Our Best XI

[accies1874]

I've come to the conclusion that discussions about best XIs are completely pointless in international football and that's probably how it should be. We would have all had Hendry first choice in September but didn't miss a beat without him this month, every normal person would've had Robertson in their best XI but we did well in September without him, Patterson was the boy this time last year but Hickey's slotted in nicely, and Gilmour's been out of the picture in competitive games recently despite being brilliant for us before. 

We've got decent depth but having a great manager must make it easier for these players to step in. There will still be some who look out of their depth individually, but in that scenario there's not much you can do in international other than give them the best possible structure. 

[craigkillie]

I think this is true at pretty much every level of football, it's why I think "the manager doesn't even know his best XI" is quite a stupid criticism.

[Ewanandmoreagain]

Some players are stick ons ; Adams , McGinn , McGregor , McTominay , Robertson , Tierney , Gunn.

Right Wing Back - who is better , Hickey or Patterson ?

Who are our best central defenders ?

[Stoo61]

9 minutes ago, Ewanandmoreagain said:

Some players are stick ons ; Adams , McGinn , McGregor , McTominay , Robertson , Tierney , Gunn.

Right Wing Back - who is better , Hickey or Patterson ?

Who are our best central defenders ?

You say that but right away...Adams or Dykes....different players for different games. I think Zander could come in, in goals and we'd be absolutely no weaker. 

I'd add Christie to that list of stick ons and a match sharp Gilmour gets on it too.

Hickey and Patterson can probably interchange too without issue. 

So aye, great problems we have nowadays. 

[Ewanandmoreagain]

3 minutes ago, Stoo61 said:

You say that but right away...Adams or Dykes....different players for different games. I think Zander could come in, in goals and we'd be absolutely no weaker. 

I'd add Christie to that list of stick ons and a match sharp Gilmour gets on it too.

Hickey and Patterson can probably interchange too without issue. 

So aye, great problems we have nowadays. 

If Adams had been fit , would you have played him or Dykes last night ?

I would have played Adams

[Stoo61]

Just now, Ewanandmoreagain said:

If Adams had been fit , would you have played him or Dykes last night ?

I would have played Adams

Didnt think Adams did great against Cyprus and we were always going to need a hoofed out ball fairly often last night so aye I'd have gone with Dykes. 

[PrestersKTID]

29 minutes ago, Ewanandmoreagain said:

Some players are stick ons ; Adams , McGinn , McGregor , McTominay , Robertson , Tierney , Gunn.

Right Wing Back - who is better , Hickey or Patterson ?

Who are our best central defenders ?

Tbh i'd stick Dykes above adams atm. He wins everything in the air and shown last night he has pace aswell. His hold up play is better imo.

Hickey ahead of patterson atm only because he's playing every week for brentford who are doing really well this season.

Tierney hanley hendry are first choice CBs but porteous did himself no harm

[No_Problemo]

3 minutes ago, PrestersKTID said:

Tbh i'd stick Dykes above adams atm. He wins everything in the air and shown last night he has pace aswell. His hold up play is better imo.

Hickey ahead of patterson atm only because he's playing every week for brentford who are doing really well this season.

Tierney hanley hendry are first choice CBs but porteous did himself no harm

Dykes has his qualities but his hold up play isn’t anything like as good as Adams….

[woof!]

1 minute ago, No_Problemo said:

Dykes has his qualities but his hold up play isn’t anything like as good as Adams….

His lays offs are better though. 

[Skyline Drifter]

43 minutes ago, Ewanandmoreagain said:

Some players are stick ons ; Adams , McGinn , McGregor , McTominay , Robertson , Tierney , Gunn.

Right Wing Back - who is better , Hickey or Patterson ?

Who are our best central defenders ?

 

30 minutes ago, Stoo61 said:

You say that but right away...Adams or Dykes....different players for different games. I think Zander could come in, in goals and we'd be absolutely no weaker. 

I'd add Christie to that list of stick ons and a match sharp Gilmour gets on it too.

Hickey and Patterson can probably interchange too without issue. 

So aye, great problems we have nowadays. 

Yeah, this to an extent. I'm not all that taken with Adams. He's decent and his finishing is certainly better than Dykes, he's probably slightly quicker, but he doesn't add that much else. Dykes gets us up the park better, links better and offers something defending set pieces that Adams doesn't. I'm biased but I'd pick Dykes ahead of Adams. Either way though, not a chance either is a "stick on".

And McTominay was on the bench as recently as Saturday! He's had a fantastic game and a bit and personally I'd try to get him in every team but he's hardly a "stick on". Gunn made his debut on Saturday. He's not a "stick on" either and if Gordon is back to full fitness next season and wants to continue his Scotland career I'd have him ahead of Gunn any day.

Gilmour was a stick on to everybody 12 months ago, he's not even got on the pitch in this double header.

I'd say the only absolute certainties are Robertson, Tierney, McGinn and McGregor. And probably Hanley who I think has started every single game he's been available for in Clarke's time. Throw in Gordon with the caveats above (returns to full fitness and wants to play).

The right backs are interchangeable, there are about half a dozen options for 3rd centre back though it's probably between Hendrie, Porteous and McKenna at the moment, the strikers are interchangeable. Christie and Armstrong are interchangeable and there's about 4 or 5 options for the other central midfield slot alongside McGregor (McTominay, Jack, Gilmour, even Ferguson).

[No_Problemo]

13 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

 

Yeah, this to an extent. I'm not all that taken with Adams. He's decent and his finishing is certainly better than Dykes, he's probably slightly quicker, but he doesn't add that much else. Dykes gets us up the park better, links better and offers something defending set pieces that Adams doesn't. I'm biased but I'd pick Dykes ahead of Adams. Either way though, not a chance either is a "stick on".

And McTominay was on the bench as recently as Saturday! He's had a fantastic game and a bit and personally I'd try to get him in every team but he's hardly a "stick on". Gunn made his debut on Saturday. He's not a "stick on" either and if Gordon is back to full fitness next season and wants to continue his Scotland career I'd have him ahead of Gunn any day.

Gilmour was a stick on to everybody 12 months ago, he's not even got on the pitch in this double header.

I'd say the only absolute certainties are Robertson, Tierney, McGinn and McGregor. And probably Hanley who I think has started every single game he's been available for in Clarke's time. Throw in Gordon with the caveats above (returns to full fitness and wants to play).

The right backs are interchangeable, there are about half a dozen options for 3rd centre back though it's probably between Hendrie, Porteous and McKenna at the moment, the strikers are interchangeable. Christie and Armstrong are interchangeable and there's about 4 or 5 options for the other central midfield slot alongside McGregor (McTominay, Jack, Gilmour, even Ferguson).

You are hugely biased with the Dykes stuff - Adams is a far better technical footballer and links play much better. There is a reason in terms of the differences in the levels they play at. Though, to be fair to you - I’m not sure Adams overall finishing is actually better than Dykes. 

Dykes is obviously better defensively and can give us an aerial out ball so I’ll obviously give you that. 

Saying all this - I absolutely love Lyndon Dykes and he is definitely a kind of cult hero. 

Edited March 29, 2023 by No_Problemo

[Stoo61]

I think we see by the last few posts....there is not much to pick between the two and not to be negative but ultimately the only position we are lacking is up front.

For me the difference is made in behind either of them and we could easily move the debate onto Christie or Armstrong. Which Christie wins for me a lot more convincingly than Adams over Dykes (or vice versa). 

[TheScarf]

I think Christie and McTominay were only on the bench on Saturday due to the quality of the opposition.

[Skyline Drifter]

7 minutes ago, No_Problemo said:

You are hugely biased with the Dykes stuff - Adams is a far better technical footballer and links play much better. There is a reason in terms of the differences in the levels they play at. Though, to be fair to you - I’m not sure Adams overall finishing is actually better than Dykes. 

Dykes is obviously better defensively and can give us an aerial out ball so I’ll obviously give you that. 

I'm openly biased. But I don't think Adams is as "far better" as is made out. I also don't think the "level they play at" is that big a factor. A lot of that is luck and timing. Southampton aren't particularly that much bigger a club than QPR and Adams got there off a couple of seasons scoring freely alongside Lucas Jutkiewicz at Birmingham. I genuinely don't think he links play better than Dykes. I think Dykes does it better. I actually think Adams plays better alongside Dykes on the rare occasions when we play two up top. If I was playing a lone frontman, as Clarke seems to prefer with McGinn and either Christie or Armstrong supporting, I'd pick Dykes ahead of Adams.

Adams finishing, at least with his feet, is far better than Dykes though. I'd have fancied Adams more than Dykes in that one on one last night.

Just now, Stoo61 said:

I think we see by the last few posts....there is not much to pick between the two and not to be negative but ultimately the only position we are lacking is up front.

For me the difference is made in behind either of them and we could easily move the debate onto Christie or Armstrong. Which Christie wins for me a lot more convincingly than Adams over Dykes (or vice versa). 

I'd agree the support is more crucial, and I think there's an argument actually for both Dykes and Adams supported by just McGinn but it's not Clarke's way and it's certainly not going to happen against the likes of Spain.

Personally I think Christie's gone backwards over the last year or so. I'd have Armstrong comfortably ahead of him and I was surprised at that pick last night though Christie did play well on the night. I thought he was poor when he came on against Cyprus though.

[Stoo61]

1 minute ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Adams finishing, at least with his feet, is far better than Dykes though. I'd have fancied Adams more than Dykes in that one on one last night.

Personally I think Christie's gone backwards over the last year or so. I'd have Armstrong comfortably ahead of him and I was surprised at that pick last night though Christie did play well on the night. I thought he was poor when he came on against Cyprus though.

Agree.

Disagree. 

Lovely stuff. 

[HuttonDressedAsLahm]

1 minute ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I'm openly biased. But I don't think Adams is as "far better" as is made out. I also don't think the "level they play at" is that big a factor. A lot of that is luck and timing. Southampton aren't particularly that much bigger a club than QPR and Adams got there off a couple of seasons scoring freely alongside Lucas Jutkiewicz at Birmingham. I genuinely don't think he links play better than Dykes. I think Dykes does it better. I actually think Adams plays better alongside Dykes on the rare occasions when we play two up top. If I was playing a lone frontman, as Clarke seems to prefer with McGinn and either Christie or Armstrong supporting, I'd pick Dykes ahead of Adams.

Adams finishing, at least with his feet, is far better than Dykes though. I'd have fancied Adams more than Dykes in that one on one last night.

I'd agree the support is more crucial, and I think there's an argument actually for both Dykes and Adams supported by just McGinn but it's not Clarke's way and it's certainly not going to happen against the likes of Spain.

Personally I think Christie's gone backwards over the last year or so. I'd have Armstrong comfortably ahead of him and I was surprised at that pick last night though Christie did play well on the night. I thought he was poor when he came on against Cyprus though.

Poor when he came on against Cyprus?  Feel like we were watching a different game.  Christie brought energy and directness that had been lacking.  

Christie definitely struggled a bit after the highs of Serbia, but the last two performances have been excellent.

There aren't many obvious lesser players at all in our 23 and wider squad.  We have really strong options everywhere, and it's brilliant that we can make sensible decisions to play on our opponent's weaknesses, rather than having to play the 'strongest' XI in every game.

[Donathan]

Assuming everyone is fit I think a LOT of players have an argument to start for Scotland atm

 

Certainties in bold

 

GK - Gunn, Gordon

 

RCB/CCB - Porteous, Hanley, McKenna, Hendry

 

LCB - Tierney

 

RWB - Hickey, Patterson

 

LWB - Robertson

 

CM - McGregor, McTominay, Jack, Gilmour, Ferguson

 

AM/WG - McGinn, Christie, Armstrong 

 

CF - Adams, Dykes, Stewart 

Edited March 29, 2023 by Donathan

[Skyline Drifter]

56 minutes ago, Donathan said:

Assuming everyone is fit I think a LOT of players have an argument to start for Scotland atm

Certainties in bold

GK - Gunn, Gordon

RCB/CCB - Porteous, Hanley, McKenna, Hendry

LCB - Tierney

RWB - Hickey, Patterson

LWB - Robertson

CM - McGregor, McTominay, Jack, Gilmour, Ferguson

AM/WG - McGinn, Christie, Armstrong 

CF - Adams, Dykes, Stewart 

Stewart? Ferguson?

I wouldn't disagree an awful lot with the above. I think Hanley should be in bold and I don't think there are any serious grounds at this stage to include either Stewart or Ferguson as possible starters. Stewart has had a very good year or so at Sunderland but has to date 2 substitute appearances for his country and no goals. Ferguson has 6 caps and only 1 start to his name. They might both go on to be very important players for us but right now they don't have an argument to start games.

[CM.]

13 minutes ago, NickMcG said:

Have we played four at the back with Robertson instead of Tierney in recent times?  I know in the last triple header, Tierney played against Ukraine and was subbed off against Ireland. I'd be curious to see how we'd get on as, much as Tierney has been a great player for us, he might not often be available if he moves clubs.

This part's not quite answering your question but we played a back 4 away to Armenia last June with Taylor at LB.

Think it was Oct 2020 Tierney was unavailable but we still had the back 3 with McTominay, Gallagher and Cooper/Considine.

Probably talking round about the time Clarke first took over where we've played a back 4 with Robertson at LB. I definitely remember it was that in his first game against Cyprus and maybe 2 or 3 more games after that.

Edited March 31, 2023 by CM.

[KingRocketman II]

On 29/03/2023 at 13:32, craigkillie said:

I think this is true at pretty much every level of football, it's why I think "the manager doesn't even know his best XI" is quite a stupid criticism.

so many variables to a line-up - obviously form and injuries, but also opposition and preferred formation of team. When a manager has a good squad and makes winning changes it is referred to as good rotation. When a team is struggling and the manager makes changes every week, then that tends to be when the term "doesn't know his best XI" or "can't make up his mind on what formation to play" comes into play. When winning it is all tactical. When losing it is desperately seeking a winning formula.