Key events
1 min: Peeeeeeep! Scotland get the ball rolling.
âThis is probably a comment that you hear quite frequently but I was wondering what the general lay of the land is regarding these games being broadcast on a pay-monthly subscription service rather than free to air on the BBC or other terrestrial channel?â muses Ben Haynes. âIâve rather bizarrely enjoyed watching Wales with Welsh commentary on the BBC even though I donât speak any Welsh, but surely thereâs moral obligation to broadcast the home nationsâ games free of charge to all. How did we get to this point?â
Itâs absolutely miserable for the common fan, thatâs for sure â I can accept one subscription-based sports broadcaster but after that my patience wears thin â but this is a humble friendly and itâs hard to argue it needs to be protected for the nation.
Virgil Van Dijk and Andy Robertson, club teammates, exchange pennants and hugs at the coin toss.
Players out, and anthems being sung. With a live military brass band, to boot.
The players are in the tunnel, and the fans enjoying a semi-snazzy light show (the lights are basically just being rapidly turned on and off).
âThoughts on Harvey Barnes declaring for Scotland?â writes Tony Hughes. âI think it would be a great move all around. He likely isnât going to get a call up for England and, at 26, how much longer does he have left to oust a Foden, Grealish or even an Anthony Gordon? Heâd be a shoo-in on the left wing for Scotland. Now he just needs to do it.â
Clearly heâs unlikely to get into Englandâs team in the foreseeable future, so if his goal is to play senior international football and he qualifies for Scotland that would seem to be the obvious conclusion. But does he actually feel Scottish in any way? I completely understand why the coach of an international side would want to pick from the best possible squad but I find it less easy to grasp why someone who is born and raised in one country would want to represent another.
Steve Clarke has a chat. He says heâs picked Lawrence Shankland because he is still learning about the Hearts forwardâs capabilities, whereas he knows his other strikers much better. âItâs a friendly but itâs a competitive friendly,â he says. âWeâve chosen to come here, you can feel the atmosphere right now, itâs going to be a test for us. Weâve got to learn how to play in this kind of environment. Itâs going to be like this in Munich. Thatâs why weâre here.â
So the Dutch midfield three consists of Tijjani Reijnders, who has an unusual number of Js in his name, Mats Wieffer and Gini Wijnaldum, who have six, seven and 90 caps respectively. Wijnaldum has not been in any of the last six Dutch squads but is evidently back in favour. Scotland also switch to a three, though at the back rather than in the middle.
The teams!
The teams have been named, and tonightâs starting XIs look like this:
Netherlands: Flekken, Frimpong, Geertruida, van Dijk, Ake, Wieffer, Wijnaldum, Reijnders, Simons, Depay, Gakpo. Subs: Verbruggen, de Ligt, Schouten, Weghorst, Timber, de Roon, Veerman, Blind, Malen, Koopmeiners, Dumfries, Bizot.
Scotland: Gunn, Tierney, Hendry, Porteous, Robertson, McTominay, Gilmour, Patterson, Christie, McGinn, Shankland. Subs: Kelly, Clark, Gordon, Ralston, Cooper, Dykes, Adams, Souttar, Armstrong, Ferguson, Taylor, McLean.
Referee: Erik Lambrechts (Belgium).
Preamble
Hello world! I noted that when PA Media, the artists formerly known as the Press Association, put out their Netherlands-focused preview for this match last night, shortly after Ronald Koemanâs press conference, they gave it the following headline:
Ronald Koeman says Netherlands ready for âinteresting gameâ against Scotland
It is very hard to think of a headline that more effectively screams âthis is not going to be an interesting gameâ than this one. The Dutch manager spoke at length to the media and this, it appears, was the most exciting thing he said â and specifically that the game would be interesting because âmaybe they will start with five at the back, maybe they will play 4-3-3 as a systemâ and âthey will get the support of the Scottish peopleâ. These are not even very interesting reasons for it to be interesting.
The Dutch will also have an interesting formation, having signalled that they will abandon the two holding midfielders they have favoured of late. âWe are going to play with three midfielders, three real midfielders,â Koeman said. âIn the preparation for the European Championship, we are not going to experiment too much. But Iâve already said it, this team is able to play different systems. I have the reputation of being a cautious coach. But I would like to have the ball, attack, put pressure on the opponent. That is possible with multiple systems.â
So, thereâs that.
Scotland won five games in a row between March and September last year, but have proceded to go five games without a win, though they have drawn their last two. âNetherlands will be a tough match and we want to get back to winning ways and prepare right for this tournament,â Billy Gilmour said yesterday, but perhaps Tuesdayâs home game against Northern Ireland â when Netherlands travel to Germany for a grudge friendly â is when winning ways are more likely to be regained.
Anyway, welcome. Letâs hope itâs, er, interesting.
