Scotland v Russia (Match Thread)

[monthefife]

Problem with McBurnie is that he doesn't have the situational awareness when to head it down to a teammate, or chest it down.

The problem with McBurnie is that he is mince. End of.

[The_Kincardine]

2 minutes ago, Henderson to deliver ..... said:

 

He may get his chance against Belgium,

No thanks.  Scotland has turned in to a shower of disinterested b*****ds managed by a hapless diddy masquerading as Berti Vogts.

[Cptn Hooch]

1 hour ago, D.A.F.C said:

Robertson has been atrocious

 

1 hour ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

Final ball has been appalling.

Does Robertson flatter to deceive? He looks great at Liverpool but is it because he happens to suit his manager's system and has good players around him to cover up for his defensive frailties? Too much pressure on him to carry the team? He just isn't playing consistently as well for Scotland as he does his club.

This!! He's never struck me as a captain and I can't say I remember him being outstanding for Scotland. His passing was dire and he was just as out of position at times as SOD. He seems to get a pass because he's a champions league winner and plays for Liverpool but truth is he hasn't been good enough in a Scotland shirt recently. He's not the only one though.

1 hour ago, RossBFaeDundee said:

Marshall and Fraser get pass marks. Everyone else, get it together. Expect much more from Andy Robertson, not gonna lie. O'Donnell and Cooper were particularly pish. If we play like that we're gonna get pumped mercilessly by Belgium. Losing 2-1 there flatters us. Get yer tactics sorted Clarke, bloody hell.

Fraser wasn't great tonight either. He gave away the ball (granted a shite pass from Robertson put him under pressure) for the winner and didn't track back. I'm usually of the opinion that Marshall is past it and is too slow to get across his goal, however he made some absolutely outstanding saves tonight and was comfortably our best player. Teams like Northern Ireland, Wales etc have a settled defensive unit for the most part and that's something we need to be doing. Use the remaining games and any friendlies between now and the nations cup playoffs to identify a settled defence and blood them. Guys like McKenna, Souttar, Halkett and Bates should be getting used to playing together at this level. We seem so intent on clinging onto ageing players who have never been THAT great for us like Mulgrew, Marshall, Brown, Phillips when we should be bringing the next generation through. England have a great blueprint for their international set up. The under 19s, under 21s and first team all play the same system and guys like Rashford, Hudson-Odoi, Sancho, Foden are coming through the ranks together. We stick with the same guys who have failed in every campaign then wonder why there's nobody to replace them when they sack it. We can blame tactics and individual performances for tonight's result which is warranted. We might pick up a few good results  down the line and it'll seem like everything's on the up but until the entire set up is overhauled we'll never make any great impact at international level.

[Haggis nut]

6 minutes ago, harry94 said:

 

 

He's managed three games after taking over a team mid campaign that lost 4-0 to Kazakhstan. A win V Cyprus and then defeats to the world no 1 and a narrow loss to a Russia side who did well at the World Cup last year.

There's not really much I think he could really sincerely say unless he wants to walk into the delusions of rambling on about 'building a system' that we've had for years.

People are going OTT analysing every small decision he's making like there's a perfect solution when these problems have been here for years and he's just in the door.

 

Wasnt a narrow loss. Gulf was as big as the gap in the Grand Canyon. Or our defence to midfield, 

[Guest DAVIDB69]

Mcburnie is meant to be the new fletcher a forward who won’t score but his other talents make up for it

[Only one David Marsh]

We just aren't good enough look at the difference between Dyzuba and Mcburnie Dyzuba could at least find his own players with knock downs, Mcburnie is just shit. 

[Monkey Tennis]

18 minutes ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

1 hour ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Bizarre analysis on Sky which seems to suggest that Russia only got on top in the second half.
They battered us for two thirds of the first one too.

Nearer 80% I would say - we scored then immediately went on the back foot.

Nah, we looked dangerous for a wee while after scoring too. 

The tide really turned with the header that Marshall tipped over.  Thereafter, we had no foothold in the game to speak of.

[D Angelo Barksdale]

If we're going to persevere with McBurnie, then we at the very least, need to have someone within 20 fucking yards of him.

[Mr. Brightside]

Fletcher is a better option if we're just going to shell the ball at someone's head.

[TheScarf]

Hearing rumours that Scotland’s best player Ryan Christie was Scotland’s best player tonight? 

[pozbaird]

Well fcuk me. Robertson is impressive in Liverpool’s side, but looked a bit shit tonight? Does this mean he flatters to deceive and is over-rated? Nope. It means he has Van Djyk, Matip and Alexander-Arnold alongside him, and Salah, Mane and Firminho ahead of him, allied to a system that is pro-active, allowing this talented Scottish player to shine by bombing forward and playing killer balls into the box.

If he was a bit shite really, he simply would not be holding down a place in that team.

Robertson, and indeed Tierney are both excellent players, naturally, they will shine in excellent teams, not the grinding negative sub-standard pish that is our national team.

Edited September 6, 2019 by pozbaird

[LondonHMFC]

10 minutes ago, Only one David Marsh said:

We just aren't good enough look at the difference between Dyzuba and Mcburnie Dyzuba could at least find his own players with knock downs, Mcburnie is just shit. 

Actually the difference was that Dyzuba had players nearby who he could involve in the game.

McBurnie had f**k all to work with all evening. 

 

[pozbaird]

5 minutes ago, LondonHMFC said:

Actually the difference was that Dyzuba had players nearby who he could involve in the game.

McBurnie had f**k all to work with all evening. 

 

No he didn’t. When the Russians effectively shut up shop in the last twenty minutes or so, McBurnie received the ball a few times, with blue jerseys actually nearby. He couldn’t lay it into their path, hold it up, or take on a shot himself. He has a cool hipster beard and runs around with his socks slung low though, so that’s something.

Edited September 6, 2019 by pozbaird

[Binos]

3 minutes ago, pozbaird said:

No he didn’t. When the Russians effectively shut up shop in the last twenty minutes or so, McBurnie received the ball a few times, with blue jerseys actually nearby. He couldn’t lay it into their path, hold it up, or take on a shot himself. He has a cool hipster beard and runs around with his socks slung low though, so that’s something.

Mcburnie has the same level of ability as O'Donnell

Picking them both should be a sacking offence

[Robin.Hood]

Meh got back to Dundee by 11:10pm so that was fairly quick timing after leaving the stadium on the 88th minute.
First 15 minutes felt good.
The rest not so much.
Should of been more for the Russians

[accies1874]

First of all, Russia were miiiiiiiiiiiiiles ahead of us: their organisation to block any potential counter-attack was great, they sliced us open with one or two passes, and Golovin was running rings round our midfield. 

O'Donnell and Robertson were absolutely honking, slowing down every attack and getting tied in knots defensively. Robertson definitely has had good games for Scotland and is one of the best ITW in his position, but tonight he looked every bit as out of his depth as O'Donnell did. 

The midfield did not work at all: there were points where McGregor was in midfield all on his own (McGinn pushing high and McTominay dropping deep) with the entire Russian midfield around him, McGinn started brilliantly but faded after, and McTominay was lost. I can see why Clarke picked him ahead of McLean as, rightly or wrongly, there was no emphasis on ball retention from the sitting midfielder,  however Russia were often picking up positions that I felt he should've been occupying. That may have been the fault of the entire midfield though. 

There was also no imagination from anyone going forward. They were so static and every pass was the simple one. 

It's beginning to feel like Forrest's weekend against Albania and Israel is all we're going to get out of him; yet another international performance where he's been completely invisible. 

I feel sorry for McBurnie. He wasn't particularly good, but when you've got fans booing his name being announced before the game then he's not going to get a chance. His movement in attacking areas wasn't great, but the constant long balls did him no favours. 

Marshall was good - I'm glad he's back - and Christie was the only player who looked like he would do something when he got the ball. I'm not sure if Clarke's subs were decent or Russia just sat off, but Christie just seemed to do everything right. 

It's all well and good talking about what we'll do on Monday or in Russia or the rest of the campaign, but all that matters is getting a solid XI together for the play-offs. 

[Dons_1988]

I thought Russia were excellent. We are just not at that level. Quite galling to watch to be honest.

We have talent but 3 of tonight’s back 4 are bang average and you won’t get anywhere with that. Stephen O’Donnell had an absolute stinker and I don’t just mean the goal. Hopefully he recovers though.

Russia will deservedly finish well clear in 2nd.

[forameus]

You could tell McBurnie was getting very frustrated late on. He was getting a fair bit of treatment all game from the defenders, and a distinct lack of treatment from anyone in blue. When he did get the ball late on he rushed it, or just made poor decisions that he likely wouldn't have made earlier on. Big Russian D would've probably done just about as well with no one getting in around him, and long hopeful balls being shelled at him. 

It's almost like we're just generally a shite team. Andy Robertson will likely go on to be one of the best left backs in the world, but put him in this team and he looks ordinary. But aye, one average game with no service and we should go get the wicker man and fire McBurnie in it. If he's going in, the other fuckers should join him. 

 

[Binos]

7 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

I thought Russia were excellent. We are just not at that level. Quite galling to watch to be honest.

We have talent but 3 of tonight’s back 4 are bang average and you won’t get anywhere with that. Stephen O’Donnell had an absolute stinker and I don’t just mean the goal. Hopefully he recovers though.

Russia will deservedly finish well clear in 2nd.

Recovers to what

The man has no ability

[munro7]

New manager, same old shitebag mentality. Go one up playing reasonably well and immediately sit everyone behind the ball and invite pressure. Carry on like that even after conceding an equaliser and only start playing again when we’re behind.
Christie showed why he absolutely has to start. f**k only knows how McTominay got man of the match, genuinely baffled at that.