He thinks there is a case to play Hendrick instead of Whelan.
Also a case for Hendrick on the right.
Walters should only play if we are going "direct".
He is pessimistic about our chances.
Whelan & McCarthy are "safety-first", don't like responsibility and don't like playing the ball out from defence.
Martin doesn't know his best team.
Strachan demands Scotland play through midfield and maintain possession.
Scotland were much better in Glasgow.
Long better served playing off a big man. (Murphy?)
Obligatory defense of Trap.
13/06/2015, 1:34 AM
Charlie Darwin
I'd go with Liam's team, except Westwood in for Shay. He doesn't half damn McCarthy with faint praise though.
I would't be as sure Strachan demands his side play through midfield though. They played long as often as us in Glasgow, they just were better at mixing it up and making decisions at the right times.
13/06/2015, 1:34 AM
gastric
Sitting in Kuala Lumpur airport and through extremely bad planning arrive home after the game. Go on Ireland, Win by 2 to 0!
Just been looking at the betting (following my 15/4 steal on Wales :cool: ).
Ireland 7/5 favourites 12/5 Scotland 21/10 the draw.
Looking at the previous results, Scotland lost in Germany but we got a draw, cause for optimism there.
But then Scotland did better in Poland (draw) than Germany (2-0) defeat.
Tough one to call, for me as a betting man Scotland would be the value bet, certainly would not be backing Ireland at that price.
However I am not too pessimistic, I will just get praying I guess :)
13/06/2015, 4:09 AM
tricky_colour
I could make a dozen teams, infact if we were play a dozen player rather than 11 it would be easier
The thinking is here Hoolahan can drop into a 5 man midfield hopefully enabling us to keep the ball better.
Also I like Coleman behind Long, lots of pace there, I like the idea of Long making room behind him for Coleman.
Any how glad I am not picking the team, I fear it would be a bit of a car crash!!! :laugh:
Boom! Boom! :laugh:
(anyone seen my coat?).
13/06/2015, 5:04 AM
Fergie's Son
Not on Twitter but will look at Sky Sports. Thanks.
13/06/2015, 9:54 AM
Stuttgart88
I think Brady's article is pretty fair. Of the midfield two I'd be more critical of McCarthy though. Whelan is the water-carrier, McCarthy has the toolkit but not the mentalitee to do more. Trap was bang on in his pidgin English description "shy".
I think it's pretty damning (and a fair observation) that O'Neill doesn't know his best XI yet or even his best approach. I'd point him towards the Italy friendly but I'm only a bloke with a telly and an iPad, what do I know? Strachan knows what works in the modern game, trusts his players and, to my knowledge, doesn't come out with guff li,e "you can't trust Shaun Maloney in an away game". We haven't moved on from Trap, bar one or two minor differences.
However, I stood by Trap for about 2/3 of his tenure and I still think O'Neill has a couple of games to prove his worth. The argument against O'Neill isn't yet conclusive.
13/06/2015, 10:00 AM
DeLorean
Brady's article is a bit all over the place, no real cohesion or substance to it. Just rambling out what everybody already knows with no real solutions other than the obvious. He says he could argue a case for Hendrick playing instead of Whelan, well, argue it then. Because if it's in a role to protect the back four there is no argument, and that's coming from a Hendrick fan and Whelan critic. The description of the Long/Pelle combination at Southampton sounded a bit dubious as well, but I probably haven't seen enough of Southampton to know for sure. I certainly didn't think it was a case of Long playing off the big guy, but wide of the front three. He was kind of loose in his description to be fair.
13/06/2015, 10:12 AM
Stuttgart88
I took Brady's Long / Pelle point on good faith. I haven't seen enough of them together either. Most Southampton watchers wouldn't have seen Long for half the season! But yes, it did appear he was a kind of advanced inside-right out of the time. Not a pure wide man, but the further right of the forward players.
I still think we are good enough without the ball under O'Neill, but with a big defensive lapse from Wilson, Coleman or Brady per game, or like Hendrick in Glasgow. We press the ball a bit more aggressively under O'Neill. Our set pieces are not as productive as I'd expect them to be.
As a general rule I think something is rotten in our national football ethos if the feeling is that our best players "can't be trusted". That's not to say that a midfield pair of Kilbane and Ireland in Cyprus wasn't a disaster, but even at my level of football we found a way to accommodate our most creative player even if he'd break like a vase if knocked over. I'd almost have more confidence that Stan could deliver a home win tonight. He might have been a bit clueless but he didn't play with the brakes on.
13/06/2015, 10:49 AM
Stuttgart88
Kerr makes some good points here though he is very charitable to Robbie Brady in describing his role in the Poland goal. A short pass that Wilson failed to control. Really?
Kerr claims the players are unaware of their roles and starting positions. When the press highlighted Brady receiving orders during the team photo against Poland I thought the explanation that he was being told his role was just too ludicrous to be true. Kerr suggests it's common and McGeady didn't know his role in Germany. There's always a hint of bitterness and a dig at management by Kerr but if true, it's terrible.
Tempo and confidence will be key, as will dealing with Naismith's clever positioning. But Scotland aren't a team we should be scared of. I agree.
13/06/2015, 11:17 AM
shakermaker1982
Kerr is always moaning about something.
There is potentially 6 or 7 different players in our starting line up tonight compared to the team that played in Glasgow. Scotland managed to scrape a 1 nil win. The stuff I've been reading all week has been as if we were on the end of a beating that night. It was nothing of the sort. Gibson is a passenger in most our games and Kehoe is inferior to Wilson. Add in Brady's set piece delivery and some of our players
coming into form and I'm getting more optimistic by the minute (Long, Coleman, Walters etc).
If we cannot beat Scotland tonight then we don't deserve to be anywhere near the Euro's. They aren't Belgium (well done Wales), it's Scotland. Intensity, brains and belief will be enough tonight. Over to you lads....
13/06/2015, 11:19 AM
shakermaker1982
Also the 100 supporters who were sitting in the east stand near me wearing yellow Celtic tops last week please find something green and not connected to Scotland!! If you have to wear a Celtic Jersey it'd look better if it was green! We need a green wall of colour and noise tonight.
13/06/2015, 11:31 AM
Charlie Darwin
I thought Gibson played well against Scotland for a guy who had hardly played in a year. Spent the three months after it injured as well.
13/06/2015, 11:41 AM
geysir
Generally I agree with Brady about most things ,not just this article.
What I got from his article is that he thinks McCarthy and Whelan are not a pairing which complement each other or add enough to the team as a pair. And he would pair McCarthy with what he thinks is the best other available option.
One case in point was the CM pairing in Sweden, McCarthy and the small guy with Wes ( on as a sub) just ahead of them, there was impetus/dynamism from the CM pairing then, even in the absence of Wes.
13/06/2015, 11:43 AM
TheOneWhoKnocks
There was optimism when Hendrick and Gibson started in Glasgow because McCarthy doesn't excel for Ireland and Whelan is... well Whelan. I think it was a bit of a wake up call seeing how much Hendrick and Gibson toiled (not all their fault I know). The problems go deeper than them. Keogh actually done better than he did in any of the friendlies. He had one nervy moment but settled into the game. Hold your horses I still think he's a liability. I am just making an observation about how Scotland weren't up to much in an attacking sense but were just doing all of the little things right.
It really is maddening watching how we can play when the odds are stacked against us RE: Austria in Dublin, Russia in Dublin, Italy in Bari, Germany (a), Poland at home and France in Paris and how we have to wait until we go behind to display these positive tendencies. Even in the two Bulgaria games we were riding the crest of a wave, we got the lead our performances warranted and both times we retreated until Bulgaria equalized and played out a draw; it was an awful Bulgaria team too. The lessons weren't learned and Austria happened.
It's almost as if there is some kind of subconscious desire to draw these games. It's almost as if they are scared of winning. Drawing is where they feel comfortable; living to fight another day. Scared of what they don't know.
Trapattoni has a lot to answer for. A lot of the chips fall down with him. It's a poisonous attitude we have that he helped foster. There is no trust in our own ability and too much respect for the opposition.
