Were it not for Stephen McManus' late, late, late goal, Scotland would have ended up with, surely, the worst result in the history of the national team.
In the end, it was the biggest let-off since O.J. Simpson.
Craig Levein tried to pretend afterwards that he hadn't been bricking it, but he is a hopeless liar. His reign as national coach might not have been instantly ended after a draw, but he would have been tarnished with a stain that, simply, would have been almost impossible to wash out. He was condemned to the electric chair, strapped in, braced for the end...but there was a power cut. The execution has been delayed, at least for now. As the former Hearts and Dundee United manager will have realized last night, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
For Scotland were not "good" at all - there was a lack of endeavour, a lack of energy, a lack of determination. While Charlie Nicholas' post-match accusation that "the Old Firm players didn't turn up" might have been harsh, there were few of the starting eleven who could hold their heads high; Allan McGregor had no chance for the Liechtenstein goal, while Darren Fletcher worked himself into the ground - though his end product was not as outstanding as his work ethic. In contrast, Kris Boyd looked disinterested, nervous and...shall we say, chunky? As for James McFadden, his half-time substitution was like putting down a dying pet; Fadders is normally twice the player when representing his country, but he had an absolute shocker, and everyone knew it.
Levein wasn't particularly "good" either, apart from his substitutions. James Morrison brought a dynamism to the final third of the pitch which was woefully absent in the first 45 minutes, and his gamble with Barry Robson at left back paid dividends as well. But these were corrections to mistakes that should never have been made in the first place, as his tactical shape was just bizarre. The world and his aunt knew the visitors would set out in a 4-5-1, keeping their back line narrow. Yet Scotland started with two strikers, neither of whom were a target man (yes, I am fully aware that we don't have one available), and with two wide midfielders - McFadden and Scott Brown - who were never going to be getting to the by-line. In fact, their natural instincts took them infield, into traffic reminiscent of the M8 in Glasgow during rush-hour.
The last time Scotland resoundingly thumped a "diddy" team was back in 2006, when we thwacked the Faroe Islands 6-0; that day, Miller, Boyd and McFadden lined up as a front three, which worked because Kenny and Fadders drifted wide when the ball was on their side of the pitch, and attacked the back post when it was coming in from the opposite flank; that day, the attackers were also supported by the running from midfield of Darren Fletcher and Nigel Quashie (remember him?!). As far as I can see, there are only two ways to play these teams - either with a big target man and a direct style (think England's Crouch, or former Czech international Jan Koller) or by filling the pitch with players who can make runs from deep, or who can pick passes. If the latter system means using only one centre-forward, with three attacking midfielders behind him, then so be it; as Levein found out, there is no point playing two strikers if they get no service. This was a match for players like Graham Dorrans and Charlie Adam, who can play that killer ball. But I can't help feeling the manager was worried about the negative press he would get from playing only one up front against the minnows of Liechtenstein - even though Spain used the same 4-3-3/4-5-1 system against them on Friday that they used in the World Cup.
Anyway, we got away with it, thank heavens - and just as well too, since Lithuania (who looked pretty hopeless against us on Friday) won in the Czech Republic, putting us in a fairly sweet position. It's only two matches in, and Scotland have already played their Get Out Of Jail Free card. We can't afford to need to be lucky again - for the rest of this, we're just going to have to be a hell of a lot better.
L.
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