Source: FOOTYMAD
The Result the Scotland approach and performance deserved.
Scotland lose and must be disappointed. Three qualifying games: one win, one loss, one draw. Negativity as the first instinct in them all; sloppy and slow to react and to change formations and personnel the common thread. To his personal credit, Levein seems intent on putting up a fierce defence of his tactics, and had Scotland held out for a draw then the criticism wouldn't be so intense. Results>performances. The reason Walter Smith sent Rangers out as he did at Old Trafford was due to the gap in quality between the squads. When it came to the first home game against Bursaspor, the same eleven took the field but there were differences both subtle and obvious to the way that side played, and the tactical approach they were handed. Rangers created a number of good chances, and could have won by more than the single goal that was the winning margin. A cautious start in Lithuania was acceptable, even if the manager must have realised earlier in the second half that the game was there for the taking. Tonight saw a defensively inventive formation with no strikers employed, but it suggested the coach was sending a side out to play a Czech side from a different calendar year, if not era, and betrayed a breakdown in communication between whoever scouted the opposition and the man making the decisions. Either that or another DVD malfunction. One needn't dwell on Scotland's own deficiencies for long before noting that tonight's Czech side were distinctly average, but more importantly their main weakness was in the centre of defence, where they gave the impression of being a step up from the Juniors. You will see the obvious problem: a side with no strikers can do little to disturb a wobbly back-line. Of course, when the goal did come we saw two strikers (slowly) brought on and glimpses both of what have been at one end and the way more space for the few gifted home men may have caused Scotland a more troublesome night had adventure or even the aim of competing by scoring a goal been on the agenda from the off. Perhaps Levein has been a little unfortunate in the order of these fixtures; had he sent out tonight's team in tonight's shape with tonight's instructions on Tuesday, against the European and World champions, then few would have complained. Not to appear defeatist, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a Tartan Army fan who thinks Scotland will beat Spain. But on the evidence of tonight - and with the Lithuanian game still fresh in the mind - we do have to ask if he is already in danger of being a one-note singer, with nothing new to shout about.
