Playoff Semi Final , 18th October 2020

[DA Baracus]

9 hours ago, microdave said:

That was turgid but the penalties were superb(even if it didn't feel lke it at the time) and I would bite your hand off for the same against Serbia. I actually think we might have a better chance against the Serbs rather than Norway. 

I've seen a few folk say this.

Why? Serbia just beat Norway in Norway. They have quite a few quality players. They are a decent side.

They will destroy us.

[Stellaboz]

The only way we are beating Serbia is if they get a man sent off early and we convert a penalty, or something along those lines. 

Or COVID comes to the rescue and they have to play their B side. Actually that might not even work. 

[AmericanFan]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

Of course not. Its quite clear you're either struggling to grasp my point, or purposely trying to be as ridiculous as possible to try and miss it, but I have zero expectation of ever seeing Scotland reach the latter stages of a tournament never mind winning it.

My entire point is I don't see this Scotland side under Clarke doing anything other than getting rinsed a couple of times and then knocked out without laying a glove on the tournament, so I'm struggling to get excited about the prospect of qualifying for the Euros when that's what awaits.

Never give up hope, my man. At least if you get in, there's always a shot.

[Smokerson]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

Of course not. Its quite clear you're either struggling to grasp my point, or purposely trying to be as ridiculous as possible to try and miss it, but I have zero expectation of ever seeing Scotland reach the latter stages of a tournament never mind winning it.

My entire point is I don't see this Scotland side under Clarke doing anything other than getting rinsed a couple of times and then knocked out without laying a glove on the tournament, so I'm struggling to get excited about the prospect of qualifying for the Euros when that's what awaits.

I would be as excited going to a major tournament than I have ever been in about 20 years following Arbroath and Scotland, I went to one game at Euro 96 and was in France but couldnt get tickets, Hundreds of guys who missed out on this. Yes we would maybe struggle with this current team but it would be a good achievement and one for the fans (if we're allowed)

[AJF]

A very insipid performance to say the least, but, we're 90 minutes away from a major tournament so it let's us remain hopeful.

Other than our back 3, I don't feel any players deserved pass marks. I thought Dykes started well in the opening 20 minutes with a few knock-downs and good link up play but after that he was anonymous. McBurnie offered even less.

I was interested that the pundits in the studio spent considerable time highlighting McGinn's performance after the game as if he had made the difference, but his night was a constant story of doing the hard part but then squandering good opportunities and making bad decisions.

The midfield as a whole were dysfunctional - both Jack and McGregor offered nothing.

Plenty negatives, but it's something I'm willing to overlook if we manage to beat Serbia.

[Smokerson]

Yeah it was a struggle but got there in the end, had up to 9 players missing who wouldve had a chance of starting the game. Think Clarke would've taken a win on penalties before hand

[coprolite]

1 hour ago, Aufc said:

My views on each player

Marshall - didnt have much to do but saved anything that did come his way. Obviously made the save in the shoot out. 

O'Donnell - He is clearly not good enough for international football. Israel quickly realised they could get a lot of joy out of his side and it meant Mctominay had to cover a lot. He was slightly better in the second half. I don't want to slag him too much as he tries hard but we need something else here

Gallagher - thought he played well actually. Was quite comfortable on the ball

Cooper - as above

Robertson - He struggled to be honest. I feel sorry for him. His strength is not running past players and he struggled against the right back. He needs a winger in front of him who opens up the space to allow him to run into. This formation doesn't give him that.

Mctominay - thought he was probably best player alongside Mcginn. Comfortable on the ball and gets stuck in. Missed a sitter though.

Jack - thought he was dreadful. Surely John Fleck cant be that bad?

McGinn - he is becoming Scotlands key player. Strong on the ball and drove us forward. I felt sorry for him as well. Most of the time he drove forward but had no support so had to take long range shots.

Dykes - I like the look of him. Holds the ball up well and has some nice touches and lay offs. Lack of support for him. Him and Mcburnie are too similar. If we insist on two up front then i would think him and Griffiths would work better (assuming Griffths stays fit)

McBurnie - Didnt work for him. As mentioned, him and Dykes are too similar. Glad he showed up and proved he does want to play for us

Fraser - We instantly looked better when he came. His final ball wasnt great but he has hardly played. 

 

Overall it was a pretty shit game but at least we actually won or, at least, got through. I can't help worry about the formation. As i mentioned above, this formation totally nullifies any attacking threat we have and our game plan seems to revolve around not conceding and getting a scrappy goal. This won't work against teams like Serbia. 

As i mentioned above, Robertson is not the best for taking people on. He relies on having a winger in front of him who moves the full back out of position to allow him to run into the space and get a cross in. This formation resulted in Scotland having no width. We had two guys up front who are good in the air but there was no crosses being put in. We also had Mctominay and Jack who are essentially both sitting midfielders. So the ball is being shelled up to McBurnie and Dykes and they were winning their fair share of headers but there was support aside from McGinn. We had no pace and, anytime we got the ball, we were so slow to move that Israel were able to get back into position fairly easily.

Israel were no great shakes but they were much better as transitioning from defence to attack and got men forward quickly. We looked instantly better when we had Fraser on with his pace. 

I realise this formation is probably here to stay and glad we got through but i just cannot see us laying a glove on Serbia. We do have a good players but the formation takes all our strengths away. I personally would like to see us play 4 at the back then there are a couple of options for the remaining numbers. For teams like Israel i would be playing 2 up front then against teams like Serbia i would drop a striker and add another midfielder into it. It seems like Clarke is going to be stubborn like Strachan and do everything to ensure Tierney is playing at left of the three even it means the whole team is thrown out. 

McGregor's performance getting the review it deserves i see. 

1 hour ago, kingjoey said:

McGregor, Jack and O’Donnell got 5???

Not worth the effort. 

[Jacksgranda]

Rather than put myself through the annoyance of a last minute defeat/penalty shootout disaster, I went to bed.

Imagine how delighted I was to wake up to find that both Scotland and Northern Ireland had won.

I'll maybe try this going to bed without waiting for the result tactic more often.

I think the BBC may have hit it on the head however: 

• Relieve Scotland's win as it happened

[Jacksgranda]

1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

I mean, its quite obvious I could be absolutely miles out, literally all I've done here is give a half arsed opinion that seems to have somehow turned into me claiming I'll kill myself if Scotland don't win the Euros the next 10 times running.

 

1 hour ago, BigFatTabbyDave said:

That's certainly what I've gleaned from your posts.

Hopefully the squad are reading this, and will react accordingly.

That could be read either way...

[John Lambies Doos]

100% record in Penalty shootouts.

[Big Fifer]

McGregor was woeful last night. I know Jack does this as well (but I give him more of a pass as it's his job) but every pass is just the easy option. He's completely regressed back to just the "neat and tidy" player he was before Rodgers, and hasn't offered anything in a Scotland shirt for some time. 

[The Saintee]

11 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:

I'm one of those who doesn't understand the excitement of qualifying for something purely because you've qualified.

Its the equivalent of being happy you shitfested your way to 5th so you can play in Europe, despite knowing all it will amount to is a couple of hammerings from teams from Estonia.

Hi Steve Brown,hiya pal!

[GordonS]

In general I would agree with the downbeat assessments of what's likely to happen to us in a tournament finals. But this is once-in-a-lifetime stuff, because it means two games at Hampden.

For the players, surely there couldn't be any greater motivation than that.

What's Serbian for "park the bus and shitfest our way to penalties"?

[Guest bernardblack]

McGregor was woeful last night. I know Jack does this as well (but I give him more of a pass as it's his job) but every pass is just the easy option. He's completely regressed back to just the "neat and tidy" player he was before Rodgers, and hasn't offered anything in a Scotland shirt for some time. 

I really don’t get this viewpoint on McGregor and it’s one that seems common throughout the tartan army.

Would you rather he lumped it into the channel for Dykes to chase after?

[Carnoustie Young Guvnor]

1 hour ago, Jacksgranda said:

Rather than put myself through the annoyance of a last minute defeat/penalty shootout disaster, I went to bed.

Imagine how delighted I was to wake up to find that both Scotland and Northern Ireland had won.

I'll maybe try this going to bed without waiting for the result tactic more often.

I think the BBC may have hit it on the head however: 

• Relieve Scotland's win as it happened

Not half as delighted as you'd apparently be if someone murdered Nicola Sturgeon.  Shelve the pish, the Scotland isn't for yoon trolls like you.

[Big Fifer]

2 minutes ago, bernardblack said:

 

I really don’t get this viewpoint on McGregor and it’s one that seems common throughout the tartan army.

Would you rather he lumped it into the channel for Dykes to chase after?

 

No, but we were watching him specifically last night for the first half. He can pass it forward to a man in space, but 90% of the time chooses not to. I'm not a "Barry Backpass" proclaimer, I get there's a necessity for that sort of player, but you have to be expecting a bit more drive and adventure from a player like McGregor. He's proven he can do it under Rodgers. 

[Savage Henry]

32 minutes ago, Big Fifer said:

McGregor was woeful last night. I know Jack does this as well (but I give him more of a pass as it's his job) but every pass is just the easy option. He's completely regressed back to just the "neat and tidy" player he was before Rodgers, and hasn't offered anything in a Scotland shirt for some time. 

Neat and tidy is several leagues above McLean and one or two others who are in the squad.   Scotland can barely get possession against Israel.  The last thing they need is a Hollywood pass type.

[Antiochas III]

7 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

Neat and tidy is several leagues above McLean and one or two others who are in the squad.   Scotland can barely get possession against Israel.  The last thing they need is a Hollywood pass type.

Couldn't get possession, because our midfield couldn't gain possession.  It's been our problem for years.  Not our defence, not our strikers.  

[Guest bernardblack]

McGregor retaining the ball will be massive in Serbia

[microdave]

1 hour ago, DA Baracus said:

I've seen a few folk say this.

Why? Serbia just beat Norway in Norway. They have quite a few quality players. They are a decent side.

They will destroy us.

I'm basing it solely on the fact they don't have Haaland. I thought the winner of their semi will be the qualifiers and I haven't changed my mind on that. Serbia are obviously a good team and we'll have to play to a high standard to have any chance. Hopefully I'm wrong but I can't see it happening.