Scotland Draw Again To Leave Uphill Battle

by Dugald Skene

Scotland have come away from their Hampden double header with only 2 points garnered from matches against opposition that they should be beating at home.  Serbia and Macedonia aren't the strongest in the group, and with Belgium and Croatia still to come, Scotland have it all to do in Group A.

Shaun Maloney competes for the ball in an

often outgunned Scottish midfield

Many of the questions over the performance, attitude and execution centre on manager Craig Levein. His 4-1-4-1 formation at home is negative, despite his insistence that 3 of the midfield 4 are attack minded players. Lone striker Kenny Miller isn't the chase-anything player he was and clearly struggled. Never blessed with the best first touch, he is rendered redundant when he has his back to goal and only poses any kind of  threat when the ball is played ahead of him.

The strategy to revert to a standard 4-4-2 only when under the cosh seems like immature management, especially after it happened in the first game against Serbia.  Levein will no doubt defend himself by saying that the decision to throw on Jordan Rhodes came 17 minutes earlier than it did on Saturday, but it doesn't defend the decision to play the starting formation to begin with.

Scotland now have time to reflect on their two draws.  The calls to fire Levein may be premature, but he needs to affect the mentality currently in place in the squad and coaching staff.  Some would argue he had his chance during the last qualifying campaign and that this was the time to adopt the lessons learnt then.

Scotland may only be 2 points behind Serbia, Belgium and Croatia, the latter two of which drew on Tuesday night, but there is such an emphasis to win at home particularly against those around you in the group. Put it this way; I'd rather have Macedonia's single point having played two away games than Scotland's brace after two home games.

Not only will Scotland have to rely on their unreliable away form, but more likely on the results of others in the group. Nothing is impossible, and all hope is not lost, but Scotland have got off to a poor start, and they'll need to pick it up if they harbour any aspirations to qualify for Brazil.  Next up, Wales.