Netherlands v Scotland 3/28/09 pre/during/post match thread

[YankHibee]

You got your highland Dutch and your lowland Dutch,
your Rotterdam Dutch and your Amsterdam Dutch.
When God made the Scots he didn't make much,
But we're still better than the Goddamn Dutch.

Singing' glorious, victorious!
One keg of beer for the four of us.
Singin' glory be to God that there are no more of us,
'Cause one of us could drink it all alone. Damn near!

Well what's that smell in the evenin' breeze,
the goddam Dutch are makin' Limburger cheese

You may talk about your brookies and your northern pike,
but in Holland they got to fish for the carp from a dike.




Think we're gonna need some luck here boys.

[frasermc]

players dropping like flies as usual.

can't even guestimate a team at the minute.

the possibility of Hutton starting seems to be gathering momentum. if he's fit enough to last for at least 70mins then that's a big +.

[Pedro's greasy do]

Look at the squad! That's a f3cking awful squad!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7963110.stm

[feyenoord_for_life]

You got your highland Dutch and your lowland Dutch,
your Rotterdam Dutch and your Amsterdam Dutch.
When God made the Scots he didn't make much,
But we're still better than the Goddamn Dutch.

Singing' glorious, victorious!
One keg of beer for the four of us.
Singin' glory be to God that there are no more of us,
'Cause one of us could drink it all alone. Damn near!

Well what's that smell in the evenin' breeze,
the goddam Dutch are makin' Limburger cheese

You may talk about your brookies and your northern pike,
but in Holland they got to fish for the carp from a dike.




Think we're gonna need some luck here boys.

I haven't decided if im offended by this yet :) .....

but your best bet to get any points in amsterdam is to sit back and rely on set pieces. As far as I know, we lost Ooijer for the game which means our 2 CBs will be most likely Mathijsen and Marcellis. Mathijsen is a great defender but is terrible when challenged in the air. Marcellis is fantastic but only average height. Our most likely keeper is Stek'berg who is a great shot stopper but very indecisive.

If I were Scottish, I would seriously attempt most attacks with crosses into the box, targeting our CBs aerially and challenging Stek'berg. That is our one big weakness IMO. To be perfectly honest, I think we have you outmatched in 9 of the 11 positions (by quite a bit), so I think you're only option is to sit back, play boring football and look for that one cross that may get to a head.

Otherwise we're gonna rip you apart 2003 style .....

[Awareness]

You got your highland Dutch and your lowland Dutch,
your Rotterdam Dutch and your Amsterdam Dutch.
When God made the Scots he didn't make much,
But we're still better than the Goddamn Dutch.


Just for that I hope we score 2 additional goals for some extra salt on the wound :o

Good luck though:
YouTube - Holland v Scotland Preview

[YankHibee]

I wish I could take credit for the song, but I adapted it from an old school bus song. This is shaping up to be such a bad day, that we might just have a chance based upon the law of decreased expectations.

[Awareness]

This should make you feel a bit better after your bad day.

YouTube - flower of scotland

YouTube - Scotland v Holland 2003

Even if defeat is nigh and things never seem to change, remember that it's not always a bad thing

YouTube - BEAUTIFUL SCOTLAND

[frasermc]

i don't mind McGregor starting over Gordon. i think Gordon is the better keeper but match sharpness counts, even for keepers, and Craig has been warming the bench at Sunderland for too long.

if it's a choice between Berra and Barr to start next to Caldwell then i'd plump for Berra. again, i like Darren Barr but how high can his confidence be at the minute while he's captaining the team that's bottom of the SPL, even after a 4-0 trouncing of ICT.

if Hutton doesn't make it then i suppose we'd need to play Alexander but that's virtually conceding our right flank to the Dutch. Alexander isn't going to get forward anywhere near as much as Hutton could. and Whittaker is a bomb scare as a full back. consider him to play right mid but please not at right back.

Fletcher may be worth a shout up front as he's starting to find a little bit of form but Miller seems to save his best performances for Scotland. big things will be required from Scott Brown and Darren Fletcher if we are to get anything from the game.

[frasermc]

http://www.tennents.com/images/img-worldcup.jpg


;)

[YankHibee]

Never stop dreaming might be a decent title for all future national team threads.

[Gordon EF]

i don't mind McGregor starting over Gordon. i think Gordon is the better keeper but match sharpness counts, even for keepers, and Craig has been warming the bench at Sunderland for too long.

if it's a choice between Berra and Barr to start next to Caldwell then i'd plump for Berra. again, i like Darren Barr but how high can his confidence be at the minute while he's captaining the team that's bottom of the SPL, even after a 4-0 trouncing of ICT.

if Hutton doesn't make it then i suppose we'd need to play Alexander but that's virtually conceding our right flank to the Dutch. Alexander isn't going to get forward anywhere near as much as Hutton could. and Whittaker is a bomb scare as a full back. consider him to play right mid but please not at right back.

Fletcher may be worth a shout up front as he's starting to find a little bit of form but Miller seems to save his best performances for Scotland. big things will be required from Scott Brown and Darren Fletcher if we are to get anything from the game.

I agree 100%. I'm very happy with McGregor as second choice to step in when Gordon't out or lacking match sharpness. I suppose with McManus out it has to be Berra and Caldwell at the back but that's a strong pairing IMO.

Hutton's become a huge player for us but Alexander can hopefully come in and do a solid enough job, like he's done against France. He's not in the same class going forward but I can't see him needing to very much.

It goes without saying that the defence will need to stand up to a very tough test but, as usual for us, it's the midfield that's the key for us. If we get big games from Fletcher, Brown, Ferguson then we've got a chance. If they don't all turn up, we'll have to be lucky.

Come on Scotland!:D

[Pedro's greasy do]

http://www.tennents.com/images/img-worldcup.jpg


;)

Is that tennant's website up again? :)

[Pedro's greasy do]

Just for that I hope we score 2 additional goals for some extra salt on the wound :o

Good luck though:
YouTube - Holland v Scotland Preview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b55W9gJOrxA)

Additional!! :D How many you expecting?

YouTube - Scotland Goals V Italy and France -Gordon McQueen

This video always get me going!

[Scottish_Morton]

Injury List:

Gordon
Hutton
McManus
Weir
Broadfoot
Hartley
Commons
Robson
Thomson
O'Connor
McFadden
Maloney
Boyd

How on earth are we supposed to cope with an injury list like that? Why can't guys like Iwelumo, Rae and Teale be the ones injured :( (not that i'm complaining that broad clubfoot is injured!)

[The Tartan Hoop]

This should make you feel a bit better after your bad day.

YouTube - flower of scotland (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-rplOisb8g)

Aww look she does care!

What if we do pull off a Paris repeat though?? :eek:

[Teso Dos Bichos]

No [R] tag or prefix?

How on earth are we supposed to cope with an injury list like that? Why can't guys like Iwelumo, Rae and Teale be the ones injured :( (not that i'm complaining that broad clubfoot is injured!)

I see no point in playing some of the dross that is left. It is time we started to integrate some youth and get rid of the deadwood. It should have happened ages ago.

[YankHibee]

No [R] tag or prefix?




Nah, the [R] bullshit is annoying. I'll infract anyone too stupid to understand that a thread about a game with "during" in the title might, in fact, refer to that game.

[Pedro's greasy do]

We have a chance to be unofficial world champions tomorrow! :D


http://www.ufwc.co.uk/

[colgate13]

The game will be on espn360 for those in America

[frasermc]

i get the feeling this game is going to go one of two ways.

either the Dutch are going to get off to a flyer and hammer us or we're going to get something out of the game. if we're going to lose then it will be big.

but i don't think we will. the more i think about it, with the amount of call offs, it's got to a point that the players that will take to the field tonight in the Amsterdam ArenA will do so without fear, which will allow them to play with a freedom we don't often see displayed in the national team.


i'm not trying to sound over confident but the nearer the game approaches the more i feel we can take something from it.