Either way we should have too much for Cyprus. Would be very us to mess it up!
Scotland National Team Discussion
- Thread starter SilentWitness
- Start date
Either way we should have too much for Cyprus. Would be very us to mess it up!
Gilmour starting to cook at Brighton bodes well. Let’s hammer Cyprus and those English idiots next week.
McGinn has really grown into an absolute gem of a player.
Team of absolute shaggers
For me, the only name which gets on the team sheet first ahead of McTominay is McGinn. Arguably.
I fancy us against England if we have the legs for it. We have enough about us to cause their CBs issues and I think we can win the midfield battle with McGinn and Gilmour.
Hearing Barnes is thinking of switching too. That would be an excellent player to bring in off the bench.
Hearing Barnes is thinking of switching too. That would be an excellent player to bring in off the bench.
Harvey Barnes?
Bellingham starting to cook at Real Madrid also. I think we will be alright.
Yes.
Good player. Very English though.
I’m sure McTominay and Che Adams will help him fit in.
That’s not fair. I’ve seen mctomminay interviews. He’s a proper jock.
That would be an excellent player to complement our already stacked midfield.
This scotland side plays with more heart, desire and passion than England.
England have better players, and a better squad. But Scotland would have beat Ukraine in that game.
England have better players, and a better squad. But Scotland would have beat Ukraine in that game.
Can't help but feel both need to play. Especially when they are both such goal threats for us.
So do I, should be a cracking game tomorrow. And Barnes would switching would be class as an extra dimension, something we don't really have.
Seems to be a lot of hype around Ben Doak?
Apparently he was the best player on the pitch for the under 21's in the Scotland vs Spain match last night despite only being 17.
Looks like one to keep an eye on?
Apparently he was the best player on the pitch for the under 21's in the Scotland vs Spain match last night despite only being 17.
Looks like one to keep an eye on?
Ben Doak. 
Looked a big talent at Celtic. Liverpool paid I think £600k for him after he'd made one or two appearances.
If Liverpool didn't have as much depth in their forward positions I wouldn't of been hugely surprised if he hade a few appearances this year for them. Still only 17 though so probably a bit young for a loan. Wouldn't be the worst move if Celtic wanted him on loan again in January if he's not getting any time.
If Liverpool didn't have as much depth in their forward positions I wouldn't of been hugely surprised if he hade a few appearances this year for them. Still only 17 though so probably a bit young for a loan. Wouldn't be the worst move if Celtic wanted him on loan again in January if he's not getting any time.
The Spanish defenders were terrified of Doak last night.
It's a pity that Gemmill is in charge. Doak will learn zero under him.
But it's way too early for Doak to be called into the seniors. Maybe training sessions, etc.
As far as tonight:
I can see us winning. England don't frighten me at. I'm scared of 2 things: Harry Kane and Stuart Armstrong getting on the park and assisting Kane again.
People say that England have better players. It's nit true.
England have no midfield. They have a basic number 6 (Rice) and a semi-retired Henderson. Then there's Phillips, but I think he's merged into the City bench.
Bellingham is a number 10.
McGregor and Gilmour would walk into the England team.
It's a pity that Gemmill is in charge. Doak will learn zero under him.
But it's way too early for Doak to be called into the seniors. Maybe training sessions, etc.
As far as tonight:
I can see us winning. England don't frighten me at. I'm scared of 2 things: Harry Kane and Stuart Armstrong getting on the park and assisting Kane again.
People say that England have better players. It's nit true.
England have no midfield. They have a basic number 6 (Rice) and a semi-retired Henderson. Then there's Phillips, but I think he's merged into the City bench.
Bellingham is a number 10.
McGregor and Gilmour would walk into the England team.
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Ben Doak.
Marvellous player, can't wait to see how he develops, even if it is at Pool
Tbh I'm just so chuffed with our team at the moment, and seeing some really excellent talent coming through. Can't wait for the game tonight.
Yeah I reckon that his position is one where we're a bit lighter at the moment, with Christie failing to build on his early promise, Clarke showing little appetite to try out Gauld, and Fraser making silly career decisions. Clarke has done really well to adapt the squad around that to be fair.
Agree fully, he's dealt with what he has had available very well for the most part, but Barnes would bring some very welcome depth and offer a totally different threat we don't really have. Anderson coming in would be another very good option too.
Agree with you both. Would be nice to have Doak and Barnes out wide
We shat the bed. Just sat off and showed far too much respect.
I’d really like us to get the Barnes/Elliot situation sorted. We badly need more pace in the team imo.
I’d really like us to get the Barnes/Elliot situation sorted. We badly need more pace in the team imo.
This didn’t age well, England have considerably better players and there isn’t really anyone in the Scotland team who walks into Englands. England have players who are second or third choice that walk into the Scotland team. Huge gulf in quality and it showed last night.
Scotland will go to the Euros and should be able to get into the knockout stages but England are on a different level. Huge turnaround by Scotland which manager deserves a lot of credit for especially when you consider only a dozen games ago they were getting beaten 3-0 by a very poor Ireland team.
I'm Scottish and even I find this post laughable. It's amazing how people hype up players like McGregor playing in Scottish football, and downplay guys like Rice as a basic number 6.
The England midfield just popped the ball round our midfield all night, and we couldn't get near them.
There's not a single player in the Scotland team that would get in the English squad, never mind team. That's fine as Clarke has got us playing in the main better than the sum of our parts, but let's not start over rating players based on a few good results when we didn't even make the last tournament.
Oh dear
We didn't perform at all in that first half and England as a team did. They also have world class players whereas we do not so if they perform at their best we will always struggle but our form and spirit as a side recently made it seem like we should have performed far better than we did. We did end up biting back in the second half but by then it was too late and Bellingham and Kane were on top form.
I don't think we have to be too worried but we do need to have another game plan as we are still a little one dimensional and we didn't deal with the press at all yesterday. We still get too emotional and nervous.
This squad is getting there though. It should set us up to be able to qualify for tournaments regularly if we carry on the same path.
I don't think we have to be too worried but we do need to have another game plan as we are still a little one dimensional and we didn't deal with the press at all yesterday. We still get too emotional and nervous.
This squad is getting there though. It should set us up to be able to qualify for tournaments regularly if we carry on the same path.
England were our kryptonite last night. A lot of our success has been on the fluidity and energy of our midfield progressing the ball up the park and pressing second balls. We've had wee guys at the base of the midfield and big guys pushing on. Last night the wee guys were bullied by Bellingham and Rashford, while the big guys were cancelled out by Rice, Phillips and the England defence. Difficult scenario for Clarke where he probably knew it would have been a better match-up to have McTominay deeper to get tighter to Bellingham, but that would undo a lot of what has made us successful in the last couple of years.
I would say also that there has been a lot of underrating of England up here by both the media and fans. A common view was 'we drew with them 0-0 two years ago and we've improved a lot since then, therefore we could/should win'. But so have England and it was one of the first times that Southgate managed to accommodate Bellingham, Foden and Rashford in the same team, rather than filling it up with second-tier workers. We really need a malfunctioning England to compete and, while there have been plenty of signs of that over the last decade, last night was not one of them. When we are going up against the top nations, we need to get the tactical fit spot on and hope we're an awkward opponent for who we play against. That was the case against Spain, but very much the opposite against England.
I would say also that there has been a lot of underrating of England up here by both the media and fans. A common view was 'we drew with them 0-0 two years ago and we've improved a lot since then, therefore we could/should win'. But so have England and it was one of the first times that Southgate managed to accommodate Bellingham, Foden and Rashford in the same team, rather than filling it up with second-tier workers. We really need a malfunctioning England to compete and, while there have been plenty of signs of that over the last decade, last night was not one of them. When we are going up against the top nations, we need to get the tactical fit spot on and hope we're an awkward opponent for who we play against. That was the case against Spain, but very much the opposite against England.
Yeah, it's amusing that in trying to give players game time, Southgate inadvertently stumbles across his arguably best attacking lineup aside from Phillips.
Scotland have done great in their qualifying group above Norway and Spain and should be proud of that. They need to finish the job there and keep getting tournament experience. The contrast in resources between Scotland and England is immense so I wouldn't read too much into yesterday.
Yeah, I think the peak for this squad will probably be the next world cup too whereas England are arguably in their peak as a squad.
Meh.
It was an off night where no one turned up. I would much rather it happened in a friendly than a competitive match.
The players will learn from it and I would even suggest that last night was needed as it gives everyone a glimpse into what standards we have to reach.
We still have one foot in the European Championships.
Onwards and upwards.
It was an off night where no one turned up. I would much rather it happened in a friendly than a competitive match.
The players will learn from it and I would even suggest that last night was needed as it gives everyone a glimpse into what standards we have to reach.
We still have one foot in the European Championships.
Onwards and upwards.
Scotland are in similar position to Wales about 2015.
Got the defence well drilled and regularly keeping clean sheets, very nicely balanced midfield with strength in depth. Only thing they lack to that Welsh team is no Bale type in final third but that's obviously a generational player and see how this Doak develops in next 2-3 years, think Clarke will slowly ease him in like he did with Billy Gilmour.
Harvey Barnes declaring for Scotland would certainly be a boost as he'd give them greater threat from out wide rather than just relying on Robertson to get up and down the left all the time.
Got the defence well drilled and regularly keeping clean sheets, very nicely balanced midfield with strength in depth. Only thing they lack to that Welsh team is no Bale type in final third but that's obviously a generational player and see how this Doak develops in next 2-3 years, think Clarke will slowly ease him in like he did with Billy Gilmour.
Harvey Barnes declaring for Scotland would certainly be a boost as he'd give them greater threat from out wide rather than just relying on Robertson to get up and down the left all the time.
my inner pessimist is now saying that we will lose to Spain and maybe even Norway too and end up 2nd in the group