Tweet
Re: EUROS thread. Sunday 23rd June 2024.
Damning stats for Scotland taken from the BBC website;-
Scotland had just 17 shots at Euro 2024 in total – since the group stage was introduced in 1980, that is the joint fewest by any nation in a group stage, along with Northern Ireland at Euro 2016.
There have only been two instances at these finals of a team failing to have a shot in the first half of a match and both have been Scotland - against Germany and Hungary."
My knowledge of modern day Scottish football isn't great, but it seems to me that they were over achieving until about fifteen months ago and now they're under achieving. You look at the strongest side Scotland can put out today and the strongest team we could play and, for me, they're better than us - yes. we've been better than them for much of the past dozen years or so, but Scotland have a nucleus of good Premier League players whereas we have Brennan Johnson and Ben Davies (who I reckon Spurs will sell or loan out in the summer) and a lot of Premier League reserves or Championship first teamers.
Historically, Scotland have been better than Wales most of the time and I don't see how any Welsh person can argue that we're more of a football nation than them, yet, somehow, we've only failed to get out of the group stage in one of the four major tournaments we've reached and reached a Quarter Final and a Semi Final (plus a European Championship Quarter Final in 1976). By contrast, Scotland have made it to the major tournament final competitions twelve times (concrete evidence of them being better than us historically) and never made it out of the group stages.
No doubt, Scotland can point to bad luck denying them some times (the World Cups of 74 and 82 spring to mind for me), but it's incredible that they have such a wretched record because they're better than that. I didn't realise that they played in as many as twelve major tournament finals, that's an awful lot and it makes me think that the weight of history had a bit to do with what was really a bit of a no show last night against opponents who were decent, but nothing special at this level.
Damning stats for Scotland taken from the BBC website;-
Scotland had just 17 shots at Euro 2024 in total – since the group stage was introduced in 1980, that is the joint fewest by any nation in a group stage, along with Northern Ireland at Euro 2016.
There have only been two instances at these finals of a team failing to have a shot in the first half of a match and both have been Scotland - against Germany and Hungary."
My knowledge of modern day Scottish football isn't great, but it seems to me that they were over achieving until about fifteen months ago and now they're under achieving. You look at the strongest side Scotland can put out today and the strongest team we could play and, for me, they're better than us - yes. we've been better than them for much of the past dozen years or so, but Scotland have a nucleus of good Premier League players whereas we have Brennan Johnson and Ben Davies (who I reckon Spurs will sell or loan out in the summer) and a lot of Premier League reserves or Championship first teamers.
Historically, Scotland have been better than Wales most of the time and I don't see how any Welsh person can argue that we're more of a football nation than them, yet, somehow, we've only failed to get out of the group stage in one of the four major tournaments we've reached and reached a Quarter Final and a Semi Final (plus a European Championship Quarter Final in 1976). By contrast, Scotland have made it to the major tournament final competitions twelve times (concrete evidence of them being better than us historically) and never made it out of the group stages.
No doubt, Scotland can point to bad luck denying them some times (the World Cups of 74 and 82 spring to mind for me), but it's incredible that they have such a wretched record because they're better than that. I didn't realise that they played in as many as twelve major tournament finals, that's an awful lot and it makes me think that the weight of history had a bit to do with what was really a bit of a no show last night against opponents who were decent, but nothing special at this level.
Comment