Ally McCoist pinpoints cruical problem Scotland encountered against Germany at Euro 2024
Ally McCoist offered an insight into why Scotland struggled so much against Germany at Euro 2024
Ally McCoist has pinpointed the exact problem Scotland faced against Germany at Euro 2024, as the Tartan Army suffered in the match.
Speaking as a co-commentator on ITV's coverage for the opening game of Euro 2024, McCoist highlighted the crucial Scotland were unable to solve against Germany at the Allianz Arena.
"There's a problem in front of the five and behind the four," McCoist stated.
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Highlighting how Jamal Musiala, Florian Wirtz and Ilkay Gundogan all managed to pick up dangerous positions between Scotland's defence and midfield, McCoist suggested none of the nine players were confident about whose responsibility it was to pick up the dangerous trio.
This came to a head as Musiala put Germany 2-0 ahead, with McCoist going into greater detail about how his concern at the start of the game with John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie was realised.
"There's nobody that picks Wirtz up, that's the problem," McCoist said. "It's a brilliant finish, he redirects it well. I was concerned with Scotland's narrow four in the middle of the park and the wide defenders tucking in was exploited there."
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Scotland headed into the half-time break 3-0 behind and a man down, too, after Ryan Porteous was sent off for serious foul play on Ilkay Gundogan towards the end of the half.
The centre-back flew into the Barcelona midfielder with a dangerous, two-footed challenge, making contact on his ankle. The VAR recommended referee Clement Turpin to review the challenge, which he duly did to compound Scottish misery.
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Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.