ORANJE CRUSHED
Lewis: Of course we’re angry, we’re not daft. We know we must improve. Even if you take the positives away you can’t lose 4-0 and be happy
LEWIS FERGUSON admits those frantic final 15 minutes in Amsterdam left the Scotland squad feeling queasy.
But the knot in the stomach will be replaced by fire in the bellies by the time kick-off against Northern Ireland comes on Tuesday night.
Ferguson arrived late on the scene on Friday night and by that stage Holland were pulling the Scots to bits.
A performance that promised so much for 70 minutes unravelled at an alarming rate and a match Steve Clarke’s men dominated for so long could have ended up even worse than a 4-0 hammering.
The warm fuzzy feel-good factor around the national side has turned into a sense of apprehension with the Euros now on the horizon.
Six games without a win, 18 goals conceded and hosts Germany awaiting in the opening fixture that will be watched around the world.
The Holland humbling was hard on the heels of sore ones in friendlies against France and England.
But it was the type of night that provokes a reaction – and Ferguson admits it’s mostly anger. The Bologna star said: “Of course, there should be anger. After any defeat you want to put things right and after this one the fire will be in our bellies for sure.
“We’re at home, there should be a big crowd and it’s up to us now.
“We’re not daft. We all know we need to improve. We can take all the positives away from it but you can’t lose 4-0 and be happy. We can’t forget a scoreline like that.”
Scotland want to take out their frustrations on the Northern Irish and attempt to build some momentum going into the summer, with Gibraltar and Finland also lined up for tune-up clashes.
There’s no need to launch the baby out with the bath water completely though.
Sure, the last quarter of an hour in Holland was a shocker.
But there was plenty to take from the previous period before Scotland lost their shape.
It was all ifs, buts and maybes yet no side can afford to miss the chances Clarke’s players fluffed in the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Not just half-chances either. Lawrence Shankland hitting the bar when clean through was a huge moment but Ryan Christie had a couple of headers, Scott McTominay should have nodded one in and Andy Robertson saw the whites of the keeper’s eyes as well.
Good teams punish rivals when they let them off the hook.
Ferguson said: “For the first hour we played some really good stuff, looked really comfortable, created good chances but didn’t take them.
“They scored a wonder goal but we didn’t deserve to lose by that margin. The scoreline doesn’t reflect the game overall – but the fact is that we shouldn’t be losing by four goals.
“The level’s so high in international football, we’re playing a really good team and if we take those scoring chances then maybe it changes the narrative of the game.
“However, it should have been about know-how. At 2-0 we can’t be as open as we were.
“Some people might say three of the goals came after we had made a few substitutions but we’re a big squad for a reason and everybody needs to chip in.
“Changes are part of the game, they’re
not an excuse. We need to learn from it and we need to be much, much better on Tuesday night.
“We’re going to need everybody on top form and the learning curve has to take off from here if we want to do something in the summer.
“It’s not enough to say that bits of the performance were good.
“We don’t need anyone to tell us this stuff. We can all see it.
“When you come to a place like that against a team like that, the margins get really narrow.
“So we can’t miss that many chances and we can’t give that many goals away, it’s as simple as that.
“It’s difficult coming on when you’re losing but I just want to play for Scotland, so whatever minutes I get are a good thing.”
Ferguson is chomping at the bit for more game time for the national team. His late cameo in Holland wasn’t too much fun but he could get more of a sniff at Hampden this week. Ferguson is a man in top form – with half of Serie A about to spark a bidding war for his services.
The former Aberdeen midfielder is out to impress one manager in particular though. Ferguson said: “I’m enjoying myself in Italy and playing well. The team’s playing at a high level and I just hope that’s enough to get me a chance with my country.
“Now I just need to catch the gaffer’ss eye in training and hopefully get a bigg longer against Northern Ireland.
The scoreline doesn’t reflect the game – but we shouldn’t be losing by four goals
LEWIS FERGUSON ON
HOLLAND HUMBLING
“I’ll just work as hard as I can, give everything I have.”
Ferguson has been banging them in for Bologna this term and that could persuade Clarke to give him a nod with the goals drying up of late.
The former Hamilton kid said: “We all need to chip in with goals, right round the squad. John McGinn and Scott McTominay have been fantastic in terms of goals and assists but we can’t just rely on them.”