THIS was always a friendly with hazards for Alex McLeish. And I don’t just mean Eden and his younger brother Thorgan, both of whom took their place in a Belgian line-up which was as high-powered as any spotted in Scotland in recent times. By the time we trailed by four clear goals just before the hour mark, well en route to our biggest home defeat since 1973, it was fairly clear that this one had well and truly blown up in his face. And unlike the summer tour of Peru and Mexico, this one couldn’t be blamed on Stewart Regan.
Of Roberto Martinez’s starting line-up which finished third in Russia – beating England twice on the way – only injured duo Kevin de Bruyne and Marouane Fellaini were posted missing, with Thomas Vermaelen and Axel Witsel on the bench. Going into the match with just one win, and one goal, from his four matches to date, the manager knew fine well that suffering a heavy defeat to the Belgians wasn’t exactly the way to instil confidence amongst the Tartan Army ahead of Monday’s Nations League opener against Albania.
Other managers might have shut up shop, gone with a more agricultural game plan. But this was Scotland the brave, as McLeish decided to try to play the big-name Belgians at their own game. Lining his side up in a 3-5-1-1 shape, the manager put an onus on players capable of getting the ball down and play, not least in a back three of John Souttar, Charlie Mulgrew and Kieran Tierney which is as comfy in possession as any Scotland backline in recent memory. The conclusion was simple: sometimes the easiest way to defend against a team with the attacking abilities of Belgium is by keeping the ball off them.
And at times you could see what Scotland were trying to achieve. The crowd was up of its feet early on when Callum McGregor, picking up pockets of clever space just like he does with Celtic, saw the whites of Thibaut Courtois’ eyes – even if their cheers fell flat when it emerged Leigh Griffiths had been slow getting himself back onside from his starting position behind Belgium’s well-drilled back three. Aston Villa new boy John McGinn, doggedly sticking to his task despite being dragged this way and that by Eden Hazard, ploughed forward to fire in a strike which almost embarrassed Courtois.
But there was just one problem with all this. Even on the rare occasions when we were into double figures for completed passes, we still required to beat one of the best goalkeepers in world from range if we wanted to score a goal. At other times, they weren’t so lucky, as carelessness in possession were ruthlessly punished. To put it another way, attempting to beat players who are bigger, better and stronger than you by outperforming them at their brand of football always seemed a doomed exercise.
There had been much pre-game toing and froing yesterday over the identity of Scotland’s No 1. If Craig Gordon’s presence yesterday suggested all along that the in-form, if controversial, figure of Allan McGregor will start the real stuff against Albania on Monday, that notion only came into clearer focus after events yesterday. The Celtic goalkeeper, endeavouring to play out from the back, rolled a quick ball into John McGinn in a central area, but neither of the two Scots sensed that Tottenham’s Moussa Dembele would be all over it like a rash. McGinn thought he had time to take a touch; Dembele knew otherwise. Two passes later, and Romelu Lukaku almost had enough time to light a cigar before passing the ball into the net from six yard box.
Only the frame of the goal and a couple of decent Gordon saves got us to half-time with no further goals against but we didn’t have to wait long for one: 50 seconds to be precise. As remarkable a little player as Eden Hazard is, the way he got free of Ryan Fraser and lashed a fierce left foot shot through Gordon all seemed too easy.
The malaise was spreading. Now it was time for Charlie Mulgrew to scuff a pass straight to the alert Dembele, and substitute Michy Batshuayi to stick it away with aplomb. Ryan Jack was barely on the field by the time he showed too much of it to Youri Tielemans in midield, allowing the on-loan Valencia man to steer in his second.
Even the scant consolation of a goal late on eluded McLeish last night, even if Courtois had to be alert to defy both Naismith and Johnny Russell. The nation’s heaviest home defeat in 45 years wasn’t exactly the debut as captain which Andy Robertson dreamed of. The only good news last night is that Albania are no Belgium.
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