The myth about the speed of the Scottish game

[Hakim Sar]

The old cliches - "it'll take him a while to adapt to the frantic pace of our game", "the directness of our game doesn't suit him" and "it's 100 mph up and at 'em stuff" - all seem to ring hollow about Scottish football nowadays.

Most spl games seem to play out in an agonizingly slow pedestrian pace. There are hardly any players in the whole country who seem able to calculate the right time to play a direct pass (not a punt) and the "in your face" win your battles kinda stuff has really died out.

For all the ills in the Scottish game maybe the abolishment of hard tackling and the modernization of lighter footballs and better pitches that demand a more delicate touch has killed us as much as anything else. Scottish football used to able to hold it's own when pitches were rugged and football was all about physicality and determination.

Don't know if I believe it myself but an interesting thought worth sharing...

[blackpoolhibs]

The old cliches - "it'll take him a while to adapt to the frantic pace of our game", "the directness of our game doesn't suit him" and "it's 100 mph up and at 'em stuff" - all seem to ring hollow about Scottish football nowadays.

Most spl games seem to play out in an agonizingly slow pedestrian pace. There are hardly any players in the whole country who seem able to calculate the right time to play a direct pass (not a punt) and the "in your face" win your battles kinda stuff has really died out.

For all the ills in the Scottish game maybe the abolishment of hard tackling and the modernization of lighter footballs and better pitches that demand a more delicate touch has killed us as much as anything else. Scottish football used to able to hold it's own when pitches were rugged and football was all about physicality and determination.

Don't know if I believe it myself but an interesting thought worth sharing...

You are spot on, anyone with a decent touch who can see a pass will excell in the SPL. And if you can run around a bit you are seen as a candidate for POY these days.

There's little quality on show in the SPL.

[Andy74]

It's more to do with the directness than pace of players or speed of thought.

Take Claros - I'm fairly sure he is used to teams building from the back, passing it through defence, people taking touches, making room and building attacks.

What he needs to get used to is centre halfs lumping it over his head, forwards not controlling it and everyone chasing the loose balls.

Its the pace of the ball getting forward and the resultant treating the ball like a hot tattie of you ever get a touch of it that many players from overseas just can't adapt to.

[Peevemor]

You are spot on, anyone with a decent touch who can see a pass will excell in the SPL. And if you can run around a bit you are seen as a candidate for POY these days.

There's little quality on show in the SPL.

:agree: Especially if they're comfortable using both feet. The time gained makes a huge difference.

[lyonhibs]

Watching SPL football is like watching actual football, just in permanent slow motion.

[fatbloke]

The old cliches - "it'll take him a while to adapt to the frantic pace of our game", "the directness of our game doesn't suit him" and "it's 100 mph up and at 'em stuff" - all seem to ring hollow about Scottish football nowadays.

Most spl games seem to play out in an agonizingly slow pedestrian pace. There are hardly any players in the whole country who seem able to calculate the right time to play a direct pass (not a punt) and the "in your face" win your battles kinda stuff has really died out.

For all the ills in the Scottish game maybe the abolishment of hard tackling and the modernization of lighter footballs and better pitches that demand a more delicate touch has killed us as much as anything else. Scottish football used to able to hold it's own when pitches were rugged and football was all about physicality and determination.

Don't know if I believe it myself but an interesting thought worth sharing...

We have as much pace as a one legged man in an ar5e kicking contest has balance.

[Steve-O]

After watching the slower build up style of the A-League for 4 years and then seeing the SPL in the flesh at xmas just gone, I have concluded that players in the SPL try to do things TOO quickly and the majority are incapable in terms of technique to play that way. Misplaced passes, poor control, lack of movement and overall bad timing were things that seemed glaringly obvious after having not seen games in a while.

Basically no matter where the ball is on the pitch, players are itching to just get the ball forward asap by any means without any thought of just playing a simple ball and picking the right time to attack.

[heretoday]

The game is fast when both teams are taking route one. When they try to pass the ball from the back is when things slow up. In Scotland we don't have players skillful enough to put together lighting fast passing moves like Barca or Man Utd.

[Brebners Bookie]

The game up here IS extremely fast. It's the quality that is lacking.

[blackpoolhibs]

The game up here IS extremely fast. It's the quality that is lacking.

No its not, slow in pace and slow with thought. I will give you lack of quality.