A Son of the Rock

Synot Tip Arena, Prague, 8/10/10

This was grim: and we got what we deserved. I hope Jim Chapman wasn’t watching, it might have given him wild ideas.

I joked to a work mate today we should play 10-0. What we got was a remarkably similar formation, 4-6-0. I would have been better off – and more excited – watching paint dry.

If you don’t play any forwards you can’t get the ball upfield. If you can’t get the ball upfield you can’t score. And that’s the whole point of the game.

Okay, if you don’t concede you don’t lose. But you can’t win.

Craig Levein’s tactics today ensured that Scotland would not win.

Was he using this as some sort of a trial run for playing Spain? (I know he denied it after the game but watch what formation he sends out against Spain in Spain. If he’s still there. )

If so it was at the least unwise. (I doubt whether we have the players capable of sustaining this system.) And the Czech Republic didn’t look very great shakes, not all that incisive going forward even after we had to come out a bit and, though they were never really under pressure, insecure at the back . They also appeared very get-at-able when Scotland went 4-4-2.

This could have been an opportunity for a win (unlikely but possible.)

And it was spurned.