- 3 months ago
Scotland are out of the 2026 World Cup, having failed to progress from their group with Brazil, Morocco, and Haiti. But while nations like Cape Verde, Egypt, DR Congo, Bosnia, Canada, and South Africa have broken new ground, Steve Clarke's team exit having scored one single goal.Adam Clery looks at their performances across the group to show why, after waiting so long to return, they repeatedly fail to deliver at this level.
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00:00Right, hello everybody, welcome to the ACFC New York City HQ and Scotland are out of the World Cup.
00:08That is not the video I wanted to make, but their third place finish, despite what people have hoped,
00:13has not been enough to see them advance.
00:16And I really think it is worth looking at exactly why that has happened and why it has happened again.
00:23Because in reality, a win against Haiti is good, Brazil was always a free hit,
00:27and they did run Morocco pretty close.
00:30But this team's near total inability to score goals or even look like scoring goals at this World Cup is
00:37what has cost them.
00:39So why then were Cape Verde, South Africa, Egypt, DR Congo, Ecuador,
00:43why were they all able to create these big shocks, to look like they were full of intent,
00:48to give their fans these generational moments in the history of football in that country?
00:55And Scotland, completely unable to.
00:58And why does that feel like such a familiar story?
01:04All right, so the very, very simple way of looking at this is that this is a talented squad of
01:10players.
01:11I think you can go through and find difference makers at really top clubs, in really top leagues, all over
01:16the world.
01:17But the fundamental problem is that this, as a team, is not sufficiently well coached to do anything at this
01:25level of football, as a collective.
01:28And I'll show you what I mean, right?
01:29Because they get away with the big Jack Hendry calamity, but the whole thing starts in this moment here.
01:35He carries the ball between the Brazilian press, looks up to see what his options are ahead of the ball.
01:42And the thing about this exact moment, right, is that I've heard people saying that Scotland had no game plan,
01:48they had no idea what they're doing, and that isn't correct.
01:51Because you can see here, they're trying to invite Brazil on so they can then play through them.
01:57And that is the correct approach, even for Scotland, to have against this Brazil side.
02:02That's quite a good idea.
02:03So I think in the setup of the game, Steve Clarke does get it right.
02:07But the problem is how it plays out in reality, because you've found that gap between the press.
02:12Brazil are so badly organised here.
02:15There's no pressure on the ball, there's huge gaps between their lines.
02:19This is the sort of situation you dream of, so you can then play through it and get them on
02:24the back foot.
02:25But right here, as Jack Hendry needs to release the ball, what are his actual options?
02:32He can't hit Shanklin because you can't see him from there.
02:34And McGinn is showing, but he can't really see him either.
02:38He can see McTominay, but he isn't showing for the ball.
02:41He's looking up the pitch to see if there's any space.
02:44He cannot hit anybody on the right-hand side of the pitch,
02:47because the full-back's right next to him here, instead of offering any width.
02:50And Gannon Doak is offering that width, but he's absolutely miles away and tightly marked.
02:55So literally, the only option he has is to play the short pass into Kenny McClain,
03:00who is not the kind of player who is then going to drop a shoulder, spin the Brazilian marker,
03:06break his ankles and get you up the pitch.
03:08Like, Kenny McClain has his plus points, and that is not one of them.
03:12So what happens is he plays it forwards, but all he can do is play it straight back.
03:17And that is your game plan.
03:19It's the right way to set up against Brazil, and the first step of it,
03:23get a defender unmarked in your own third, that's worked.
03:27But your only option was a three-yard pass that gets immediately returned,
03:31which brings with it the pressure, so you end up turning around, panicking, losing the ball.
03:37And were it not for a very fortunate VAR call, that would have been the game.
03:42And that's 20 minutes in.
03:43And that is why I'm very keen here to make the distinction
03:46between your tactics and your setup and your approach,
03:49which I think Steve Clarke does get right most of the time,
03:52and your coaching, because that is his responsibility as well.
03:55And clearly, when you see stuff like this,
03:57that team is not coached well enough to play at this level.
04:02And if you will humor me for a second here, right,
04:04I'm going to show you how a well-coached team
04:07would at least try and work that situation.
04:11So ideally, Kenny McClain and McTominay,
04:13they would know that in this situation,
04:15they are supposed to synchronize their movements.
04:18The best space available is right here behind Bruno Guimaraes.
04:23And the way to get into it is you keep John McGinn out here,
04:26so Marquinhos is pinned, you don't have him coming to the middle of the pitch,
04:29and you have McTominay be the one who now drops towards this ball.
04:35And if he moves from here to here,
04:37then that would allow Kenny McClain to spin into this space,
04:41and then you bounce the pass straight into McTominay,
04:44who wouldn't even need to look,
04:46he would just know it then goes to his right into this space here.
04:50And then if every single player in your team knows this is about to happen,
04:55because again, coaching,
04:57then Andy Robertson would be away up the left-hand side,
05:00so the right-back here wouldn't be able to do anything.
05:02John McGinn would then be away,
05:04so Marquinhos wouldn't be able to do anything.
05:06Shankland would also get running towards goal,
05:08so Gabriel can't do anything.
05:10And that would leave Brazil on the back foot,
05:13running back towards their own goal,
05:15with Casemiro, who as we know,
05:17is not the most mobile of central midfielders,
05:20having to defend this entire area of space,
05:24while he's running backwards.
05:25Like, that situation,
05:27that is why you play out from the back and try to invite Brazil on,
05:30so you can beat those first two levels of the press,
05:33and then start running at their defence.
05:35But Scotland, we go back to the moment where Jack Hendry looks up
05:39and they should be doing something that will make that happen,
05:41he doesn't have one single option for how to make that happen.
05:46And the thing is, right,
05:47obviously it's nowhere near as easy as I making it sound
05:51by just pointing at things on a still image, right?
05:54Like, Bruno may anticipate getting spun and cut that out,
05:57or Casemiro may read the ball and go in and intercept it.
06:00There's no guarantee that works,
06:02but what we're talking about here is a coachable pattern of attacking play.
06:08And that's the thing you don't see.
06:09And even without making it elaborate,
06:11Kenny McLean could just bounce this ball out to Robertson,
06:14who would be 1v1 on the halfway line,
06:17if that was something they were working on
06:20and he could just do without having to look up.
06:22And I'm not honestly just trying to pile misery on this,
06:24but the worst bit of this whole situation
06:26is because John McGinn has come in field and dragged the defender,
06:30which he's got no reason to do in the first place.
06:33It has actually opened up this little gap here behind the centre-back.
06:39So Lawrence Shankland should be breaking his neck
06:42to make this run in front of his defender
06:45and get into that space.
06:47But he's obviously got no idea
06:48McGinn's going to come short,
06:50so he doesn't know to do it.
06:51And Hendry's not anticipating a run in behind,
06:54so isn't looking to put a ball over the top.
06:56The three of them are all just doing
06:58whatever they feel like they need to do in the moment.
07:01There's no cohesive coaching plan.
07:04And again, just to be totally clear about all of this,
07:07Steve Clarke is a good manager.
07:10He more often than not, I think,
07:12sets Scotland up in the right way to go and get a result.
07:16But the problem, as you're seeing here,
07:18is that it's not about the game plan,
07:20it's how you condition your players
07:22to execute that game plan.
07:24And whenever I watch Scotland at international tournaments,
07:27that is the thing that feels like it's missing.
07:31Like, they've got the right ideas,
07:32they just, as a unit,
07:34have not been told how to make them work.
07:37So, and I don't know, maybe this is just me,
07:39it always feels like when anything does come off the Scotland,
07:43it's the players.
07:44They are the ones who take the team through,
07:46they are the ones who bail the team out.
07:48It's never the team itself
07:50or what it's been instructed to do.
07:52And you can see it in the defending as well,
07:54like, this is the setup ahead of that third goal.
07:56Like, this is your back four here,
07:58and that's fine, I guess, right?
08:00But this is your midfield.
08:02John McGinn is jumping miles out to press the ball,
08:06but only on his own.
08:08Like, Shankland and McTominay,
08:09they're not doing that.
08:11They're both sitting off.
08:12And if you are going to sit off,
08:13the one thing you need to do,
08:15if you are one of the players at the very top of the block
08:18or at the top of the press, right,
08:19is stop access into central areas.
08:23The most important thing you can do
08:25is just occupy a passing lane.
08:27Don't let them play through the middle.
08:29And, like, look at Paqueta here.
08:31He cannot believe that this pass into him,
08:35where he is standing, is on.
08:37So he is absolutely screaming for that ball.
08:40And then, when that pass gets made,
08:42because Scotland have made it so incredibly easy
08:45for Brazil to make it,
08:46it should be one of your midfielders
08:48who then gets tied to him.
08:50But McKenna is sort of forced
08:52to jump and try and pressure the ball
08:55because you can't let him turn.
08:56And then, immediately,
08:58look at the gap that is now left
08:59between Tierney and Hendry.
09:01And somehow, even worse than that, right,
09:04in this exact moment,
09:05just look at Lewis Ferguson
09:07and look at Bruno Guimaraes.
09:09Like, even just the body language.
09:11Which of these two is aware of what is going on?
09:14Who is actively looking to attack the situation
09:17and who is just stood there watching,
09:20trying to work out what to do?
09:21Or I'll put that in an even simpler way, right?
09:23Let's get a nice big version of them here, right?
09:26Which of these two players
09:27looks like they've been coached in this situation
09:31and which one doesn't?
09:33And just like we said,
09:34Scotland needed to do before.
09:35There is a bounce pass.
09:36Paqueta doesn't even want to look
09:38to see that running behind him,
09:39but he still drops it to Casemiro
09:41because he knows what it is the team is trying to do.
09:45And again, right,
09:46Kenny McLean might not get bumped off the ball here.
09:49One of the defenders might make
09:50a brilliant recovery run.
09:52There is no guarantee
09:53what happens here is a goal,
09:55but it is,
09:56and you can say it with me if you like,
09:58a coachable pattern of attacking play.
10:02That is what they look like.
10:03And that is what you don't see from Scotland.
10:06And honestly,
10:06what really frustrates me
10:08is there's no reason whatsoever
10:10Scotland can't be coached like that.
10:13And I know people look at the 11
10:14or whoever ends up playing and go,
10:16well, what do we expect?
10:18We're Scotland.
10:19We just haven't got the quality
10:20throughout the team
10:22to make an impact at this tournament.
10:24But are you honestly telling me
10:26that you think Scott McKenna
10:28and Jack Hendry
10:29are individually
10:31a lower standard of footballer
10:33than Pico Lopez
10:35and Dine
10:36at Cape Verde?
10:37Do you think they're worse players
10:40than those two?
10:41Or do you think
10:42that the reason Cape Verde
10:43were able to defend
10:44really well against Spain
10:45and then took the game to Uruguay
10:47and got a result there
10:49might be because
10:50their patterns of play
10:51in both defence and attack
10:53had been slightly better coached?
10:56This is,
10:57and you will never dissuade me from this,
10:59by the way,
10:59a really talented group of players.
11:02It is full of individuals
11:03who have proven
11:04they can be made
11:06to work effectively
11:07at a really,
11:08really high level of football.
11:10But I could not tell you
11:11for the life of me
11:12what this team's identity
11:15is supposed to be.
11:17They defend,
11:17but they don't do it very deep
11:19and they don't do it particularly well.
11:20They play out from the back,
11:21but not with any options ahead of them
11:23and then make massive mistakes doing so.
11:25They counter-attack,
11:26but they do it without
11:27any real pace up front
11:29and they cross the ball,
11:30but the only target
11:31is really Scott McTominay
11:33and they don't look
11:34to crash the second balls
11:35when he can't win it.
11:37And I know it sounds
11:38like I'm just ragging on him here,
11:39but Steve Clarke does deserve
11:40an enormous amount of credit
11:41for getting Scotland
11:42to all of these tournaments
11:44because,
11:45perversely,
11:46I actually think
11:47some better managers
11:48might not have got
11:49three qualifications
11:50with the same group of players.
11:52But the thing about football,
11:54right,
11:54is that coaching a team
11:56through qualifiers
11:57where you have to just
11:58like improvise.
12:00You've got a rotating pool
12:02of players
12:02constantly coming in
12:03with fitness
12:04and form and injury
12:05and all of this,
12:05right,
12:06and you're playing two games
12:07every couple of months.
12:08That is one of the biggest
12:09challenges in football,
12:10but it's a very,
12:12very different challenge
12:13to managing a tournament
12:14where you can have
12:16all the players you want
12:17in that moment.
12:18They are with you
12:19for a couple of months.
12:20They're locked in.
12:22You basically become
12:22a club side
12:23and you have to impose
12:25some sort of tactical
12:26identity on them
12:28if they're going to
12:29get through games.
12:29And I think he's done
12:30an amazing job
12:31at that bit,
12:32but I'm yet to see
12:33anything that says
12:34he knows what he's doing
12:35with that second bit.
12:38And that's rough.
12:39That's really,
12:40really,
12:40really rough.
12:41But when I watch them,
12:44that's just what it looks like.
12:45And also,
12:46it wouldn't be fair of me
12:47not to point out
12:47this is a really tough group.
12:49Like,
12:49it's the only one
12:50in the World Cup
12:50with two sides
12:51ranked in the top 10.
12:52It was always going to be
12:52a massive challenge,
12:53but to go out
12:54having only scored
12:56one goal
12:57is just,
12:58it's not enough
12:59with the players
13:00you've got at your disposal.
13:01Like,
13:02you can go down swinging,
13:03sure,
13:03but you can't go out
13:04with a whimper.
13:05Like,
13:05at the time of me
13:06recording this,
13:07there is only Curacao
13:08who are also guaranteed
13:10to finish with only one goal.
13:11Like,
13:12and if Panama score
13:13against England,
13:14Scotland will finish
13:15joint bottom
13:16at the World Cup
13:16four goals scored.
13:17And there's,
13:18there's too many good players
13:19in this team
13:20for that to be the case.
13:22It's,
13:22it's frustrating.
13:24I understand why
13:25he looked like that
13:25after the game,
13:26by the way,
13:26even though I am putting
13:28a lot of this on him.
13:29I get it.
13:31I would feel like that as well.
13:32So yes,
13:33there you go.
13:33Scotland are out
13:34of the World Cup.
13:35Not because of bad luck
13:36and not because
13:37they've got a really tough group
13:38and not because
13:39they've got a bad team
13:40of players.
13:40Because at this level,
13:42you are required
13:44to just have
13:45a really clear idea
13:46of what you're doing.
13:47Not just have
13:48the right game plan,
13:49because I do think
13:50Scotland set up
13:50correctly against Morocco
13:51and correctly against Brazil.
13:53But you have to do
13:54the stuff on the
13:55training ground
13:55that gives the players
13:57the ability
13:58to take what you're
13:59telling them to do
14:00and actually execute it.
14:01And that is the disconnect
14:02Scotland have had
14:03under the current regime.
14:04I think
14:05you've got to be careful.
14:07You can't just go
14:07and get some genius
14:08Maverick in after this.
14:10Although yes,
14:10I am available
14:11because you can unravel
14:13a lot of the stuff
14:13that does make them good.
14:14But
14:15you are seeing teams
14:17with worse players
14:18and less resources
14:19than Scotland
14:20be better
14:22on the ball
14:23and off it.
14:24And there's no
14:25there's no excuse.
14:26There's no excuse.
14:27So yes,
14:28there you go.
14:29That's
14:29that's the end
14:30of the Scotland
14:31coverage here for us
14:32at the World Cup.
14:33I really thought
14:34we'd get at least
14:35one knockout game
14:36out of all of that.
14:37But all right,
14:38not to be.
14:39Scottish fans,
14:40please do still subscribe.
14:42There's more stuff
14:43about this
14:44and we will try
14:45and cover more things
14:46and also just
14:46the level of entertainment
14:47is quite good anyway
14:48so knock yourself out.
14:50And if you have
14:50watched this
14:50because you're perverse
14:51and you wanted a laugh
14:53then yes,
14:54we'll be doing
14:54all the England games.
14:55Click the button
14:55down below
14:56and get me across
14:56all the social medias
14:57at Uncleary C-L-E-R-Y.
14:59We're back up to
14:59about 33 degrees
15:01in the apartment today
15:02so this is now
15:03soaked through.
15:04I don't know
15:04if you can tell
15:05but we did fix
15:06the microphone.
15:06Thanks to everyone
15:07who's been telling us
15:08off for that.
15:10I'm going to shower now.
15:14Goodbye.
15:16I'm going to shower now.
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