Butters Scotch Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 45 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: They have one of the best wingers on the planet playing for them. Our issue, as said above, is our "talent" isn't used up on match winners. There's not a single attacking player, up front or midfield, who's capable of winning matches alone at the top level. Georgia have that, and it's easier to build around. Georgia probably got two players who would get into the Scotland team, no way that's easier to build around than what we have. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theroadlesstravelled Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 47 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said: They have one of the best wingers on the planet playing for them. Our issue, as said above, is our "talent" isn't used up on match winners. There's not a single attacking player, up front or midfield, who's capable of winning matches alone at the top level. Georgia have that, and it's easier to build around. A manager setting up the team to play to their strengths? What's this sorcery? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline Drifter Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 (edited) 1 hour ago, Kadouken_ said: So you can’t even point out what was an over-reaction? Maybe because it was true. It’s pretty simple to point out what was an over-reaction and explain why… We literally have the second oldest squad at the tournament. It’s an old squad. It’s really not hard to understand. Saying some of the older players don’t start or weren’t even took to play any minutes isn’t an a good defence for it either by the way. . As I already pointed out once, you over-reacted completely to the age of the squad and you're still doing it now. It's like complaining someone is the poorest millionaire in the room! Our squad isn't particularly old. If it's the 2nd oldest in the tournament then that's indicative of a young tournament, not of our squad being particularly old. In any event, whatever our squad average is, as I've already pointed out and you chose to ignore because it doesn't suit your agenda, the team is younger than the squad. It matters not a jot what age Cooper, Jack, McLean, Forrest, etc are because they are not playing. Our starting 11 against Hungary average 28 years old. The oldest was 32 (Grant Hanley). It would have been marginally younger if Hickey had been fit (Tierney's the same age as McKenna, Dykes is a year older than Adams). If you're determined to fixate on the full squad then the inclusion of Lewis Ferguson (24), Aaron Hickey (22), Nathan Patterson (22), Ben Doak (18) instead of Ryan Jack (32), Anthony Ralston (25), Ross McCrorie (26) and Lewis Morgan (27) would have taken a whole year off our average age (although to be fair Dykes instead of Conway would have added a bit). But these changes were out of everybody's control. Even if we accept that the squad is "too old" what exactly is the solution to this? Are we to put poorer players in because they are younger? If you want to suggest we should be taking the likes of Josh Doig and Max Johnston rather than Ross McCrorie and Greg Taylor, David Watson and Lennon Miller instead of Ryan Jack and James Forrest you won't find any great argument from me but I'm not sure what you think it would actually have changed? None of them would have played much because, at this moment, they aren't better than we had playing. McCrorie, Taylor, Forrest and Jack played precisely no minutes in the tournament. There are plenty of much older players than ours still central in this tournament. Toni Kroos has been one of the best in it. He's 34. I accept they are outliers but Ronaldo is 39 and Modric is 38. Lewandowski is 35. Ngolo Kante has been the best player for the French. He's 33. Edited June 26 by Skyline Drifter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 The inability to play anything other than three at the back is a pretty damning indictment of Clarke and his coaches. Tierney getting injured isn't a new thing. By all means play the formation that suits him and Robertson when they're both fit and firing. But we should have been able to revert to four at the back when Tierney was ruled out. We effectively persisted with Ralston ahead of a better midfield option to stick rigidly to 'the system'. I don't think it needs wholesale changes, though. Just more flexibility and more emphasis on actually trying to score goals and win games. Some squad/older players will likely be phased out (Gordon, Cooper, Jack, McLean, Forrest, Ralston, McCrorie). McGregor becomes a squad player to make way for Ferguson, Hanley sticks around out of necessity, the forwards are all relatively young and there aren't many obvious replacements. Hickey coming back will be a huge positive (as will Ferguson), plus we need more width in the squad if we play four at the back. I'd like to see Christie at the base of the midfield when we need to be more secure against top teams. Gunn Hickey Hendry Hanley Tierney Robertson Gilmour Christie McGinn McTominay/Ferguson Adams/Dykes/Shankland Or: Gunn Hickey Hendry Hanley Robertson Gilmour Christie Doak McTominay/Ferguson McGinn Adams/Dykes/Shankland Replace one of Gilmour/Christie with the other of McTominay/Ferguson against weaker teams. (Don't make the mistake Southgate is with England.) A tough choice in those two pairings but shows the nucleus of a strong team is still there. McKenna could potentially take over from Hanley at the back, while some other options will no doubt materialise - hopefully in goals, at centre half and up front! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletchers Saucy Manbun Posted June 26 Share Posted June 26 Not sure what the point is until we unearth a few quality forwards. Could be a long wait. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
true fan Posted June 27 Share Posted June 27 Agree. Much of the talk is about shuffling a group of 5 or 6 or 7 midfielders or wide players Really need a quality centre forward and I can’t think of one similarly need better central defenders 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chripper Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 (edited) Ryan Gauld with a hat trick of assists this morning. In 20 matches (as captain) he's scored 9 and assisted 6. It'll be funny if he makes the MLS team of the season. Deemed good enough to be in a team with Messi, Busquets and Alba, but not good enough to be in a team with Adams, McGregor and Ralston. Edit: Turns out that he has: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/dundee-united/5028065/ryan-gauld-messi-suarez-mls-all-star/ Edited July 4 by Chripper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butters Scotch Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 8 minutes ago, Chripper said: Ryan Gauld with a hat trick of assists this morning. In 20 matches (as captain) he's scored 9 and assisted 6. It'll be funny if he makes the MLS team of the season. Deemed good enough to be in a team with Messi, Busquets and Alba, but not good enough to be in a team with Adams, McGregor and Ralston. Lol deemed not good enough by the guy that you are forever praising on here by the way, another indictment against Clarke. Any other team similar to the size and quality of Scotland would of picked a player like Gauld. I mean a better team in Switzerland are still picking Shaqiri who is playing in the same league and four years older at 32. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordopolis Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 5 hours ago, Butters Scotch said: Lol deemed not good enough by the guy that you are forever praising on here by the way, another indictment against Clarke. Any other team similar to the size and quality of Scotland would of picked a player like Gauld. I mean a better team in Switzerland are still picking Shaqiri who is playing in the same league and four years older at 32. Good point there. On the other hand, Shaqiri has a much more solid track record in top flight football and certainly in international football, so it's not a direct comparison (but an interesting one). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkoRaj Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 The defending in that league is astoundingly bad 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Twelve Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 57 minutes ago, MarkoRaj said: The defending in that league is astoundingly bad Lawrence Shankland has 48 goals in 74 league appearances for Hearts. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butters Scotch Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 1 hour ago, Gordopolis said: Good point there. On the other hand, Shaqiri has a much more solid track record in top flight football and certainly in international football, so it's not a direct comparison (but an interesting one). Oh yeah agree that Shaqiri undoubtedly is more proven at International level and has had the better club career but Gauld has been doing just as well as him in the same league if not better past couple of seasons. I don't think he can do an awful lot more to get a chance for Scotland especially now after the Euros and I'm hoping he will be rewarded in the upcoming nations league. Granted, maybe not the best comparison, maybe better one is Gazdag for Hungary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2426255 Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 (edited) On 24/06/2024 at 18:02, RedLichtie86 said: If Steve Clarke is to remain in charge, going forward what sort of formation and starting XI do we go for. The Clarke 5-2-2-1 with the Wing Backs and narrow midfield. A 4-5-1, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3? And who would you have in your starting XI if all Scottish players are available. Be good to hear peoples reasoned arguements for the players they have selected. For me the best approach is to keep what we have so far and build on top of it. Flexibility is the key, being able to adapt to circumstances in game and we've shown we are capable of doing that regardless of the outcome. Perhaps finding another way to attack possibly via pace could help. I'm no tactician so it's hard to suggest specifics. I don't think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater on this one. It's mostly already there. I expect some turnover within the playing squad, but not loads. Edited July 4 by 2426255 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theroadlesstravelled Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 3 hours ago, MarkoRaj said: The defending in that league is astoundingly bad Stuart Findlay couldn't cut it at Philadelphia but he's outstanding at 4th placed Kilmarnock. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewanandmoreagain Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 13 hours ago, Chripper said: Ryan Gauld with a hat trick of assists this morning. In 20 matches (as captain) he's scored 9 and assisted 6. It'll be funny if he makes the MLS team of the season. Deemed good enough to be in a team with Messi, Busquets and Alba, but not good enough to be in a team with Adams, McGregor and Ralston. Edit: Turns out that he has: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/dundee-united/5028065/ryan-gauld-messi-suarez-mls-all-star/ I cannot imagine him being as jaded as some that played for us 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
git-intae-thum Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 (edited) Just for a bit of fun speculation here is a future Scotland set up in a more Spanish 2024 style attacking 4-2-3-1 formation GK ? RB Patterson CB ? CB ? LB Doig DCM Hickey CM Gilmour RW Doak AM Ferguson LW ? CF ? Few decent players in their already and Hickey and Gilmour are almost purpose made to form a double pivot CM in the future. Just need to fill in the blanks. Edited July 17 by git-intae-thum -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butters Scotch Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 7 hours ago, git-intae-thum said: Just for a bit of fun speculation here is a future Scotland set up in a more Spanish 2024 style attacking 4-2-3-1 formation GK ? RB Patterson CB ? CB ? LB Doig DCM Hickey CM Gilmour RW Doak AM Ferguson LW ? CF ? Few decent players in their already and Hickey and Gilmour are almost purpose made to form a double pivot CM in the future. Just need to fill in the blanks. All we need to do is play the rest defence formation and we will be World Cup winners in no time -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen Scotia Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 For Clarke to not have even called Gauld up at some point to have a look at him is a crime 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
immcinto Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 Should be room somewhere for Christie in that deeper position that Iraola plays him in 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Twelve Posted July 18 Share Posted July 18 10 hours ago, git-intae-thum said: Just for a bit of fun speculation here is a future Scotland set up in a more Spanish 2024 style attacking 4-2-3-1 formation GK ? RB Patterson CB ? CB ? LB Doig DCM Hickey CM Gilmour RW Doak AM Ferguson LW ? CF ? Few decent players in their already and Hickey and Gilmour are almost purpose made to form a double pivot CM in the future. Just need to fill in the blanks. McKenna in goal, Bowat and Morrison as your centre-backs, Wilson up top. Not sure about the other winger though. You could play Doig there, but then I'm not sure about the other fullback. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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