Shattered Strachan thinking only of home
LIKE many traipsing out of Hampden, after witnessing most enthralling but ultimately heartbreaking draw between Scotland and England, Gordon Strachan could not wait to get away for a drink. Most will have been reaching for something stronger.
“I’m not in a thinking mood just now,” he admitted. “All my thinking is left out on that touchline. I’m trying my best to be coherent here and maybe it’s not working. People are asking me what I’m thinking but I’m just thinking I want to get home and have a cup of tea.”
It was not the time for analysing the bigger picture. The draw leaves Scotland probably having to win all four of their remaining World Cup qualifying ties if they are to somehow claim second place in Group F, and even that might not be enough to earn a play-off berth. There may be more questions about Strachan’s appetite to continue in the post. But those were evidently matters for another day.
“I’m not even thinking about that at the moment,” he said. “I’m too tired to think about where we’re going and what’s in the future. I just want to get home. That could have been my best result as a manager, and I’ve been lucky enough to get some good ones against Man United and AC Milan and teams like that.”
Strachan was more expansive about the two dead-ball deliveries from Leigh Griffiths that for three fleeting minutes seemed to have earned Scotland what would have been a priceless win.
“I’ve seen Scotland’s best ever free kick – and then I see Scotland’s second-best ever free kick-right after it,” he added. “I can’t think of any better free kicks for Scotland. Going back all the years I’ve been watching Scotland I can remember great goals from the likes of Kenny [Dalglish] and Charlie Nicholas. But for actual strikes,
I can’t. And then to do it again, against the tallest wall you could probably put up in the whole of European football today. He went over the top and then around the side. He’s a great character, you know, a wonderful character. Strange, but wonderful.”
Gareth Southgate also praised Griffiths’ dead-ball accuracy. “There was a mad minute and a half when there was a free-kick we shouldn’t concede and two moments of real quality from Griffiths,” said the England manager. “Great credit to him. Under great pressure, he delivered two outstanding technical finishes.”
Stuart Armstrong was careless with a pass that led to England’s late equaliser through Harry Kane but Strachan was not of a mind to point fingers. “I didn’t even see it but I know fine well he’s done enough to be allowed a mistake,” he added. “He’s been magnificent in two games for us. I don’t blame anybody. I can’t blame anybody for anything.”
Southgate felt that England’s late recovery was highly significant in his side’s ongoing progress. “I think it’s a huge moment for the team,” he said. “The questions around us centre on character and the ability to withstand events that go against you. That’s what we’ve got to show. We have to be a team that are never beaten, that maybe the clock runs out but you never, ever stop. Today we’ve done that and it’s a real quality finish under pressure to get the point. Is it what we wanted when we turned up here? No it isn’t. But the chain of events is remarkable really.”
Southgate felt that his team had been harshly treated at the award of the second of Griffiths’ freekicks, and that Scott Brown should have been sent off for a second late tackle on Dele Alli. Strachan saw it differently: “The only bad tackle in the game was the one on [James] Morrison that forced him off at half-time. But it’s a game, nobody’s hurt, apart from James.”