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Team against Malta


borojock

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After reading an article in the Record about their chosen starting 11 against Malta I though i'd would start a new thread on it

My thinking is there not prolific in front of goal 5 goals in the last 13 games. In the last euro campaign group only scored three goals a pen against Bulgaria and two at home against Azerbaijan. So our defence shouldn't be troubled too much so could play around with it a bit and make as attacking as needed

However they don't concede masses with 18 goals in their last 13 games so they let in about 1.5 goals a game so they aren't a Gibraltar in that aspect that combined with our past history of struggling to break down poorer team that pack the back. Last qualifying campaign Italy only beat them one nil both times and Croatia was one nil and two nil so no heavy defeats against them. So my thinking we need to attack them as much as possible

So my formation would be 4 - 1 - 3 - 2

Goalie -     McGregor, but could be any of the three in all real honesty. I just think he's always done well for us and never let us down

RB -          Hutton, not a huge fan of his and don't see him as long term but I don't see first game of qualifiers a time to experiment and I want someone who is going to be able to get up and down the pitch and offer an attacking threat. I don't expect us to be challenged much in defence which is what I see his weakness as so that shouldn't be exposed in this game

LB -          Robertson, gives us great energy up and down the pitch and a great attacking threat which is really important in this game to break them down and an awesome deliver of a cross which is what I would want as much as possible

CB -        Mulgrew, reason why his free kicks from an attacking position. Of the 4 CB choices in my opinion Mulgrew, Martin, Hanley and Berra im picking on who can give us the best attacking threat from freekicks and corners as I would expect any of those 4 should be able to contain Maltas attacking threats

CG -      Berra, reason why he's a threat in the box for attacking corners and free kicks

DM -      Fletcher, experience can sit in front of the back 4 comfortably when Malta attacks can slow there attacks to let others back. Also has the passing range to dictate the game and create attacks upfront. Brown runs forward with the ball to start attacks from my DM Im wanting someone who can spray a pass upfront.

RAM -      Snodgrass, great deliver of the ball can create things good attacking threat also useful with the freekicks and corners

LAM -      Ritchie, attacking threat was close with going for Anya but his pace isn't as important in this match as we hopefully we wont be doing much counter attacking and I want someone who can strike the ball well from outside of the box and causes a goal threat from a bit further and I think Ritchie is best at from our current group of attacking midfielders

CAM -    Morrison, hardest choice was tied between Morrison, Naismith, Bannan, Maloney, McLean, McGinn, Phillips, Gauld (bit out of box but think would suit his game this match) reason why with Morrison plays with Fletch can get back and play in the centre of midfield to help Fletch when Malta attack also has a good strike of the ball and this is a game we want as many shots on their goal as possible as surely there goalie isn't great and for me that is what we have struggled with poorer teams in the past eg Georgia last campaign and the 2008 one

ST -       Rhodes, if he gets the delivery can be deadly in front of goal he is very reliant on getting the delivery in the box and Malta with Lithuania are the two teams which I think would suit Rhodes strengths and game as these 4 games we should have the most crosses and passes into the box. I think he's more of a goal threat then Fletch / Martin / Watt

ST -       Griffiths, would be happy with McCormack both hard workers and venture and work outside of the box which Rhodes doesn't and both clinical and strong finishers and given the chance could get a goal

Obviously i'd only play this formation against Malta wouldn't dream of it against England or Sovakia & this is based on today I appreciate injuries and loss of form may occur between now and Sept but let me know your thoughts I for one after the last two games is looking forward to the new campaign ahead and hoping we can get the second position slot in our group

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22 minutes ago, borojock said:

After reading an article in the Record about their chosen starting 11 against Malta I though i'd would start a new thread on it

My thinking is there not prolific in front of goal 5 goals in the last 13 games. In the last euro campaign group only scored three goals a pen against Bulgaria and two at home against Azerbaijan. So our defence shouldn't be troubled too much so could play around with it a bit and make as attacking as needed

However they don't concede masses with 18 goals in their last 13 games so they let in about 1.5 goals a game so they aren't a Gibraltar in that aspect that combined with our past history of struggling to break down poorer team that pack the back. Last qualifying campaign Italy only beat them one nil both times and Croatia was one nil and two nil so no heavy defeats against them. So my thinking we need to attack them as much as possible

So my formation would be 4 - 1 - 3 - 2

Goalie -     McGregor, but could be any of the three in all real honesty. I just think he's always done well for us and never let us down

RB -          Hutton, not a huge fan of his and don't see him as long term but I don't see first game of qualifiers a time to experiment and I want someone who is going to be able to get up and down the pitch and offer an attacking threat. I don't expect us to be challenged much in defence which is what I see his weakness as so that shouldn't be exposed in this game

LB -          Robertson, gives us great energy up and down the pitch and a great attacking threat which is really important in this game to break them down and an awesome deliver of a cross which is what I would want as much as possible

CB -        Mulgrew, reason why his free kicks from an attacking position. Of the 4 CB choices in my opinion Mulgrew, Martin, Hanley and Berra im picking on who can give us the best attacking threat from freekicks and corners as I would expect any of those 4 should be able to contain Maltas attacking threats

CG -      Berra, reason why he's a threat in the box for attacking corners and free kicks

DM -      Fletcher, experience can sit in front of the back 4 comfortably when Malta attacks can slow there attacks to let others back. Also has the passing range to dictate the game and create attacks upfront. Brown runs forward with the ball to start attacks from my DM Im wanting someone who can spray a pass upfront.

RAM -      Snodgrass, great deliver of the ball can create things good attacking threat also useful with the freekicks and corners

LAM -      Ritchie, attacking threat was close with going for Anya but his pace isn't as important in this match as we hopefully we wont be doing much counter attacking and I want someone who can strike the ball well from outside of the box and causes a goal threat from a bit further and I think Ritchie is best at from our current group of attacking midfielders

CAM -    Morrison, hardest choice was tied between Morrison, Naismith, Bannan, Maloney, McLean, McGinn, Phillips, Gauld (bit out of box but think would suit his game this match) reason why with Morrison plays with Fletch can get back and play in the centre of midfield to help Fletch when Malta attack also has a good strike of the ball and this is a game we want as many shots on their goal as possible as surely there goalie isn't great and for me that is what we have struggled with poorer teams in the past eg Georgia last campaign and the 2008 one

ST -       Rhodes, if he gets the delivery can be deadly in front of goal he is very reliant on getting the delivery in the box and Malta with Lithuania are the two teams which I think would suit Rhodes strengths and game as these 4 games we should have the most crosses and passes into the box. I think he's more of a goal threat then Fletch / Martin / Watt

ST -       Griffiths, would be happy with McCormack both hard workers and venture and work outside of the box which Rhodes doesn't and both clinical and strong finishers and given the chance could get a goal

Obviously i'd only play this formation against Malta wouldn't dream of it against England or Sovakia & this is based on today I appreciate injuries and loss of form may occur between now and Sept but let me know your thoughts I for one after the last two games is looking forward to the new campaign ahead and hoping we can get the second position slot in our group

Has Malta any tall players

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Your comment prompted me to have a quick look on wiki out of interest two most experience strikers 5ft 4 and 5ft 5 and of the 15 / 16 most experienced players only 3 at 6ft so could be a chance from attacking corners and free kicks and I wouldn't expect much danger from theres

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No complains about the team, looks fine to me. Only thing I'd point out is not sure about changing the formation too much. Wouldn't want to take the risk of the players not being able to adapt to it quick enough and having to swap things around during the game leaving us not enough time to score, considering they're fairly solid at the back. Spent the week preparing a different system for Gibraltar at home to only go and concede and get a bit of a fright! However understand you're logic of wanting to have a more attacking line up, maybe it's time we were braver away from home! 

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1 hour ago, MikeyGC said:

No complains about the team, looks fine to me. Only thing I'd point out is not sure about changing the formation too much. Wouldn't want to take the risk of the players not being able to adapt to it quick enough and having to swap things around during the game leaving us not enough time to score, considering they're fairly solid at the back. Spent the week preparing a different system for Gibraltar at home to only go and concede and get a bit of a fright! However understand you're logic of wanting to have a more attacking line up, maybe it's time we were braver away from home!

Completely understand your point and agree on the risk of switching to a new untried system and yes didn't work against Gibraltar lthough I though that formation was wrong, but my worry is we really struggle against lower rank teams who pack the back line and when the onus is on us to attack and create were far too often left wanting and the 4 2 3 1 doesn't work when we need to attack

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9 minutes ago, borojock said:

Completely understand your point and agree on the risk of switching to a new untried system and yes didn't work against Gibraltar lthough I though that formation was wrong, but my worry is we really struggle against lower rank teams who pack the back line and when the onus is on us to attack and create were far too often left wanting and the 4 2 3 1 doesn't work when we need to attack

Yeah, I also agree with your point, we seriously seem to struggle against teams who sit deep pack their defence! Even though they're the lowest seeded team in the group, they're no Gibraltar and will be tough to break down. Praying it's not another Georgia away performance / result, if we play the way we did against Germany in the first game of the last campaign we should be fine, however we'll be expected to attack more. 

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Think Malta will be a much tougher opponent that most people give credit for, as they are one of the tougher pot 6 teams (hardly "cannon fodder like Gibraltar, Andorra or San Marino, but still tricky to beat, especially away from home) and this could maybe play in our favor a little bit (last campaign it was asking a lot for Gibraltar to get a sneaky draw against the likes of Poland and Ireland....whereas Malta maybe holding Slovakia or Slovenia to a draw is very possible.... in their Euro 2016 campaign they only lost 1-0 to Italy home and away, plus drew away to Bulgaria)..... granted we need to beat them first!

Regarding the team, I doubt it will change much from Strachans usual.... None of the new players from the two games showed signs of being able to break into the team, with Snodgrass being back probably be the "new" face in the team from the last campaign.

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11 hours ago, borojock said:

After reading an article in the Record about their chosen starting 11 against Malta I though i'd would start a new thread on it

My thinking is there not prolific in front of goal 5 goals in the last 13 games. In the last euro campaign group only scored three goals a pen against Bulgaria and two at home against Azerbaijan. So our defence shouldn't be troubled too much so could play around with it a bit and make as attacking as needed

However they don't concede masses with 18 goals in their last 13 games so they let in about 1.5 goals a game so they aren't a Gibraltar in that aspect that combined with our past history of struggling to break down poorer team that pack the back. Last qualifying campaign Italy only beat them one nil both times and Croatia was one nil and two nil so no heavy defeats against them. So my thinking we need to attack them as much as possible

So my formation would be 4 - 1 - 3 - 2

Goalie -     McGregor, but could be any of the three in all real honesty. I just think he's always done well for us and never let us down

RB -          Hutton, not a huge fan of his and don't see him as long term but I don't see first game of qualifiers a time to experiment and I want someone who is going to be able to get up and down the pitch and offer an attacking threat. I don't expect us to be challenged much in defence which is what I see his weakness as so that shouldn't be exposed in this game

LB -          Robertson, gives us great energy up and down the pitch and a great attacking threat which is really important in this game to break them down and an awesome deliver of a cross which is what I would want as much as possible

CB -        Mulgrew, reason why his free kicks from an attacking position. Of the 4 CB choices in my opinion Mulgrew, Martin, Hanley and Berra im picking on who can give us the best attacking threat from freekicks and corners as I would expect any of those 4 should be able to contain Maltas attacking threats

CG -      Berra, reason why he's a threat in the box for attacking corners and free kicks

DM -      Fletcher, experience can sit in front of the back 4 comfortably when Malta attacks can slow there attacks to let others back. Also has the passing range to dictate the game and create attacks upfront. Brown runs forward with the ball to start attacks from my DM Im wanting someone who can spray a pass upfront.

RAM -      Snodgrass, great deliver of the ball can create things good attacking threat also useful with the freekicks and corners

LAM -      Ritchie, attacking threat was close with going for Anya but his pace isn't as important in this match as we hopefully we wont be doing much counter attacking and I want someone who can strike the ball well from outside of the box and causes a goal threat from a bit further and I think Ritchie is best at from our current group of attacking midfielders

CAM -    Morrison, hardest choice was tied between Morrison, Naismith, Bannan, Maloney, McLean, McGinn, Phillips, Gauld (bit out of box but think would suit his game this match) reason why with Morrison plays with Fletch can get back and play in the centre of midfield to help Fletch when Malta attack also has a good strike of the ball and this is a game we want as many shots on their goal as possible as surely there goalie isn't great and for me that is what we have struggled with poorer teams in the past eg Georgia last campaign and the 2008 one

ST -       Rhodes, if he gets the delivery can be deadly in front of goal he is very reliant on getting the delivery in the box and Malta with Lithuania are the two teams which I think would suit Rhodes strengths and game as these 4 games we should have the most crosses and passes into the box. I think he's more of a goal threat then Fletch / Martin / Watt

ST -       Griffiths, would be happy with McCormack both hard workers and venture and work outside of the box which Rhodes doesn't and both clinical and strong finishers and given the chance could get a goal

Obviously i'd only play this formation against Malta wouldn't dream of it against England or Sovakia & this is based on today I appreciate injuries and loss of form may occur between now and Sept but let me know your thoughts I for one after the last two games is looking forward to the new campaign ahead and hoping we can get the second position slot in our group

Decent enough team but I reckon even though we are playing a team significantly below us in the rankings Strachan will still line up more defensively. As its unlikely we are playing a warm up match before Malta and there are no friendlies after it the team to start vs. Malta will likely be the same (or similiar) players & formation that would start against Lithuania, Slovakia & England. Hopefully I am wrong mind you!

I would have Russell Martin in ahead of Berra though and your asking for a miracle for Strachan to play Rhodes haha!!!

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My team personal for Malta would be

--------------------------------McGregor

Hutton--------------Martin----------------Hanley----------Robertson

--------------------------McArthur------------Brown---------------------

Snodgrass--------------------------------------------------------Anya

------------------------------------Naismith----------------------------

----------------------------------McCormack-----------------------

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3 hours ago, Geed said:

My team personal for Malta would be

--------------------------------McGregor

Hutton--------------Martin----------------Hanley----------Robertson

--------------------------McArthur------------Brown---------------------

Snodgrass--------------------------------------------------------Anya

------------------------------------Naismith----------------------------

----------------------------------McCormack-----------------------

Swap S. Fletcher for McCormack and that will be the team.

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3 hours ago, Geed said:

My team personal for Malta would be

--------------------------------McGregor

Hutton--------------Martin----------------Hanley----------Robertson

--------------------------McArthur------------Brown---------------------

Snodgrass--------------------------------------------------------Anya

------------------------------------Naismith----------------------------

----------------------------------McCormack-----------------------

 

4 minutes ago, runningtings said:

Swap S. Fletcher for McCormack and that will be the team.

Mulgrew / Morrison / Maloney all missing - I cant see Strachan dropping those 3. Maloney possibly now Snoddy is fit again but I reckon Mulgrew & Morrison would be definite starters if available

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10 minutes ago, runningtings said:

Depends on club game time probably, Maloney was honking the other night and Mulgrew wasn't much better.

There are more options now which will mean he won't play those not getting club games, Hutton excluded as he said.

 

4 minutes ago, Langtonian said:

Expect the same old same old from Strachan

THIS

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My starting line up depending on club form. I expect it to be totally different from Strachan and not much different from most of last campaign.

 

Gordon

Hutton  Martin  Hanley  Robertson

Fletcher Bannan

Snodgrass Fletcher Ritchie

McCormack

 

Robertson in for his pace and attacking outlet.

I don't feel we need both Brown and Fletcher against Malta. Fletcher gets the nod on recent form for me. Bannan in for directness and ability to find a penetrating pass. I'd have him in both Malta and Lithuania games.

Anya has previously struggled against poor teams who sit deep, which I expect Malta to do. His main asset is his pace where he causes problems against a higher line (goals against Germany, Poland and Czech Rep prime example). He's out for this one, with Ritchie for his goal threat and crossing. If Snodgrass can get back to his 2013 form, he's one of the first names on the team sheet. Hopefully after a full pre season he'll be back to his best.

I was impressed in the first 25 mins v Denmark how Fletcher helped join up the midfield and striker. For years our lone striker seems to get totally isolated.

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18 minutes ago, ceudmilefailte said:

This thread is depressing. Looking good to maintain the highest average age for a team in Europe though.

I understand what your saying about the average age and theres two ways of thinking for the next campaign do we do what Iceland have done quite fantastically and get a small group of young players and give them a load of game time together and hope they develop a club like relationship and thrive or do we go with the best players that we have at the moment, granted some are getting on, and hope we can get second place, which with a bit of luck and the right tactics I think we can get.

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8 minutes ago, borojock said:

I understand what your saying about the average age and theres two ways of thinking for the next campaign do we do what Iceland have done quite fantastically and get a small group of young players and give them a load of game time together and hope they develop a club like relationship and thrive or do we go with the best players that we have at the moment, granted some are getting on, and hope we can get second place, which with a bit of luck and the right tactics I think we can get.

Don't know what Iceland do, but a population of 350,000 and they can send a squad of 25 players who's name ends in son to France and nearly Brazil. What ever it is we should try it.

Have said in the past this sort of game was right for Kris Boyd Jordan Rhodes Lee Griffiths etc as they can only score against poor opposition. At least the normal poor opposition is trying to take points . Cant see Griffiths or Rhodes getting the sort of chances they score from here.

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