Gordon EF Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 14 minutes ago, V.Aye.R said: They're consistently winning or finishing a close second in Qualfying sections. Its completely obvious they're better than us. Trying to disagree with that is frankly laughable. You know that's exactly what I said in the post you quoted, right? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donathan Posted June 29, 2023 Author Share Posted June 29, 2023 I don’t think anyone’s arguing that Switzerland have a far better record than us over the past 20 years. Are they better than us now? Yes, but not by much. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.Aye.R Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 19 minutes ago, Gordon EF said: You know that's exactly what I said in the post you quoted, right? So we agree. Cool. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.Aye.R Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 8 minutes ago, Donathan said: I don’t think anyone’s arguing that Switzerland have a far better record than us over the past 20 years. Are they better than us now? Yes, but not by much. Switzerland would 100% qualify ahead of us in a group. I've no doubt about that. One off game, aye I'd fancy us against most teams bar the real elite sides. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satoshi Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 You would expect Switzerland to usually be better than us because they have >60% more people. What's really interesting about them is that they are virtually entirely a team made up of second and third generation immigrants. If you need any more reason to support Scotland opening it's borders and bringing in more immigrants* - any great Swiss footballer you can think of from Akanji, Xhaka, Shaqiri, Inler, Yakin Rodriguez, Embolo, Zakaria, Seferovic, Behrami etc. Etc. Etc. are typically entirely of recent immigrant descent. From the Scottish national team we have hardly anyone and that is to our significant detriment in modern football. *As part of the UK, we can't do this. Whilst lots of nations allow regions to dictate immigration policy, in the UK we can't and almost all immigrants go to the closest part of embarkation in SE England (conveniently also the richest part of the country, with established immigrant communities). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigkillie Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 12 hours ago, V.Aye.R said: Switzerland would 100% qualify ahead of us in a group. I've no doubt about that. One off game, aye I'd fancy us against most teams bar the real elite sides. This doesn't make a great deal of sense. If you'd fancy us against them in a one-off game, and they would be the top seeds in our group, then how are they finishing ahead of us? The fact they qualified for stuff 20 years ago doesn't have a great deal of influence on how good they are now (which is still good, but probably not World Cup quarter-final good). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 I think the last Swiss squad had over 1,000 caps worth of international experience in their last camp. I think that counts for a lot and can continue to drag them over the line particularly in qualifying even if their team declines in quality over time and will continue to do that for a bit yet. Scotland are around 500 caps, same as Norway and are still relatively inexperienced by comparison. Since Steve Clarke mentioned building our international experience it's changed my opinion on how important a factor that can be. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donathan Posted June 30, 2023 Author Share Posted June 30, 2023 5 hours ago, 2426255 said: I think the last Swiss squad had over 1,000 caps worth of international experience in their last camp. I think that counts for a lot and can continue to drag them over the line particularly in qualifying even if their team declines in quality over time and will continue to do that for a bit yet. Scotland are around 500 caps, same as Norway and are still relatively inexperienced by comparison. Since Steve Clarke mentioned building our international experience it's changed my opinion on how important a factor that can be. It’s no coincidence that you can pretty much predict every Scotland squad to a man at the moment and the starting XI usually contains no surprises unless there’s injuries. Clarke is trying to build experience. At the age on 29, Robertson needs another 38 caps to equal Kenny Dalglish’s record 102. We play 10 matches in odd numbered years (6 more this year) and 10 + any tournament matches in even years, so you’d be hoping to get him to 80+ next year and maybe break the record around 2026 assuming he remains healthy and part of the squad. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.Aye.R Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 8 hours ago, craigkillie said: This doesn't make a great deal of sense. If you'd fancy us against them in a one-off game, and they would be the top seeds in our group, then how are they finishing ahead of us? The fact they qualified for stuff 20 years ago doesn't have a great deal of influence on how good they are now (which is still good, but probably not World Cup quarter-final good). Of course it makes sense. Could we beat them? Possibly, we've beaten better. A proven track record of being significantly better than us also however. The topic is literally about reality checking. A year ago we got horsed in Dublin lest we forget. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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