“That was a magnificent performance. That was the best hour, 65 minutes, we’ve had as a football team since I’ve been here”, said Scotland manager Gordon Strachan of his side’s 1-0 victory over Georgia at Ibrox.
Now, I can understand Strachan wanting to heap praise on and encourage his players after picking up a vital three points, but “magnificent”? If Scotland were magnificent then they would have created more clear-cut chances for the amount of possession they enjoyed, they would have scored more of the chances they did create and wouldn’t have relied on an own goal to win the match. If Scotland were magnificent, they wouldn’t have been rushing their play more and more as the first half wore on, wouldn’t have started the second half in a similar manner and wouldn’t have collectively shat themselves as Irakli Dzaria missed his chance to level the scores with around ten minutes remaining.
Scotland’s opponent that day was a very poor, inexperienced Georgia side whose manager is on the brink of being fired, yet they struggled to finish them off. That Chris Martin was introduced to keep the ball in the corner to waste valuable seconds in the dying minutes was particularly telling, embarrassing even. More than when a similar strategy was used to secure a 1-0 friendly victory over the Czech Republic in 2010.
I do not mean to convey that there were little or no positives to take from this match. The fact that Scotland enjoyed as much possession as they did is encouraging, as is the confidence with which they employed that possession. However, I do not accept that creating chances is good football if you fail to make the most of them. In other words, a lion’s share of possession and seventeen attempts on goal do not alone constitute good football. Failure to convert this into goals mean the performance is lacking somewhat.
Regardless, three points is three points and this narrow victory was always going to be judged in the light of Tuesday’s match in Warsaw. A favourable result away to Poland would have entitled Strachan to call the performance versus Georgia whatever he pleased.
A draw in Poland – the eventual outcome – is a result almost every Scotsman would have settled for before the match. Even though this was achieved, there is a slight disappointment given that Scotland led with just over thirty-minutes to go.
The most encouraging aspects from Tuesday were, firstly, the manner in which Scotland began the match – looking comfortable in possession and not content to set up defensively and leave the National Stadium with a draw. Secondly, once Scotland found themselves behind, they seemed unfazed and continued with their gameplan, soon finding an equaliser.
“As you’ve seen, our team said, ‘we want three points’ and they go a goal behind and still keep playing”, said Strachan, and this was evidenced by the most encouraging aspect of the match: Scotland’s ability to turn 1-0 into 1-2 away from home against the group’s second seed, which is not a trait we have come to associate with our national side.
The most worrying factor, however, was how much Poland troubled the Scotland defence immediately after going 2-1 down. Furthermore, even when Scotland made their substitutions in response, in an attempt to defend their lead, they were incapable of doing so. For so long Scotland’s success (if you can call it that) was based on a solid defence. Now, the balance of the squad suggests that our best form of defence is attack. With a lead to defend, Scotland dropped deeper and deeper, and this allowed Poland to instantly put them under pressure.
Strachan had introduced Darren Fletcher to plug the gap between defence and midfield – an area in which Arkadiusz Milik was finding space, pulling Gordon Greer out-of-position on occasion – and Chris Martin for his ability to hold the ball up. By this time, Poland’s attack had been made more potent by the introduction of Sebastian Mila and, with fifteen minutes remaining, they were able to exploit Scotland’s weak point over the course: Alan Hutton.
This area of the pitch was perhaps made weaker by the withdrawal of Steven Naismith, moving Shaun Maloney out to protect the right-back position, but the goal, as with the opener, will go down as an error from the Aston Villa full-back. Maloney may be accused of inadequately stopping the through ball but Hutton leaves his defensive position to meet eventual scorer Milik, before failing to match his run. Poland then pressed for a winner and were almost rewarded, again down Scotland’s right, when Robert Lewandowski cut inside Hutton to force David Marshall into a smart save.
That is not to take anything away from the result. Forget that our perceived challengers for second-place before a ball was kicked have taken points from Germany. If Scotland continue to pick up these types of results they shouldn’t have to worry about how the outcomes of the other matches effect their chances. Wins for Scotland in three of their remaining four home matches, as well as six or seven points from their three remaining away fixtures, should be sufficient for qualification.
The performances so far certainly suggest that qualification is Scotland’s to lose.
Craig Cairns has been known to publish the odd tweet about the fitba’ under the handle @craigcairns001
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