PROMISING DEFENSIVE SIGNS TORN ASUNDER
In the opening 45 minutes at the Luzhniki Stadium, it appeared that Steve Clarke’s famed organisation was sinking into this group of players at last.
They were compact, well-drilled, and while they were sitting very deep as the half wore on, they gave up very little in the way of clear opportunities for Russia despite the hosts having the lion’s share of possession.
All of that good work was undone though 10 minutes after the break as familiar errors came back to haunt the Scots. The opening goal was particularly disappointing as Charlie Mulgrew, who had been excellent to that point, was caught napping wrong side of Artem Dzubya from a corner.
The second was a fantastic strike from Magomed Ozdoyev, but the third was disappointing again as the physical mismatch between Dzubya, Mulgrew and debutant Mikey Devlin was laid bare.
SCOTLAND LACK GRIT IN ADVERSITY
If you wanted a sign of the current confidence levels within this Scotland side, it came as the roof fell in after the opening goal. The Tartan Army are weary of seeing this same movie over and over again, and you even get the feeling that the players know what is coming as soon as they fall behind.
That fragile confidence will be at an all-time low after another this latest tanking, and Clarke has job on his hands to instil some sort of belief into these players again by the time the play-off matches roll around in March, and hopefully the kinder fixtures to come can help do that.
SCOTLAND LACKED QUALITY WHEN IT MATTERED
For all that Scotland found themselves on the wrong end of another demoralising scoreline, they actually had several decent opportunities on the counter-attack when the game was goalless.
Unfortunately, when it came to the final ball, the Scots were found severely wanting in terms of quality.
Robert Snodgrass passed up two great opportunities to play in first Oliver Burke and then Ryan Fraser in during the first half, and Burke missed some good runs by teammates too as he failed to lift his head.
As it was, Scotland were blunt in attack and shambolic at the back in the second half, not a great combination.
OLIVER BURKE’S BEST POSITION REMAINS A MYSTERY
As any Scotland striker will tell you from Kenny Miller onwards, the solo frontman role for the national team can be a lonely task. You can see the logic behind Steve Clarke’s decision to play Burke there from the start in this game - he has pace, and is a decent enough presence - but as Celtic found during his loan spell there last season, he just doesn’t look to be a frontman.
Of course, Clarke’s options were hugely limited, but while Burke seems to have all the tools to be a top-level player, it just hasn’t come together for him in any position so far.
LAWRENCE SHANKLAND SHOWED PROMISE
The Dundee United man came on at the interval after Burke picked up an injury and offered more of a focal point than the man who has gone for tens of millions in his career to date.
Didn’t get a real sniff of a chance to score, but showed there is more to his game than just being a penalty-box predator as he displayed some nice touches and some decent hold-up play.
Will likely get a chance to prove he can score for his country on Sunday, and deserves it after showing some glimpses of promise here.
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