Originally Posted by
Smartie
Scotland and England are in kind of similar situations when it comes to their managers... both have admirable records at getting as far as they have in recent years, both are particularly negative, and huge questions should be asked as to whether or not they're getting as much as possible out of the squads at their disposal.
Re England and arrogance - if I had a squad of players with that level of ability I'd be pretty bloody arrogant, I'd be expecting to win the tournament and expecting to win it playing well. It's a very vintage English problem though - struggling to accommodate all the best players into a cohesive team and massive loyalty to certain players who may no longer be the best option in their position. Some of the more peripheral players in the squad look to be more likely to fit into a strong, attacking team than some of the starters.
Scotland have many weak positions and a couple of strong ones whereas England - for such a strong squad overall - look to have a couple of real Achilles heels that they're yet to find an adequate solution for. That said, once more they're a bawhair off winning stuff so they're not far away.
A bit like Hibs and Jack Ross, they've got a dilemma - do they show loyalty to the guy who has a track record of getting them so close in the hope he just manages to push them that little bit further or do they gamble on a different approach? Tough one.
