On a hot evening in Tblisi, Scotland succumbed to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the steely, determined Georgians. The only goal of the game came in the 37th minute as Valeri Kazaishvili’s well-taken effort nestled in the corner of David Marshall’s goal. A gutless, and tame Scotland performance was epitomised by their failure to register a single shot on target in the match, something that must be corrected for the remaining qualifying fixtures against the minnows of Gibraltar, Poland and world champions Germany; quite the anti-climax.
Scotland’s Euro Hopes Dashed in Georgia?
Kazaishvili, the Vitesse frontman netted 11 times in the Eredivisie last season, indicating that he would be of significant threat to the Scotland back-four, but failing to stick close to his man, Scott Brown allowed the 22-year old to drift to the edge of the box where he connected sweetly with a gentle knock-down. Following the first half strike, the Georgians sat back and only ever threatened the Scot’s final third during relatively harmless counter attacks which were poorly supported by Georgia’s attackers. The cutting edge that Scotland have failed to show in recent times was on show yet again, with Steven Fletcher’s strike rate a real worry having only scored against the non-entity of Gibraltar during this qualifying campaign.
However, despite Scotland’s clear lack of attacking prowess, Georgia’s defence were extremely resolute, down to their dominance in the air. At set pieces, not only was Shaun Maloney’s delivery lacklustre, but Georgia were often first to the ball clearing the danger, due to their superior height. Scotland’s attempts to find a goal of their own were poor and often thwarted by their opponents’ physicality.
Following this defeat, Scotland may have to rely on other results to ensure they have a solid chance of qualification. Having played seven of the ten qualifying fixtures, Scotland will be reliant on Ireland losing to both Germany and Poland, but also the permutations for qualification, require Scotland to beat Poland and Gibraltar, only securing third place in Group D and only assuring themselves a play-off berth, therefore qualification remains unlikely. Hinging on the next three fixtures, Scotland entertain Germany next at Hampden Park, but the likelihood of gaining any points from the world champions remains highly improbable especially considering the performance many travelling Scots endured in Tblisi.
Where do Scotland go from here?
Whilst trying to remain relatively optimistic, a positive result against Germany in the coming week would be excellent for the morale of Scottish football, even a draw would bring Scotland back on level terms with their Irish rivals, should they be defeated at the hands of the Polish.
Gordon Strachan’s approach to the side has been a breath of fresh air since he took up the post in 2013, registering 11 victories in all competitions and friendlies , including hard-fought wins against the likes of Croatia, Poland and Republic of Ireland. Prior to the defeat against Georgia, which has come as a bit of a shock, Scotland had five wins in their last eight matches and just one defeat, to a strong England side. Similarly, Scotland’s European Championships’ Qualification campaign has been much more promising than those in the recent past, with many Scots having expected the team to be out of the running for qualification with three games to go.
An appropriate approach to facing Germany, Poland and Gibraltar must be to play attacking football, that was so evidently absent against Georgia, but remain rigid in defence as players of Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze’s quality can carve out goals from nothing. It is a difficult thing to execute with players who do not train with each other on a regular basis, but Strachan seems to have done something right, having gone unbeaten against rivals Republic of Ireland or Poland in this qualifying campaign, as of yet.
It is clear that using Steven Fletcher as a focal point simply is not resulting in goals being scored, proven by Strachan’s decision to substitute on Leigh Griffiths to give the Sunderland man a partner up top, but to no avail. Against Germany, Ikechi Anya caused them problems, asking questions with his pace, therefore playing the Watford wingman in an advanced role is key. This could be very important considering Germany’s Jonas Hector had a difficult time against Poland’s pacey wingman Jakub ‘Kuba’ Blaszczykowski in their 3-1 victory on Friday night.
Defensive stability and concentration is of paramount importance especially considering the upcoming opposition will be much higher ranked than underdogs Georgia.
On another positive note, Scotland are yet to face Gibraltar again, which is regarded as an easy three points after their 6-1 drubbing in March, whilst closest qualification rivals Ireland have already defeated the minnows twice but only find themselves a point ahead of Scotland in Group D’s play-off spot.
Unlike the other home nations who seem to have one foot in France’s tournament next summer, Scotland face an uphill task to give a nation their first major tournament appearance since the 1998 FIFA World Cup, also hosted in France. Testing times are ahead, but if Scotland can show what they’re capable of and grind out a 1-0 win against Poland, or steal a point or three against a potentially complacent Germany, then the qualification possibility is back in the picture, however a lot remains to be seen in the remaining three matches on the road to Euro 2016.
