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Craig Levein Needs To Consider New Approach to International Football

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One of the positives about travelling to Florida for an end of season international friendly against the United States is that fewer people are going to be awake to watch your fatigued side succumb to a good ol’ fashioned thrashing. Scrambling for positives in the aftermath of Saturday night’s 5-1 defeat in Florida, Craig Levein can at least cling to the fact that some people might be inclined to think that things weren’t quite as bad as the score line suggests.

Asked to sieve through the negatives for a fleck of something shiny and positive, the best Levein could do was: ‘I thought some of the players performed reasonably well but that’s not enough in an 11-man game.’ In mitigation it should be noted that Levein was missing a number of key players including Charlie Adam, Darren Fletcher, James Morrison and Steven Naismith. But Andy Webster toiled alongside Gary Caldwell in central defence and Scott Brown’s main contribution was to get confused and play the Old Firm ned-hardman in skirmishes with Rangers players Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu.

Levein’s admission that the players lacked something in terms of focus may be attributable to the heat and the timing of the match, but it also calls into question his own preparation and enhances the perception that this match was little more than a glorified lads’ holiday. Levein has previously stated his desire to cultivate a club mentality within the squad and in an attempt to achieve this he has convened regular meetings.  How appropriate and achievable this is needs to be questioned. International football is currently struggling to escape from the submission hold of the club game.

The prestige it once had has been overshadowed by the glamour of elite club football and its authority undermined by managers and players consciously belittling it in a number of ways. Presumably Levein thinks creating a club mentality will entice reticent players and improve the collective spirit of the team he puts on the pitch. However, rather than trying to mimic the attributes of club football, managers should be trying to recapture the sense of occasion and pride once associated with international football. Players should be enthused about the international games precisely because it isn’t the perpetual slog of the club game but something special and elevated.

In addition, it must be considered difficult to achieve this mentality for a number of reasons. First would be the relative infrequency of meetings, despite efforts to make them more common. Second would be the high turnover rate of players. It has already been noted that Levein was missing a number of key figures around whom you would expect to build the sense of continuity and familiarity required. Third would be Levein’s stated aim of creating a pool of around 40 players who are able to play for Scotland. Leaving aside the feasibility of this idea, such a scheme is likely to create a sense of division between those selected for the squad and those floating in pointless orbit around it. Finally, and needless to say, contributing to heavy defeats through lack of preparation isn’t particularly helpful either.

Scotland will play another friendly against Australia this August before the qualifying campaign for Brazil 2014 starts with a Hampden double-header against Serbia and Macedonia. Scotland’s group also contains Wales, Croatia and Belgium. With no obvious stand-out team, a sense of optimism has been perceptible since the draw was made. But Scotland could just as easily finish bottom as top. Levein’s relentlessly positive PR campaign has been exposed as containing little of substance and the failings of the last qualifying campaign seem clearer now than they did prior to the game against the United States. The hiatus between now and the next Scotland match will cause some of the negativity to evaporate but it seems obvious that new strategies and approaches are required.

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