Eck:Loss will still give us a lift
Eck: Latest loss lifted me...it was a step up on Haifa horror show
ALEX McLEISH watched Scotland slump to another defeat at a soulless Hampden last night – then insisted the latest beating lifted his spirits. McLeish’s side lost a friendly clash to European champions Portugal but the manager believes his team showed signs of a fightback after suffering 2-1 in Israel last week to throw a spanner in the works of their Nations
League hopes. And the manager believes last night’s performance should be viewed as a shot in the arm ahead of next month’s definitive double-header with the Israelis and Albania.
He said: “It was better tonight. I would say were compact, we played some good football, going forward.
“There wasn’t really an element of taking risks, I think we passed the ball well between the Portuguese at times.
“We had one or two sniffs around the goals without being tremendously dangerous.
“There was a lot for me to take out of the game. After that horrible result it was a wee bit of a lift.”
But McLeish’s record in his second term in office has suffered another black mark. It now reads played eight, lost six, won two.
And he admits he is aware of a growing campaign to oust him from the job after less than a year in charge.
He said: “I’m aware of it. I guess it determines next month, we’ll see.
“We look to try to qualify, we’ll do everything we can to do that next month.
“We’re in that group with Israel and Albania for a reason. It’s because of the rankings. I look at them as cup finals. We want to win the two of them. We look for everyone to be on their A game.
“There are others examples of managers being under the cosh in recent times, Michael O’Neill and Stanislav Cherchesov in the Russian camp and they persevered and came through it. I’ll always have that determination.
“For years every time you lose a game you know there is going to be criticism, you have to take it on the chin and bounce back. It’s about resilience.
“I’ve had a few knocks in the past and also a lot of success. It’s never easy to lose and of course that was a tough weekend but I have to stand up and be brave and take that forward.”
McLeish ripped up his favoured 3-5-2 formation for last night’s showdown, returning to a more familiar 4-2-3-1. But he refused to say if he’ll stick with this strategy next time out in Albania.
He said: “I am not making any decision at this moment, with two games next month we will have long and hard chats about that.
“I know every system there is to know, I’ve coached teams before with three at the back. It’s been quite fashionable recently.
“We want to adapt to different formations. It’s about getting the right balance. But I thought we played well, there was a lot of good football. We had a good game plan, the structure was compact, we pressed when we had a chance to press, we tried to stay high on the goal kicks.
“We shot ourselves in the foot against the two top teams, Belgium and Portugal, with basic errors. That’s the disappointing aspect of it.
“You expect the top teams to cut through you with some majestic skill and leave you trailing but we were the perpetrators of our own mistakes.”