RSS
ATOM
advertisement
Goal.com Special: Once A Great Footballing Nation, Now Lucky To Beat Liechtenstein - The Reasons Behind Scotland's Descent Into The Abyss
Goal.com's Paul Macdonald tries to explain why Scotland are falling into international obscurity, following the last-gasp 2-1 win over Liechtenstein last night...
|
Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £100 in free bets! |
|
Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
Sign up with Paddy Power for a free bet up to £50 |
Sep 8, 2010 1:30:00 PM
By Paul Macdonald
Hampden Park. The Tartan Army are annihilating their fingernails as the tension reaches intolerable levels. Their beloved national side are deadlocked at 1-1, but have won a corner – surely to be the last action of the match.
Stephen McManus leaps. The header soars into the corner of the net. The stands are euphoric. Coach Craig Levein gallops from the dugout to celebrate the winning goal. It seems like another rollercoaster occurrence in the cardiac-inducing existence of a Scotland supporter.
But in all honesty, the delight and celebrations are fundamentally hollow. This wasn’t a Spain, a Czech Republic, or even a Lithuania – this was Liechtenstein.
Liechtenstein.
Ranked 149th in the World, with a population of 35,000, essentially meaning there were more in attendance at Hampden than in the entirety of this tiny principality, one who came with a hair’s breadth of securing a result so shameful it would have made Iran 1978 seem like a fond memory.
Undoubtedly uber-optimists will reflect on ‘the result’, the fact that we currently sit atop Group I, and that Czech Republic’s surprise defeat to Lithuania gives esteem to our dull-as-dishwater draw in Kaunas last Friday.
In truth, these people aren’t football enthusiasts, or indeed have ever truly enjoyed football, because almost every minute of this gutless, primitive, incompetent performance could barely be classified as football. To blindly neglect the particulars and focus on results after something so abject is to circumnavigate the unequivocal truth – that is, we have as much chance of ever gracing a major competition again as our landlocked competitors. Unfortunately, the Liechtensteins, San Marinos and Estonias of this world are well aware of their place in the grand scheme whereas Scotland’s entrenched self-delusion now comes across as plainly pathetic.
History – A good team does not make
Heritage, tradition, and former glories often get an airing from football fans when trying to argue the case for their own. And yes, despite being a relatively small nation Scotland has woven a rich tapestry of continental successes and produced world renowned players.
The legacies of Dalglish, Law, Baxter and Johnstone hold resonance with many, but over-reminiscing detracts from our current inadequacies; Scotland aren’t the first nation to be a European power, only to descend into relative irrelevance. Hungary can laud Ferenc Puskas & Sandor Kocsis, and the rest of the Magic Magyars that reigned supreme in the 1950’s, but it won’t help end their barren tournament run which currently stretches back to 1986.
Simply, Scotland no longer have a divine right to consider themselves a significant European footballing nation. Previous achievements are a reminder of what was once possible, and are in stark contrast to the Hampden house of horrors against a team that define the term ‘minnows’. While Scotland will never descend to their level of insignificance, it barely makes a difference in terms of witnessing the nation travel to a major finals – neither is likely to achieve it again.
Deficiencies don’t lie in the dugout
George Burley was thoroughly lambasted, with fervour, from all quarters during his ill-fated twenty-two months in charge, but in truth Sir Alex Ferguson would struggle to produce anything close to a functional unit with the players available. The production line has long since dried up; Berti Vogts knew it, and despite an all-too-brief semi-revival under Walter Smith and latterly Alex McLeish, the squad problems that plagued the German eight years ago are still very much in evidence.
Craig Levein can’t shoulder the entire blame for the insipid nature of the display. Yes, his tactics and team selection did not work, but they weren't controversial, untried philosophies; the majority of those watching would have introduced talismanic figure James McFadden into the fray, and similarly would have opted for the strike pairing of Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller that served Rangers so well at club level last season. However, both Boyd and in particular McFadden suffered evenings to forget.
In essence, Scotland's players were incapable of passing to each other. A twenty-yard through ball was attempted once, and when it failed, the default setting of long, diagonal pass was employed, eliminating the need for invention, and allowing lady luck to dole out the reckoning of whether a chance was created. The creativity required to unlock the steadfast, stifling, defensive orientation of perceived-to-be weaker international teams is dying, yet even more worryingly it is no longer cultivated or encouraged, but shelved in favour of grit and the employment of uncompromising individuals. McFadden is as close as Scotland have to a mercurial talent, but once it was established he was off-form, panic set in, confidence seeped away, and the team were devoid of inspiration.
The rapid decline of the domestic competition, the SPL, is directly correlated to the national team’s ineptness. Scottish football is haemorrhaging cash, is driving away supporters with ticket prices disproportionate to the product, and the miserable elimination of its sides from Europe almost exclusively in the first month of the season paints an excruciating picture.
Despite the expatriation of the above-average to England, having a sub-standard league erodes any attempt at tactical advancement and garnering of experience. Scotland are suffering from the accumulation of these concerns destroying their once-marketable, semi-attractive product.
The conveyor belt is broken
Where have the players gone, however? There are so many answers to that particular question, and they have been excruciatingly analysed by the SFA (in their infinite, blue-blazered wisdom), with ‘think-tanks’, and ‘blueprints for the future’ produced ad-nauseam.
But the cause at least in part, can be found on the corner of every street, at the foot of every 'no-ball games' sign, and at the controller port of every games console.
The game at grassroots level is diminishing beyond all recognition. Reports produced recently suggest that the number of 11-a-side teams registered through official channels had fallen by 12% in the last five years. Scotland’s period of discontent, which has saw them absent from major tournaments since 1998, can be partially explained by Vogts being faced with the smallest number of professionals at his disposal than any other boss in the nation’s history prior to his appointment.
School football, which was once a breeding ground for competition and rivalry, has been diluted to the extent where it is almost completely non-competitive and tragically under-funded. Teams become disbanded, leagues fold, and pitches lie empty.
Furthermore, the 'jumpers for goalposts' mindset, in which children would gather on any patch of grass purely in order to exercise their love of the game, is also slowly being eradicated by increasing obesity rates, a general malaise plaguing the nation’s attitudes, and the sophisticated development of computer games providing extra-curricular distractions superior to the parks and street corners where basic skills are developed. The Playstation Generation have spoken - a night in front of a TV screen is preferable to physical exercise.
Where are the next generation of players? Playing FIFA 2010.
Obscurity beckons
But these reasons are well-known, nothing new, but rather than being addressed they appear to be worsening. The fact of the matter remains that a scrambling, scraping, injury-time win against a country whose population is 150 times smaller represents a water-mark, an indelible evening in Scotland’s history.
McManus’ goal cannot be allowed to paper over the cracks of what was a monumental disaster. Humiliation may have been averted as far as the history books will remember, but our descent into international obscurity appears more inevitable than many people would ever have believed.
Stephen McManus leaps. The header soars into the corner of the net. The stands are euphoric. Coach Craig Levein gallops from the dugout to celebrate the winning goal. It seems like another rollercoaster occurrence in the cardiac-inducing existence of a Scotland supporter.
But in all honesty, the delight and celebrations are fundamentally hollow. This wasn’t a Spain, a Czech Republic, or even a Lithuania – this was Liechtenstein.
Liechtenstein.
Ranked 149th in the World, with a population of 35,000, essentially meaning there were more in attendance at Hampden than in the entirety of this tiny principality, one who came with a hair’s breadth of securing a result so shameful it would have made Iran 1978 seem like a fond memory.
Undoubtedly uber-optimists will reflect on ‘the result’, the fact that we currently sit atop Group I, and that Czech Republic’s surprise defeat to Lithuania gives esteem to our dull-as-dishwater draw in Kaunas last Friday.
In truth, these people aren’t football enthusiasts, or indeed have ever truly enjoyed football, because almost every minute of this gutless, primitive, incompetent performance could barely be classified as football. To blindly neglect the particulars and focus on results after something so abject is to circumnavigate the unequivocal truth – that is, we have as much chance of ever gracing a major competition again as our landlocked competitors. Unfortunately, the Liechtensteins, San Marinos and Estonias of this world are well aware of their place in the grand scheme whereas Scotland’s entrenched self-delusion now comes across as plainly pathetic.
History – A good team does not make
Heritage, tradition, and former glories often get an airing from football fans when trying to argue the case for their own. And yes, despite being a relatively small nation Scotland has woven a rich tapestry of continental successes and produced world renowned players.
The legacies of Dalglish, Law, Baxter and Johnstone hold resonance with many, but over-reminiscing detracts from our current inadequacies; Scotland aren’t the first nation to be a European power, only to descend into relative irrelevance. Hungary can laud Ferenc Puskas & Sandor Kocsis, and the rest of the Magic Magyars that reigned supreme in the 1950’s, but it won’t help end their barren tournament run which currently stretches back to 1986.
Players of the quality of Denis Law are a distant memory
Simply, Scotland no longer have a divine right to consider themselves a significant European footballing nation. Previous achievements are a reminder of what was once possible, and are in stark contrast to the Hampden house of horrors against a team that define the term ‘minnows’. While Scotland will never descend to their level of insignificance, it barely makes a difference in terms of witnessing the nation travel to a major finals – neither is likely to achieve it again.
Deficiencies don’t lie in the dugout
George Burley was thoroughly lambasted, with fervour, from all quarters during his ill-fated twenty-two months in charge, but in truth Sir Alex Ferguson would struggle to produce anything close to a functional unit with the players available. The production line has long since dried up; Berti Vogts knew it, and despite an all-too-brief semi-revival under Walter Smith and latterly Alex McLeish, the squad problems that plagued the German eight years ago are still very much in evidence.
Craig Levein can’t shoulder the entire blame for the insipid nature of the display. Yes, his tactics and team selection did not work, but they weren't controversial, untried philosophies; the majority of those watching would have introduced talismanic figure James McFadden into the fray, and similarly would have opted for the strike pairing of Kris Boyd and Kenny Miller that served Rangers so well at club level last season. However, both Boyd and in particular McFadden suffered evenings to forget.
In essence, Scotland's players were incapable of passing to each other. A twenty-yard through ball was attempted once, and when it failed, the default setting of long, diagonal pass was employed, eliminating the need for invention, and allowing lady luck to dole out the reckoning of whether a chance was created. The creativity required to unlock the steadfast, stifling, defensive orientation of perceived-to-be weaker international teams is dying, yet even more worryingly it is no longer cultivated or encouraged, but shelved in favour of grit and the employment of uncompromising individuals. McFadden is as close as Scotland have to a mercurial talent, but once it was established he was off-form, panic set in, confidence seeped away, and the team were devoid of inspiration.
McFadden's inclusion didn't pay off for Craig Levein
The rapid decline of the domestic competition, the SPL, is directly correlated to the national team’s ineptness. Scottish football is haemorrhaging cash, is driving away supporters with ticket prices disproportionate to the product, and the miserable elimination of its sides from Europe almost exclusively in the first month of the season paints an excruciating picture.
Despite the expatriation of the above-average to England, having a sub-standard league erodes any attempt at tactical advancement and garnering of experience. Scotland are suffering from the accumulation of these concerns destroying their once-marketable, semi-attractive product.
The conveyor belt is broken
Where have the players gone, however? There are so many answers to that particular question, and they have been excruciatingly analysed by the SFA (in their infinite, blue-blazered wisdom), with ‘think-tanks’, and ‘blueprints for the future’ produced ad-nauseam.
But the cause at least in part, can be found on the corner of every street, at the foot of every 'no-ball games' sign, and at the controller port of every games console.
The game at grassroots level is diminishing beyond all recognition. Reports produced recently suggest that the number of 11-a-side teams registered through official channels had fallen by 12% in the last five years. Scotland’s period of discontent, which has saw them absent from major tournaments since 1998, can be partially explained by Vogts being faced with the smallest number of professionals at his disposal than any other boss in the nation’s history prior to his appointment.
School football, which was once a breeding ground for competition and rivalry, has been diluted to the extent where it is almost completely non-competitive and tragically under-funded. Teams become disbanded, leagues fold, and pitches lie empty.
Furthermore, the 'jumpers for goalposts' mindset, in which children would gather on any patch of grass purely in order to exercise their love of the game, is also slowly being eradicated by increasing obesity rates, a general malaise plaguing the nation’s attitudes, and the sophisticated development of computer games providing extra-curricular distractions superior to the parks and street corners where basic skills are developed. The Playstation Generation have spoken - a night in front of a TV screen is preferable to physical exercise.
Where are the next generation of players? Playing FIFA 2010.
Obscurity beckons
McManus was saviour, but it shouldn't have been necessary
But these reasons are well-known, nothing new, but rather than being addressed they appear to be worsening. The fact of the matter remains that a scrambling, scraping, injury-time win against a country whose population is 150 times smaller represents a water-mark, an indelible evening in Scotland’s history.
McManus’ goal cannot be allowed to paper over the cracks of what was a monumental disaster. Humiliation may have been averted as far as the history books will remember, but our descent into international obscurity appears more inevitable than many people would ever have believed.
Follow Goal.com on 
. Get the latest football news direct... Check out Goal.com's 
page; be part of the best football fan community in the world!
. Get the latest football news direct... Check out Goal.com's page; be part of the best football fan community in the world!| Sign up with 188BET for a FREE bet up to £25 – Great Prices, Every Game |
|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £100 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up with Paddy Power for a free bet up to £50 |
|
Goal.com Poll
Poll runs from Sep 8, 2010 to Sep 11, 2010
Poll runs from Sep 8, 2010 to Sep 11, 2010
Can Scotland Qualify For Euro 2012?
No
63.82%
Yes
36.18%
Thank you for your comment!
Please enter your name
Please enter your location
Please share your comment!
11 Comments
Advertisement
Inside Goal.Com
-
Capello remains one of the greats of the game
After tasting success wherever he had gone previously, the coach will look upon his time at Wembley as an incomplete job rather than a complete failure
-
Can Suarez repeat Cantona's grand comeback?
The divisive Uruguayan can look to history when he starts against United on Saturday for the first time since receiving an eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra
-
Key battles: Manchester United v Liverpool
The former Reds defender believes that the Uruguayan must put controversy to the back of his mind when his team face the champions
-
The importance of Champions League qualification
The Ruhr side's remarkable run in Europe's elite tournament saw their revenue unexpectedly soar last season, but some teams are structured to depend on such results to survive
-
Cartoon: Capello's managerial merry-go-round
Goal.com cartoonist Omar Momani gives us his unique take on the football news of the day ...
Advertisement
Advertisement
