is he doing still at Celtic its ridiculous, if he was Danish he'd have left years ago.

The team currently fourth in the EPL wanted to sign him last summer and he turned them down to play Hamilton and St Mirren for the millionth time. Idiotic. Same with Forrest, he's won the title up here about forty times its ludicrous he stayed his whole career, should have left three or four years ago and played at a higher level, he would have become a better player.

Look at a player like Ajer at Celtic, he just sees Celtic as a stepping stone to the highest level, same with Van Dijk and Wanyama and several others Ki etc. Scottish players, some of them, sadly see them as the be all and end all and they don't fulfill their potential as a result.

This is so true. The old firm seem to have a hold on homegrown players that doesn't apply elsewhere. Portuguese players leave Benfica and Porto all the time, Dutch players leave Ajax and PSV, these sides dominate their leagues and in the main do far better in European competition yet these players have ambition to get to the highest level they can.

I think players like Forrest and Brown have managed there career well, Celtic probably is there level. If they had moved to an Everton for example they would probably be found to be squad players then find themselves at a championship team within 2-3 years. So they stay at Celtic, get good wages, get free trophies and the occasional big game in Europe. McGregor though could and should be trying his luck in England. Is he as good as McArthur, Snodgrass or Armstrong? I would say so. He could be playing against Arsenal, Man Utd, City, Liverpool, Chelsea etc. every other week surely that is much more motivating than winning the most mismatched league in Europe and beating Ross County and Hamilton every week.

[Marshmallo]

10 minutes ago, chocolateankles said:

Awful the Israelis would pish themselves seeing that right enough.

^^^ would gie the loddy Shawnklin a chance like

[forameus]

52 minutes ago, chocolateankles said:

You mean Scotland fans, aye a lot of them are awful, normally the ones who turn up now and again at Hampden saying "I dinnae really watch Scotland or international fitba, its pish".

How many glengarries do you own?

[DukDukGoose]

1 hour ago, ahemps said:

This is so true. The old firm seem to have a hold on homegrown players that doesn't apply elsewhere. Portuguese players leave Benfica and Porto all the time, Dutch players leave Ajax and PSV, these sides dominate their leagues and in the main do far better in European competition yet these players have ambition to get to the highest level they can.

I think players like Forrest and Brown have managed there career well, Celtic probably is there level. If they had moved to an Everton for example they would probably be found to be squad players then find themselves at a championship team within 2-3 years. So they stay at Celtic, get good wages, get free trophies and the occasional big game in Europe. McGregor though could and should be trying his luck in England. Is he as good as McArthur, Snodgrass or Armstrong? I would say so. He could be playing against Arsenal, Man Utd, City, Liverpool, Chelsea etc. every other week surely that is much more motivating than winning the most mismatched league in Europe and beating Ross County and Hamilton every week.

The way it works with the OF up here is pretty similar to English players and Man Utd. Similar to Germans and Bayern.

A lot of foreign guys seem to see Barca/Real as their dream club.

[ahemps]

8 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:

The way it works with the OF up here is pretty similar to English players and Man Utd. Similar to Germans and Bayern.

A lot of foreign guys seem to see Barca/Real as their dream club.

Man utd, Bayern, Real and Barca are among the top teams in world football if that is where players are aspiring to be then that is a good thing.

I compared to the old firm to Ajax, PSV, Benfica and Porto but a more apt comparison is probably Dinamo Zagreb or Crvena Zvezda in that they are domestically dominant in a low ranked European league that flirt with the champions league from time to time. Again though the top Croatian or Serbian players want to get to Italy, Spain or England and not stay in that comfort zone.

[Marshmallo]

2 minutes ago, ahemps said:

Man utd, Bayern, Real and Barca are among the top teams in world football if that is where players are aspiring to be then that is a good thing.

I compared to the old firm to Ajax, PSV, Benfica and Porto but a more apt comparison is probably Dinamo Zagreb or Crvena Zvezda in that they are domestically dominant in a low ranked European league that flirt with the champions league from time to time. Again though the top Croatian or Serbian players want to get to Italy, Spain or England and not stay in that comfort zone.

Have you moved abroad to further your career, just out of interest?

[DukDukGoose]

3 minutes ago, ahemps said:

Man utd, Bayern, Real and Barca are among the top teams in world football if that is where players are aspiring to be then that is a good thing.

I compared to the old firm to Ajax, PSV, Benfica and Porto but a more apt comparison is probably Dinamo Zagreb or Crvena Zvezda in that they are domestically dominant in a low ranked European league that flirt with the champions league from time to time. Again though the top Croatian or Serbian players want to get to Italy, Spain or England and not stay in that comfort zone.

Regarding Man Utd and Bayern my point is that these two are generally seen as the only really big teams in those countries. Other teams have caught up in England of course but Man Utd are still seen as the team.

[ahemps]

4 minutes ago, ThatBoyRonaldo said:

Yeah you can understand it I think. Many of these guys will have grown up as fans of the old firm, why wouldn't they want to spend their whole careers there and be heroes to the fans they grew up among? To pull another example off the top of my head, people don't criticise Matt Le Tissier for spending his whole career at Southampton despite being good enough to go elsewhere. 

I think fans in general are quite bad at remembering that footballers are human beings with lives and opinions  off the pitch and may make decisions that from a purely football point of view aren't the 'best' ones. 

That is a fair point and I accept that. If someone is happy in there personal life where they are and is thought of as a local hero then who are we to judge.

Talking only from a football point of view some of our players do seem to want to stay at the old firm longer than their peers in other similar sized footballing countries although that is only my perception, I could be wrong.

[ahemps]

2 minutes ago, Marshmallo said:

Have you moved abroad to further your career, just out of interest?

I have moved locations to further my career yes. My profession though is not comparable to a footballer.

[ahemps]

2 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:

Regarding Man Utd and Bayern my point is that these two are generally seen as the only really big teams in those countries. Other teams have caught up in England of course but Man Utd are still seen as the team.

Okay I see where you are coming from now. I totally get that. Yes every year Bayern buy a top player (Leroy Sane) and get stronger yet there challengers lose their top player (Werner and possibly Sancho and Havertz) and have to work harder to challenge and quite often Bayern are taking the top players from the league (Lewandoski, Goretzka, Gnabry etc.) I could go on about this all day but this should be in the Bundesliga thread an not here.