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[Albion] March 2024 - ** 26 ** (yes, that's TWENTY-SIX) Albion players on international duty
- Thread starter AZ Gull
- Start date
Jimmy Come Lately
Registered Loser
I half-listened to the Netherlands-Scotland match on the radio. I haven't even seen highlights so take what follows with an appropriate measure of salt.
It sounded like WeeBG was involved in a lot of what was good about Scotland's play in the first half, when they had most of the possession and applied most of the pressure. (Against the Dutch! This is not like the Scotland teams I'm used to.) I lost count of the number of times I heard "Gilmour keeps it in" and a move that was about to break down started up again. He nearly got an assist when he put in the cross for Scotland's first big chance, a diving header that Flekken apparently did well to tip onto the bar. So it sounds like he was playing quite wide much of the time.
He was also involved in a lot of what Scotland did poorly. It sounded like he got dispossessed or failed to make challenges in midfield that allowed the Netherlands to start their rare counterattacks. He sounded less influential in the second half, although he did have a shot that I believe was on target! (To add to a couple of his usual off-target shots.) But it was a bit of a hopeful punt from distance and the co-commentator was quite distressed that he'd taken it on rather than playing in an unmarked striker for an easier chance. After that he was subbed off and Scotland conceded three goals in short order without him.
In all it sounded not unlike an Albion match when we face a stronger and wilier team, with Scotland making a lot of the play and creating the early chances but failing to convert them, and the Netherlands either scoring or coming close nearly every time they got forward, resulting in a scoreline that felt a bit harsh.
I also half-watched the Scotland-Northern Ireland friendly. (It wasn't an easy game to pay full attention to.)
This was similar to another type of Albion match where we don't have quite enough creativity to break down a team that puts ten men behind the ball. WeeBG was less involved in this one because he was playing a defensive midfield role in front of a back three and was often a long way from the action. When he wasn't just tapping it back to a defender he occasionally tried one of his defence-splitting passes but he was starting from so deep in Scotland's half and the NI defenders were sitting so deep in their half that he could barely even split their midfield. He wasn't the player most at fault for the goal Scotland conceded but he did twice get caught in no man's land when he maybe should have closed an attacker down.
So pretty similar to how he's been playing for us recently: always available, always wanting to be involved, but the quality of ball ranging from the exquisite to the mediocre, and not quite 100% on it defensively.
It sounded like WeeBG was involved in a lot of what was good about Scotland's play in the first half, when they had most of the possession and applied most of the pressure. (Against the Dutch! This is not like the Scotland teams I'm used to.) I lost count of the number of times I heard "Gilmour keeps it in" and a move that was about to break down started up again. He nearly got an assist when he put in the cross for Scotland's first big chance, a diving header that Flekken apparently did well to tip onto the bar. So it sounds like he was playing quite wide much of the time.
He was also involved in a lot of what Scotland did poorly. It sounded like he got dispossessed or failed to make challenges in midfield that allowed the Netherlands to start their rare counterattacks. He sounded less influential in the second half, although he did have a shot that I believe was on target! (To add to a couple of his usual off-target shots.) But it was a bit of a hopeful punt from distance and the co-commentator was quite distressed that he'd taken it on rather than playing in an unmarked striker for an easier chance. After that he was subbed off and Scotland conceded three goals in short order without him.
In all it sounded not unlike an Albion match when we face a stronger and wilier team, with Scotland making a lot of the play and creating the early chances but failing to convert them, and the Netherlands either scoring or coming close nearly every time they got forward, resulting in a scoreline that felt a bit harsh.
I also half-watched the Scotland-Northern Ireland friendly. (It wasn't an easy game to pay full attention to.)
This was similar to another type of Albion match where we don't have quite enough creativity to break down a team that puts ten men behind the ball. WeeBG was less involved in this one because he was playing a defensive midfield role in front of a back three and was often a long way from the action. When he wasn't just tapping it back to a defender he occasionally tried one of his defence-splitting passes but he was starting from so deep in Scotland's half and the NI defenders were sitting so deep in their half that he could barely even split their midfield. He wasn't the player most at fault for the goal Scotland conceded but he did twice get caught in no man's land when he maybe should have closed an attacker down.
So pretty similar to how he's been playing for us recently: always available, always wanting to be involved, but the quality of ball ranging from the exquisite to the mediocre, and not quite 100% on it defensively.