WHAT do hindsight and the preferred sorrow-drowner of many a young Tartan Army footsoldier have in common? They’re both 20/20.
But there are a few points to be made about Steve Clarke’s tactical approach to the European Championships and his choice of personnel throughout that didn’t only raise concern after the fact.
Here, we take a look at some of the key reasons why Scotland's journey ended at the group stage yet again...
STEVE CLARKE WAS TOO CAUTIOUS
IT could be argued though that the biggest downfall of this Scotland team, despite creating a lot of decent chances, was a tendency towards caution when it mattered most.
The Scotland players and Clarke deserve huge credit for the performance, tactics and result against England. The wonderful showing of Billy Gilmour illustrated the difference he made to Scotland’s midfield in terms of composure and our ability to hold onto the ball, showing just how big a miss he was as the Croatian midfield ran the show at Hampden on Tuesday night.
But Clarke may well reflect on the half-time interval against Croatia as the moment that he could have grasped the thistle, as it were, and made proactive changes that would have given Scotland a greater chance of making it to the knockout stages for the first time.
The Scots had been outplayed in the first half and were fortunate to be level. But Clarke didn't alter things in an attempt to seize the initiative.
MISGUIDED LOYALTY PROVED COSTLY
In the Czech Republic game, Clarke was loyal to one of the men who was instrumental in getting the Scots to the party in the first place, with Ryan Christie given the nod to start in behind Lyndon Dykes after his heroics in Serbia.
Trouble is, as gifted a player as Christie is, he has shown very little of his undoubted ability since that night way back in November in a Celtic jersey.
On form alone, it is mystifying how he was selected to start the opening match of the tournament while a man who has outperformed him consistently at club level this season in attacking midfield, David Turnbull, never set foot on the field in the entire tournament.
That Christie was hooked at half time in that opening game and was never seen again is telling that Clarke at least acknowledged that error. Whether starting Che Adams in attack instead would have yielded a different outcome, we will never know.
NOT ENOUGH FAITH PLACED IN YOUNG TALENT
Following on from the point about Turnbull’s lack of game-time, we also didn’t see enough of Gilmour or Nathan Patterson.
Stephen O’Donnell bounced back admirably from a poor performance against the Czech Republic, and it is easy to see why Clarke went with the Motherwell man’s experience from the start in all three games.
Yet when it was clear that Scotland needed a more attacking threat as they chased the games against the Czechs and the Croats, the logic of having O’Donnell still in position while Patterson and James Forrest sat kicking their heels until those games were gone was hugely questionable.
Gilmour’s Wembley performance also begged the question of why he wasn’t trusted from the get go.
The truth is, but for injuries to Ryan Jack and Kenny McLean, perhaps all three of these young talents wouldn’t even have been in the expanded squad of 26. Clarke may reflect that if they’re good enough - as they have shown - they’re old enough.
ROUTE ONE FOOTBALL TOO PRIMITIVE AT THIS LEVEL
Lyndon Dykes has been a valuable addition for Scotland. He may not be clinical in front of goal, but he offers the option to go long when required.
The trouble was though that going long wasn’t just an option when looking to mix it up, it was Scotland’s default attacking approach. There was some truth in Graeme Souness’s blistering post-Croatia analysis that we were far too reliant on hitting Dykes early and trying to feed off the scraps.
Scotland have the players to build the game through the thirds, with Tierney and Scott McTominay playing either side of the back three, and a technically sound midfield in Gilmour, Callum McGregor and John McGinn when they are all available.
Clarke has to find a way to best utilise those players in an attacking sense, rather than missing them out with balls shelled over their heads.
PLAYERS LACKED A CUTTING EDGE
For all that Clarke can be accused of being too restrained in his approach, the blame for a lack of goals can’t be laid solely at the manager’s door.
Scotland were remarkably profligate in front of goal, with 41 shots producing just the one goal in the tournament. Their xG (expected goals, for those who like that sort of thing) over the three matches was 4.84, while they conceded five from an expected 3.41 (Source: @xGPhilosophy).
This highlighted the lack of a genuine quality striking option when compared to the other teams in the group, while previously reliable finishers from midfield like John McGinn passed up some glorious opportunities.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel