Beam me up, Scotty - Rangers & Scotland CM Story

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
Gonna be difficult to qualify out of the group, given that the last match is Spain (I think that's right?).

This could be a short Euros...

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Yes, Spain in the last game. And I'll probably need a win, since Norway will probably beat Hungary. Interesting times.

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
Most unexpected. Sounds like you employed the perfect tactics.

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Yes, perhaps I did. Spain are good, but maybe they're not THAT good, perhaps missing the X factor to get them the goals. Abel Ruiz was their topscorer here, but apart from him it was Asensio, Ferran Torres and left back Balde scoring their goals. In previous FIFA's I've often seen Gerard Moreno lead the line for them (too old now in 2028), and he's hardly a world class striker. And neither is Morata, though I do think he's better than the abuse he's got over the years. He is another case where I sympathize with a player due to online abuse. Anyway, with Spain lacking this 'extra', they weren't too difficult to keep at bay, apart from 4 good saves from Angus Gunn, who was also voted man of the match. France will be harder, with tournament top scorer Laurienté and of course Mbappé, even though he's yet to score a goal. He has provided a couple of assists though.

Scotland getting out of the Group stages? That's unheard of. Think the closest they got to doing so was 1974 despite a win and 2 draws Brazil and Yugoslavia pipped them to next round.

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@thurlow885 wrote:

Scotland getting out of the Group stages? That's unheard of. Think the closest they got to doing so was 1974 despite a win and 2 draws Brazil and Yugoslavia pipped them to next round.

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Haha, yes that's true. Except that it's been the norm in this save so far, finishing 2nd in the group stages of both 2024, 2026 and now 2028.

2024 Euros then saw a quarter final vs France - losing 4-2 with Mbappé both scoring and assisting with his then first goal contributions at the competiton.

2026 provided an easier route, and wins vs Morocco and Ghana sent Scotland to the semi's, only to lose on penalties to England. 

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@CO88LER5 wrote:
Well, Scotland held their own in terms of possession, at least. Very creditable.

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Yes, it was a pretty good game. Obviously France were better with more chances etc., but I matched them where I could, and possession was one of those areas. I do also try to keep possession a lot in games, so I have some kind of control. Otherwise I find it to be too much back and forth, with games producing 7 or 8 goals in them. I think you may be able to relate to that 😉

A wise man once said that possession without penetration was meaningless in football, and I totally agree with that. But in game I find it to be a valuable asset from time to time. The only thing that frustrated me from this game was conceding after 4 minutes one time and 3 minutes the other. I find this to be something that happens quite often, and I would like to improve here and not allow my opponents to score in the aftermath of my own goals.

Hard to expect much more from Scotland. Going out against France again is frustrating but can be expected.

I like to slow the game down and keep possession when possible. My favorite attack is passing the ball until a player makes an unexpected run to get open. Playing on manual,I give the ball away at times but that keeps it realistic.

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@Stlducks4 wrote:

Hard to expect much more from Scotland. Going out against France again is frustrating but can be expected.

I like to slow the game down and keep possession when possible. My favorite attack is passing the ball until a player makes an unexpected run to get open. Playing on manual,I give the ball away at times but that keeps it realistic.

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Absolutely!

Rangers and Brøndby in the same group must be nice for you.

@Danimal5981 wrote:

Rangers and Brøndby in the same group must be nice for you.

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Yes, this is certainly a fun draw for me! Looking forward to this.

Dropping points to Hibs and Motherwell early on isn't ideal, but Celtic haven't had a great start either with 2 defeats so things staying close and yeah I'm ignoring Aberdeen as I expect Celtic to get ahead of them. Unfortunate start in Champions League but looks like it could be an interesting group was Bronby picking up shock win against PSG.

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@thurlow885 wrote:

Dropping points to Hibs and Motherwell early on isn't ideal, but Celtic haven't had a great start either with 2 defeats so things staying close and yeah I'm ignoring Aberdeen as I expect Celtic to get ahead of them. Unfortunate start in Champions League but looks like it could be an interesting group was Bronby picking up shock win against PSG.

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Yes, I did NOT see that coming, haha. Brøndby beating PSG. Fun to see them top a difficult group again, just like in their Champions League debut. I will elaborate shortly.

Must be torn in that next match against Bronby 🤣

Good result against PSG who haven't had a good start in Champions League if Dortmund beat them and Rangers happen to lose to Bronby then it's gonna be a tough task for both you and PSG.

Dropping points against St Johnstone not ideal either but beating Aberdeen may have soften the blow depends if the draw Opened things back up for Celtic. Unfortunate with the injury 

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@thurlow885 wrote:

Must be torn in that next match against Bronby 🤣

Good result against PSG who haven't had a good start in Champions League if Dortmund beat them and Rangers happen to lose to Bronby then it's gonna be a tough task for both you and PSG.

Dropping points against St Johnstone not ideal either but beating Aberdeen may have soften the blow depends if the draw Opened things back up for Celtic. Unfortunate with the injury 

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Haha, yes indeed. Despite my own struggles so far, I will never complain about seeing Brøndby top such a group.