Armenia v Scotland

[Estragon]

Absolutely catastrophic camp that we'll all be glad to see the back of.  That first half hour in Armenia tonight looked as though it might go the way of Kazakhstan IMO - thankfully we turned the corner and undoubtedly benefited from the red card just before half time.  

Hopefully the players can rest now, and come back in September ready for three big performances.

[Highlandmagar]

1 minute ago, wastecoatwilly said:

Good to get some warm weather training in,can't believe some guys on here were worried about this game after the first game.
Have a fecking look in the mirror FFS.

Even after a 4-1 victory we are still worried( shitting ourselves).

[qos_75]

Any sort of win was required tonight after the Dublin debacle. So it was good to see us win comfortably in the end.

If Ireland can win or draw against Ukraine tonight, we are back in contention. Mind you, I think second place in the group would likely get a play-off place too, after the qualifiers. 

[dirty dingus]

Clarke needs to stop with Mctominy at the back the three at the back if fit should be Tierney, McKenna and Soutter with Robertson and Patterson as the wing backs. They can figure out the rest of the team from there. Playing a tough side McTominey holding. Playing a shit team he's dropped.

[velo army]

30 minutes ago, shizzlemanizzle said:

What’s the saying? Two wrongs don’t make a right? Good win tonight but I’m still too bitter about Ukraine (heroic a standing aside as it was, Russia bad, Qatar bad) and Eire. We still shat it when it mattered unfortunately. It’s the hope that kills you. I wish we were consistently pish or consistently good. 

Oh don't get me wrong. I'm still in a huff over the Ukraine result. 

[Bing.McCrosby]

Just now, Estragon said:

 thankfully we turned the corner and undoubtedly benefited from the red card just before half time.

That generally the case, its easier to play against less players. We didn't turn the corner.

Clarke should be buying the lad a few beers. It was the bin for him tonight until the red card

[Gordopolis]

That generally the case, its easier to play against less players. We didn't turn the corner.
Clarke should be buying the lad a few beers. It was the bin for him tonight until the red card

The red card certainly helped, but I think it was a symptom of Armenia losing their shit as opposed to the cause. They are f*cking nutters, and they were always going to lose momentum at some point in the match.

That's not to say that we weren't a mess (again failing to handle a press or the high ball) yet again for the first 20 mins or so.

Had they kept 11 on the field I suspect we would still have won, 2-1 perhaps.

[John Lambies Doos]

We really need ROI to get something here

[Richie]

Any sort of win was required tonight after the Dublin debacle. So it was good to see us win comfortably in the end.
If Ireland can win or draw against Ukraine tonight, we are back in contention. Mind you, I think second place in the group would likely get a play-off place too, after the qualifiers. 

If Ireland win tonight it could cause a potential headache down the road in terms of head to head.
Draw a decent outcome.

[Snobot]

The amazing thing is how Ireland managed to lose to Armenia so assuming we can take care of Ireland at Hampden (big assumption) we aren’t in too bad a place if we can turn up v Ukraine 3 days later. Playing Ukraine twice in a week will be interesting.

I have always liked Armstrong and given Clark has seemingly moved on from Forrest and Fraser he is one of the few players we have who can break the lines.

[Bing.McCrosby]

Just now, Gordopolis said:

The red card certainly helped, but I think it was a symptom of Armenia losing their shit as opposed to the cause. They are f*cking nutters, and they were always going to lose momentum at some point in the match.

That's not to say that we weren't a mess (again failing to handle a press or the high ball) yet again for the first 20 mins or so.

Had they kept 11 on the field I suspect we would still have won, 2-1 perhaps.

Tbh I suspect we would have sneaked it 2-1 too.

But still it was shite till that point and looked like another stinking performance.

[Gordopolis]

The amazing thing is how Ireland managed to lose to Armenia so assuming we can take care of Ireland at Hampden (big assumption) we aren’t in too bad a place if we can turn up v Ukraine 3 days later. Playing Ukraine twice in a week will be interesting.
I have always liked Armstrong and given Clark has seemingly moved on from Forrest and Fraser he is one of the few players we have who can break the lines.

Interesting take that we've moved on from Forrest and Fraser.
We definitely do seem to have dispensed with wingers, but both F&F are capable of playing as wing backs - certainly have enough pace and goalscoring threat too. Forrest is perhaps the weaker of the two given his age and gradually more peripheral role at Celtic, but Fraser I would hope will earn a return (after being a dick a while back).

[Diamonds are Forever]

24 minutes ago, Dunning1874 said:

Any kind of win here was a good result so to pump them can't be knocked even with only taking control against 10 men, but overall this international break should still see the end of the back three. Every single team has it figured out now and it needs to end.

 

This is the crucial bit, regardless of the merits and problems of that specific system, we are now extremely predictable and any half decent side with a few days preparation will be able to find a way of beating us because they know exactly what they are facing. We saw facing Ukraine and Ireland how facing unexpected or different systems can cause problems. No side experiences that against us.

It's served a purpose up until now (although mainly when Tierney is playing) but we need to have the ability to use a different system, even just on occasions, to make it harder for teams to prepare for us, and so that if it's obvious at half-time that the opposition have worked us out (see Ukraine and Ireland games) we are able to try something else. The most worrying part for me in the Ukraine and Ireland games was that even after terrible first half performances there wasn't really improvement in the 2nd half. We changed the players but it didn't make a difference which shows it was the system rather than team selection to blame. The 3-5-2 is pretty inflexible, the only position you can change within it is going for the 2 up front or having 1 drop off, so it presents very little tactical challenge to the opposition than a more fluid system. The attitude seems to be 'well it's worked until now so it's our best option', but it's perfectly possible that something can work initially but lose effectiveness as teams work you out.

I know at International level there is limited time to prepare teams but it really shouldn't be beyond us to have another system, ideally 4 at the back, to change to when necessary. I think it's a necessity for this team.

[charger29]

Good result but we wont get away with defensive performances like that in September's games.
I just don't trust us in a back 3 anymore. With or without Tierney.

[Gordopolis]

England 1-0 down to Hungary...
Pleasing.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

Ha ha fucking losers

[A96]

28 minutes ago, dirty dingus said:

Clarke needs to stop with Mctominy at the back the three at the back if fit should be Tierney, McKenna and Soutter with Robertson and Patterson as the wing backs. They can figure out the rest of the team from there. Playing a tough side McTominey holding. Playing a shit team he's dropped.

All very well in theory , but how often are all of those five defenders fit and available ?… Patterson was the only one tonight. 

 

[charger29]

If Ireland win tonight it could cause a potential headache down the road in terms of head to head.
Draw a decent outcome.

Very much disagree. Ireland win is clearly the best option.

Goal! Yaassss!

[jagfox]

Ireland 1-0 up in Poland vs Ukraine.

[shizzlemanizzle]

35 minutes ago, velo army said:

Oh don't get me wrong. I'm still in a huff over the Ukraine result. 

Me too. Still can’t bring myself to have my morning coffee out of my Scotland mug. 46 years old. Me, not the Scotland mug.