Scotlands Scott McTominay Get the latest news from Record Sport with our daily newsletter More Newsletters Subscribe Please enter a valid email Something went wrong, please try again later. More Newsletters We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show me See Our Privacy Notice See Our Privacy Notice × Group 28 Get the latest news from Record Sport with our daily newsletter Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign Up No thanks, close We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info × Group 28 Thank you for subscribing! We have more newsletters Show Me No thanks, close See our Privacy Notice He was being more than a little bit facetious. Of course he was. But when Steve Clarke said some people may choose to look negatively upon a run of six games without a
Scotland win, the national manager was also absolutely spot on. Of course they will. If he was being brutally honest with himself, Clarke would admit that this is hardly the kind of run he would have wished to embark on, now that he’s getting so close to leading his squad to
Germany this summer. The very last thing he needs at this moment in time is to turn up at a tournament and attempt to mix it with the big boys, having suddenly been overcome by an inferiority complex on the way there. But, while managing a national team is one thing, very often managing the country’s expectations can prove to be quite another. And in that regard, perhaps what happened in Amsterdam on Friday night, when Scotland found themselves on the end of a four goal thumping from a dangerous, accomplished Dutch side may have come at an ideal moment, as bruising and unwanted as this latest sore face will have been. Read More Related Articles The lack of wins raised from within Scotland camp but our Euro 2024 heroes clear one thing up about recent results Read More Related Articles Lawrence Shankland admonished by Monday Jury who make appeal for Scotland to be brave The lop-sided nature of the scoreline certainly serves as a timely reminder of what Clarke and his players are about to come up against this summer and the cruel reality of life back in the fast lane, going in against the game’s real top operators. If the nation had been in danger of getting ahead of itself in the build up to a second successive Euros, this was a reminder of the levels at which Scotland are now being asked to perform and the pitfalls which tend to come with it. And yet when Clarke sat down with his coaching staff to analyse the action over the weekend, he would have had every reason to convince himself that this was a freakishly unfair result on a night which unravelled and very quickly got away from his players. Because for more than an hour Clarke’s side was, by a distance, the best team on the pitch. What’s more, some of the individuals in dark blue shirts looked technically more talented and perhaps even superior to their opposite numbers in a resurgent Netherlands side which is now ranked as the sixth best on the planet. It’s no coincidence Clarke can now look forward to three final warm up matches against sides which carry significantly less clout on the international stage, starting with a visit from Northern
Ireland at Hampden on Tuesday and continuing in June with games against Gibraltar and Finland. Three straight wins will be required to allow the manager and his squad to regain some much needed momentum before the big send off to their Bavarian base camp at the foot of the Alps ahead of the big opening night in Munich against Germany. With that big one in mind, anything less than a run of victories between now and then would provide the country with genuine cause for concern. Scotland boss Steve Clarke (Image: SNS Group) But there is no reason to believe that the results won’t suddenly begin to spike again now Clarke has carefully handpicked the last part of his side’s journey to the finals. And somewhere inside his own mind, the manager will reflect on the circumstances surrounding Friday night’s beating with a considerable amount of contentment. Clarke will pore over the footage of the opening hour or so and realise that, If Scotland can put on a similar standard of performance on June 14 then they might just be capable of getting the kind of result which will make everyone start to believe all over again. Yes, the likes of John McGinn and Andy Robertson spoke afterwards of their frustration and anger with the final scoreline in Holland. Rightly so, they will have felt a sense of deep embarrassment at the sheer margin of the defeat. That’s why they are operating at the very top of their trade. But none of that stinging professional pride should make them disappear into their shells at this critical moment in their progression as a side fit for purpose at the highest level of all. Instead, they should study the first 68 minutes from Friday night to remind themselves that they truly do belong there because the quality of their all round play was close to being top notch as they passed and pressed the Dutch off their own pitch. In the middle of the pitch little Billy Gilmour was clever and precise in possession and also combative when it was required. With Scott McTominay and John McGinn adding drive and unbound athleticism to the middle of the pitch, there was an almost perfect balance to Clarke’s side. Kieran Tierney and Robertson were reunited on the left hand side of Clarke’s defence and the pair picked up on their telepathic working relationship as if they had never been wrenched apart. Ryan Christie was deployed further up the same flank and operated with the game intelligence of a player capable of spotting holes and then dropping into them in order to link up with those rampant reinforcements. All over the pitch, Scotland were more than a match for their opponents and the half time stats backed that up even if, by then, they had fallen behind to the only shot the Dutch had mustered before the break. With 45 per cent possession - and four shots on goal versus one - Clarke’s players had also completed a total of 258 passes between them. In other words this was not just a containment
Job against one of the teams most fancied to go all the way this summer. On the contrary, it was anything but. Sign up to our Record Sport newsletter Get all the latest Sports news sent straight to your Inbox every day by signing up to our newsletter. We cover every morsel of information regarding your favourite club in the form of articles, videos and podcasts. The newsletter will arrive every day at 12pm, giving you a round up of the best stories we've covered that in the last 24 hours. To sign up, simply enter your email address into the link here . And if you aren't already, make sure you join the conversation over on our
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Instagram . It was only when the raft of second half substitutions began that Scotland lost some of their poise - as well as all of their dominance - and that fact alone should give Clarke more reason for confidence heading into the summer. Of course, it would help the cause no end if he were to find a fully firing No.9 in these last three games because right now it does feel as if he’s having to pick horses for courses where Lawrence Shankland, Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes are concerned. Shankland showed on Friday that he is more than capable of performing at his level by providing some clever link up play while leading the line. In normal circumstances he would have converted the one big chance which came his way to level up the scores at 1-1, rather than see his effort smack the crossbar. Of the three, he is the most natural, prolific and accomplished finisher. Adams offers a more mobile if less clinical solution to the same problem while Dykes is a great deal more than just a human battering ram even if there’s a temptation to paint him as such. The bottom line, however, is that Clarke would prefer to have all of the above packaged up in the shape of just one player - in order to have his very own Harry McKane leading Scotland’s attack. With human cloning not yet possible, he will either have to select his main striker on a game by game basis, based upon the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents. Or he’ll hope that one of them steps forward in these final three dress rehearsals to grab the No.9 short for himself. Story Saved You can find this story in My Bookmarks. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Follow Daily Record Facebook
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Football team Euro 2024 Steve Clarke Lyndon Dykes Lawrence Shankland Billy Gilmour Ryan Christie