You wait years for your chance at an international tournament, and then you find yourself picking up your rubber duck and running that proverbial early bath even before the half-time whistle.
For Ryan Porteous, sent off for a red card so red it was bordering on purple, could have bid farewell to his Euro 2024 campaign already. If Scotland are to avoid an early exit themselves, Steve Clarke’s side cannot afford another performance in the same post code as this, Germany strolling to a record-breaking curtain-raising victory while barely breaking sweat.
Porteous of course was the man plastered over the back pages – Ilkay Gundogan still feeling the affects of his ankle-high lunge – but it’s fair to say few of his team-mates held their own either in a punishing 5-1 defeat.
A high-class midfield of Scott McTominay, John McGinn and Callum McGregor barely strung a pass together as the home nation dominated from the first minute to the last. McGregor’s Celtic team-mate Anthony Ralston, meanwhile, was given the runaround by the dazzling Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala and co.
And Kris Boyd, pulling no punches in his Scottish Sun column, feels that Ralston is lucky to even be in Clarke’s squad, promoted to the role of first-choice right-back after Everton’s Nathan Patterson and Brentford’s Aaron Hickey were ruled out through injury.
Celtic duo struggle as Germany hammer Scotland
“I believe we need more on the right flank,” says Boyd, the former Rangers and Kilmarnock striker.
“No disrespect to Ralston, who has stayed fit despite not playing a lot for Celtic. But he would be nowhere near this squad if Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson were available.”
This was only Ralston’s tenth cap.
Boyd is hoping that Clarke rings the changes for matchday two, but a lack of alternatives on the right – Bristol City’s Ross McCrorie is perhaps the only natural, like-for-like replacement – certainly limits the manager’s options.
Then again, there is James Forrest to consider, although the Celtic veteren is not exactly a natural in that wing-back role.
“Where I can’t see much change is in the line-up,” adds Boyd. “Simply because Clarke doesn’t have that many options.
“But I would make three — Grant Hanley for the suspended Porteous, Billy Gilmour for Ryan Christie and James Forrest for Anthony Ralston.
“Forrest offers a more attacking option and would bring us up the pitch in a game we must get something from.”
Scotland, up against it already with a confidence-sapping defeat and their goal difference standing at minus-four, next take on a Switzerland side who really impressed during Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Hungary.
Despite that ‘best third place team’ airbag giving teams like Scotland a chance of making the latter stages, Clarke’s team need to claim win against either the Swiss or the Hungarians if they are to avoid departing another tournament with a whimper.
Switzerland next up for Steve Clarke and co
“(I’ve had to) kick a couple of backsides, give some cuddles, make the players understand why the Germany result happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” says Clarke, hoping to restore some confidence amonst his humiliated players (Scottish Sun).
“I’ve spoken to one or two players around the squad whose opinion I value. I had a good chat with a few of them. Just to try to put one or two things in their head about things they maybe didn’t do on the pitch that they should have done.
“Disappointing night (against Germany). We got a lot of things wrong and we’ve got to put it right in the next game,” adds the former Chelsea assistant, feeling that maybe his squad would be better off with a simplified game plan.
“If I could criticise myself, and I always criticise myself. I maybe gave too much information, which maybe clouded the players a bit on the pitch in terms of what we do with the ball and what we do without the ball.
“So we can work on that and we have worked on that a bit this morning. We’ll work on it in the next two days.
“They understand they have let everybody down, they are disappointed, but they know they have to be ready for the next game – that’s the nature of being involved in football.”
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