The Final Pass

Haven’t used this account in a few years, but feel compelled to get some thoughts out somewhere after Scotland’s performance and result last night. Following three poor tournament performances, it does bring the quality that has been, and is being, produced into sharp focus. Should start by saying that Steve Clarke and the squad deserve enormous credit for three successful qualifications. As dire as the tournament performance has been, there’s no doubt they know how to be competitive in qualifying. But one win in 9 games across three major tournaments isn’t anywhere near good enough. Four goals across those three tournaments is an even worse stat. I don’t even want to look up the total shots on target or any other metric that matters. The fact is - Scotland haven’t been competitive in tournaments. And all that’s led to is an enormous sense of dissatisfaction from fans who have dared to dream. First World Cup in 28 years, fans travelling to an expensive host country in their thousands - all for 1 goal and three abject performances. Clarke should carry the can for his tournament selections - both the squad and the starting teams. No doubt there were some in-form players who missed out on the World Cup as a result of Clarke’s faith in those who got them there. That’s a fair and admirable approach by the manager, but it doesn't mean it's right. And the team selection, with hindsight, doesn't reflect well on him too. We offered little to no threat against Morocco and Brazil in particular - and as much as only scoring once against Haiti could be the death of us in this tournament, it felt like we could and should have done more with our other two matches. That all said, the biggest question we should be asking is 'how do Scotland continue qualifying for tournaments AND compete when they get there?' For me, it all comes down to talent - and sadly there just isn't enough being produced. I've seen a lot of pre-tournament talk of Ferguson, Gilmour and McTominay thriving in Serie A, which isn't entirely the case. Ferguson is a solid holding midfielder in a mid-table Bologna team. Gilmour made just 8 Serie A starts all season. Only McTominay is deserving of the real pre-tournament hype when you look at his Napoli impact and what he's done for Scotland. McGinn deserves his reputation too. He's been a top performer for Aston Villa and Scotland for years now and came into the tournament bang in form. But beyond those named, where is the real talent? And I'm not talking about good full-backs or talented central midfielders. Robertson/Tierney on the left and Hickey on the right represent quality full-backs. Ferguson, Gilmour, McTominay, McLean, Christie are all strong midfield options. I'm talking about the kind of strikers and wingers that all top nations seem to have. Strikers who can lead the line alone and score goals. Wingers who can attack their man at speed with trickery. Strikers and wingers who have the pace to run the channels and stretch a game. England probably aren't a reasonable comparison, but we'll start with them based on proximity. They have top strikers and wingers left, right and centre - they left plenty at home who would start week in week out for us. Spain, France, Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina - all have a depth of attacking options. But they probably aren't fair comparisons given the size of those countries and their rich footballing heritage. Dip deeper below them for nations Scotland should be competing with and you find solid teams with wingers/strikers capable of making a difference. Here are just a few countries who find themselves, or are likely to find themselves, in the last 32: Switzerland - Embolo, Manzambi, Vargas Morocco - Saibari, Diaz, El Kaabi, El Khannouss, Hakimi Ivory Coast - Diallo, Pepe, Diomande, Bonny, Adingra Japan - Maeda, Kubo, Ueda, Doan Sweden - Isak, Gyokeres, Elanga Norway - Haaland, Nusa, Sorloth, Bobb, Schjelderup The list of teams and players could go on. And with each one, you could hand pick players of that profile who would drastically improve a toothless Scotland squad. It's even good to look at UK & Ireland teams who have performed at major tournaments in the last 20 years. Ignore England of course. Just look at Ireland in 2002, who had a solid team built around the attacking genius of Robbie Keane and Damien Duff. Wales in the 2016 Euros - again, a solid team with Gareth Bale providing the final third magic. By comparison, here are the winger/striker options Scotland have: Wingers: Gannon-Doak, Curtis and McGinn (technically a midfielder who plays in a specialised wide role for a great Villa team) Strikers: Shankland, Adams, Dykes, Stewart Shankland, as good as he is in Scotland, can't run. Playing him up front alone just doesn't work. Same could be said for Dykes now. If he has players running behind and off him, he's a threat, but other than that he's anonymous in any build-up on the ground. Adams is a lot more mobile, but nowhere near at the standard of other squads. And Stewart, who has four caps and little to no real top-level experience at club level. The simple fact is Scotland's squad doesn't have anywhere near enough attacking talent. And when you have a solid but unspectacular team playing to frustrate and counter, it makes it really difficult to carry any real threat. So how do we find those players? 20/30 years ago you could look outside and it wouldn't take you long to find youngsters playing on the street. This is a simple point that is often trotted out by an older generation keen to criticise the next, but it's true. Young Scottish footballers just don't play enough. Instead, academies (of which there are fewer than ever now) have 2/3 training nights and one game day to help develop players. Schools are no longer football only either. We do have the JD Performance Schools, but do they provide enough coverage for young talented players? Not for me. I live around the corner from a new 5G pitch. It's effectively in the city centre and could be a hotbed for young talent. But, as I write this, it lies empty with the gates locked. I assume it's over fears of damage. I believe there needs to be a drastic change to how young people play football in this country. It isn't enough to say 'kids don't play in the streets anymore'. For a lot of other countries, that is also the case too. Scotland needs to invest in resources to combat that. 1. More pitches - of any shape/size We don't just need more 5G 11-a-side pitches. Give us more 5G 5-a-side, 7-a-side and 9-a-side pitches. Put them everywhere. It would be difficult, but imagine having a pitch of some shape/size within a mile of each other in every single Scottish city. 2. Lower the barrier of entry This isn't as much about cost as it is access to facilities. As I mentioned previously, the pitches we do have can't sit under lock and key. That just isn't good enough. These pitches should never close. If councils are worried about damage, give funding to allow passionate football people to work at them. Their job should be for the pitch to have players on it all day and all night. 3. Positional focus Scotland has no problem developing young, talented central midfielders and full-backs. What we have really struggled with is centre backs, wingers and strikers. There should be a directive passed down from the SFA to find our next generation of talent that can really make the difference. Scouts incentivised on finding the players, coaches incentivised on developing that talent in the right way, clubs incentivised on giving players in those positions opportunities. I'm convinced that would bear fruit. We could make every excuse in the world not to do the above, but the fact is Scotland has to get serious about football again and this is a place to start. If you've made it to the end of this, well done. If you're someone who can do something about it, go do it. I know I will. Up the Tartan Army! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿