From Malta v Scotland
...firstly great result. Yes Malta are minnows. But it's the kind of game we've dropped points in before. So well done the lads. A good opening 20 mins followed by a lacklustre end to the half. Revitalised 2nd half with much more urgency, pressing of the baller and faster movement on and off the ball. So what did we learn...
1. If we must persist with 1 up top, Chris Martin shouldn't be it. Leigh Griffiths is by far the best striker we have and must be given the role
2. Oliver Vurke looks an immense talent. The parallels with Bale are quite obvious in his style of play. He's a bit raw and will need some time. But he's a massive threat with his pace, power and directness
3. Snodgrass and Ritchie are class players. Great, touch technique and fantastic delivery.
4. It was a mistake to make D.Fletcher captain. He looks finished at that level. Takes the pace out of a move and we ocmpletely lose momentum with him. Too many long balls and misplace passes.
5. We have very good full backs. Good debut from Patterson and Roberston is one of 3 very good left backs we have.
6. Centre of defence is a total bombscare. Neither Martin nor Hanley playing 1st team football at the moment and it showed. Horrendous display from them. We must find replacements quickly. There has to be better options in the SPL.
7. Marshal is our no.1 GK. did nothing wrong and made a world class point blank save (even tho it was offside)
Player ratings|
Marshall 7
Patterson 7
Martin 4
Hanley 4
Robertson 7
Bannan 7
Fletcher 5
Snodgrass 9
Burke 8
Ritchie 9
Martin 5
Manager 8. Tactics about right. Too many long balls in 1st half and played at too slow a pace with not enough pressing of ball. Must've gave a good H/T team talk because vastly improved performance in 2nd half.
Overall, a potential banana skin overcome and a very good result. I can see one or two of our opponents struggling to break them down as they're well organised with a back 5 and 4 in the middle that leaves not a lot of space to play in.
What did we learn..
posted on 5/9/16
comment by PointyBirds (U8853)
posted 3 minutes ago
What did we learn..
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Well I read a very informative banner...
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posted on 5/9/16
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 5/9/16
comment by PointyBirds (U8853)
posted 4 minutes ago
For the purposes of possible confusion, the banner was out of order and the wee faannies waving it deserve a shoeing.
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Back well covered Pointy
posted on 5/9/16
What was this banner that caused all the commotion?
posted on 5/9/16
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic (U5291)
posted 3 minutes ago
What was this banner that caused all the commotion?
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Something to do with a flute band and a co-op carrier bag
posted on 5/9/16
Charlie Mulgrew sums up everything that is wrong with Scottish football.
He was a CB at youth level, but once the coaches realised he could also play the ball, he was moved to LB, after all why would you keep someone who can pass a ball at CB?
Once it became clear that he was a rubbish LB, a succession of managers tried to convert him into a DM or a LM.
An injury crisis forced us to put him at CB for a season and he was sensational. The only CB in Scottish football history to simultaneously win Players and Football Writers player of the year awards.
First opportunity we got, we git a new CB in and moved Mulgrew back to DM where is is brutal
I don't get it, Celtic have played Ambrose ahead of him for years, Scotland play Hanley ahead of him for years, yet we both try to shoehorn him in elsewhere.
Most other countries would have embraced a young ball playing CB who can hit a free kick, nit Scotland though, the concept is so alien to us that we basically kill his career in an attempt to change him into something he is not. He is definitely Scotland's best CB and has been for almost a decade, it's also our worst position, yet I can't remember him ever playing there for Scotland.
Madness.
posted on 5/9/16
I would absolutely have Mulgrew in ahead of Hanley.
He is a bombscare and complete liability
posted on 5/9/16
comment by super phoenix rangers - Allegedly (U14864)
posted 2 hours, 2 minutes ago
I would absolutely have Mulgrew in ahead of Hanley.
He is a bombscare and complete liability
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and Hanley is far worse
posted on 5/9/16
I think we play some ok stuff at times, and a couple of solid centre halves would make give us a fair shout of the play offs. Unfortunately we just don't have them.
A few years back it was the opposite, decent enough defence and no scoring enough, now we can seem to score but not keep them out.
We really have no CB options whatsoever that are good options. Which is why I find it hard to be too critical of Strachan. Yes I disagree with some decisions he makes but it's the same with any manager club or country.
Ultimately in the last campaign we scored a decent amount of goals: only 2 less than Germany and 3 more than Ireland. We just couldn't keep them out at the other end. That and one awful performance against Georgia, where if we had even squeaked a 1-0 we'd have been in the play offs.
The big tests will be three away games against Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia. We'll probably have to win two out of three as well as all the home games. I'd take a draw in Slovakia right now. They look organised and difficult to beat. The other two should be beatable (but so were Georgia) if we are organised and hold our nerve but again, with our defence there are no guarantees.
I though Paterson and Robertson were good going forward but poor defensively. Neither of them were closing wingers down quick enough, and a better team will punish that. It didn't help that they were having to tuck in a lot more than they should because the CBs weren't tracking properly. For their goal neither CB was picking up a man and were staring at the ball. LB is not an issue though as Tierney and Wallace are both decent players and I'd be happy with any of the 3 playing, Robertson has had better games defensively as well and I doubt they'll push forward as much against better teams, we have Shinnie in reserve too. RB has been an issue for a while. Paterson might not be the finished article but it's only his 2nd cap and he's 21, he still looks better than Hutton or Whittaker. Keep him in, let him get experience, it's not like anyone better is coming along in a hurry.
Nice score line last night and looked good at times going forward. Snodgrass, Ritchie and Burke dragged us through. Fletcher sat in and did ok, Bannan was decent but I'd still rather have McArthur when fit.
There was a lot of luck last night though. 1st goal was a fluke, on another day a ref could have called a foul in the build up to the 2nd, 3rd was a joke pen, 4th was decent and 5th was a rebound. 4 of those goals could easily not have happened, not to mention one of the worst red cards I've ever seen. I think we deserved to win and were the better team, but the scoreline did flatter us and on another day we could have been trudging off after a 1-1 draw thinking its over already. Still it's very rare we get the rub of the green, so I'll gladly take it.
On a positive Malta weren't that bad and could certainly take points of Lithuania or Slovenia at home. The are well organised and have pace up front to break. I don't see them doing a San Marino/Gibraltar and losing every game heavily.
posted on 5/9/16
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator