Match Day Thread England v Scotland 18/06/2021 20:00 ITV

Pressure lifted after our first opening match win at a Euros ever and now the auld enemy visit. They'll be even more desperate to get something having lost their opening game while England can virtually guarantee winning the group and booking a last 16 slot at a half full Wembley with a win.

Shame there can only be 22.5k here for this one but at least it should save our goalposts from being vandalised

In the words of Delia Smith... LET'S BE HAVING YA!

 

It’s coming home.

 

I am going. That is all.

 

Expecting it to be a competitive game, however England's extra quality should mean they prevail.

 

Expecting it to be a competitive game, however England's extra quality should mean they prevail.

 

I've landed a virtual private dining experience, complete with beer tasting for this match. It's being hosted by Matt Le Tiss and a Sky sports presenter. I think there will be an opportunity for Q&A with Matt, so if any of you have any questions you would like me to pose, then fire them over and I'll see how the evening goes!!

 

Ask him about his views on the restrictions lifting being delayed for another month

 

Four Saints who captained England in this match, Watson, Ball, Keegan and Channon.

 

In theory this should go down similar to the cup game against Pompey. Scotland playing at a high pace, in our faces and I wouldn't be surprised if they scored first. Then Englands quality should tell as the game goes on. Not expecting a 4-0, but maybe a 2 or 3-1. Don't think it will be an easy game at all. Scotland need at least a draw but the opportunity to beat England is at the top tier of any Scotsmans wish list, so think it will be a high tempo and fiesty game.

 

So, something along the lines of "Scotland got battered, 4-0 at home (or away)"

 

I have to say that I think that there is nothing for England to fear and Scotland will get swept away. The days of Scotland intimidating England are over and I just don't think they have the quality. There are a sprinkling of premiership players in the squad yet, as a whole, the quality does not seem to be there in depth. The best Scotland can hope for is an enthusiastic performance where they show a bit of grit. The result will never be in doubt and I would have to say that the gap between the two teams has widened considerably since 1996. It is a bit strange saying this having grown up in the 1970s when Scotland were an opponent England respected yet I just think Scottish football has fallen massively behind. Incredible to think just how significant Scotland was is the evolution of the game and how their evolution of tactical playing in the 1880s was so instrumental the modern game to the extent that English clubs actively sought Scottish players in those days because there was such an advantage from employing such forward-thinking players.

I love the history and heritage with this match. It does mirror Saints v Pompey in many respects and it certainly has an edge about it. However, Scotland have increasingly become underdogs. A Scottish win is not unfeasible but it would be one of the biggest shocks in the competition for years. I am not even convinced they are as good as Wales - at the very least they do not have a talisman like Gareth Bale. I could not tell you whotheir best player was.

 

Stuart Armstrong and Che McAdams.

 

Or since the last tournament, when we lost to Iceland? Although I didnt know about the scottish inflence of the late 1800's - interesting to know that.

That said, I think we win this one, but feel Scotland will take the lead.

 

I believe that when Scotland first played England in the 1870s, we were routed because the Scottish employed what was then known as a combination system. Prior to that point, the "formation" has effectively been one goalkeeper with the ten outfield players all serving as forwards in what we would probably call kick and rush. By contrast, teams like Queen's Park had worked out that they could be more effective if the individual players passed the ball to each other and this is how they managed to vanquish England nearly 150 years ago. This ultimately led to football teams adopting formations with particular players being given particular roles on the pitch. Teams quickly worked out that passing the ball amongst each other as opposed to unorganised chaos was far more effective and adopted the style of play that was then popular in Scotland although the game was hugely different from how it eventually became 10-20 years later.

When the first league teams started to form, many of them recruited players from Scotland and, if the teams were associated with the factories, the Scottish players would be recruited for some quite spurious jobs purely to permit them to play for the football team. Teams like Darwen (forget the name of their "star" player from Scotland when the were FA cup runners up) and others in the NW benefited tremendously from recruiting north of the border. In the 1870s / 80's, Scottish footballers were very highly considered and this probably still had some truth until the 1980's. I grew up following football when many English teams had a very strong Scottish contingent but these days it is difficult to recognise half of the Scottish team.

I remember reading a book about the evolution of football formations that Scotland was where the first significant developments took place although it would probably be a bit far-fetched to say they were "world leaders" given the limited distribution of the game at the time. They have really fallen from grace from that point even if you consider Scotland have generally over-achieved given the small size of this nation. I believe that Austria is the country considered to have had the most significant descent in football ranking insofar that this country was considered the most progressive and advanced for football in the 1920s and had effectively taken the initiative from England who subsequently took ages to adapt to more "modern" football ideas which were in circulation after World War One. However, I think that Scotland's role in the early days of the game make them highly important historically.

 

I think Saints should try that tactic of passing the ball to each other sometime…

 

Add to that putting the ball in the opposition netty thing to score a goal.

 

Oh i don't know. I quite like winning the "we played really well, but lost 2-0" cup

 

Think we’ll get a few goals in this one.

 

As long as it's more than the opposition.

 

I just hope we don't play Trippier at left back. Such a waste of a champion league winning left back and Luke Shaw, who has just had his most impressive season at United.

Although I disagree with it, I can live with Sterling over Grealish as there is an argument to be made for pace, but a RB at LB against scotland would be awful