Scotland v Albania

[Dunning1874]

8 hours 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.

 

Yeah, this is the big issue for now. We've effectively lost Brown, Fletcher, Morrison and probably McArthur who could play that role all at once with no one as good as any of them to step in.

While there will be games where we can get away with a more attacking midfield three of Armstrong/McGregor/McGinn and put Fraser, Forrest, Snodgrass or Russell off the striker, as you say we're more commonly going to want McGregor in that advanced role with another holding player in the middle alongside McGinn and Armstrong. It's the best way to find a defensive balance for now, but McTominay clearly isn't ready yet so you have a choice of persisting with him in the hope he ends up being good enough, or finding a stop gap until he does or someone emerges from nowhere.

I think we can already safely rule McDonald and Jack out. Even if they're effective defensively (debatable) they're so pedestrian in possession it neuters us offensively. That leaves your stopgap options as Shinnie (who's better defensively anyway) and McGeouch who at least have considerably more energy and can keep up with the rest of the midfield in possession, although they clearly aren't long term solutions. I'd lean towards persisting with McTominay provided he gets some game time at club level - he isn't experienced enough to get by without it the way the likes of Hutton could - but if not then Shinnie's got to be the best choice.

[gastropod]

1 hour ago, charger29 said:

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.

Your right what you say but it is kind of good to have a player like that , although it will no doubt get coached out of him. .He is an exciting midfielder who will only get better , just in this age of  video analysis/ media etc  every mistake is highlighted more than the positives..I wonder if he would still have got picked if he went to Celtic and never started most/any games ? Hopefully he will  be another steady pick with 10yrs  ahead of him along with Mckenna , Souttar, Tierney , Robertson and maybe a few more..

[kingjoey]

On 10/09/2018 at 21:42, The Grass Is Greener. said:

Bob Mahelp is the exact same. They can’t handle that McGinn is a better player than Shinnie.

Talk about jumping to conclusions. I never mentioned Shinnie’s name, and he may be a slightly better player than wor Graeme. But he is undoubtedly overrated and he did some good things on Monday night and he did some horrendous things. He’s most definitely not the player that lots of people in Scotland think him to be.

[Guest DAVIDB69]

Talk about jumping to conclusions. I never mentioned Shinnie’s name, and he may be a slightly better player than wor Graeme. But he is undoubtedly overrated and he did some good things on Monday night and he did some horrendous things. He’s most definitely not the player that lots of people in Scotland think him to be.

But he is still way better than Graeme shinnie though

[kingjoey]

1 hour ago, DAVIDB69 said:

 

But he is still way better than Graeme shinnie though

 

He is. Let’s hope that anyone that is thinking about coming in for Shinnie reads your insightful post, and thinks again.