Scotland manager Steve Clarke addressed the media following his team’s 5-1 defeat to Germany on the opening night of EURO2024. The match, held at the Allianz Arena in Munich, was a tough start for Scotland. Clarke’s candid reflections provided insight into the team’s performance and their outlook for the remainder of the tournament.
Reflecting on the match, Clarke acknowledged the disparity in performance between the two teams. “Difficult night. Obviously we didn’t play to our standard. I thought the German team were excellent.
“How do you think the mood was? Disappointed. We feel as though we’ve let ourselves down. We’re better than that. We’re a better team than we showed tonight and hopefully we can show that in the next two games.” Clarke emphasised the importance of securing four points from their remaining two fixtures.
When asked if this was his toughest night as Scotland manager, Clarke was pragmatic. “No, I’ve had tough nights before, I’ll get over it.
“I’ve never doubted my players. Never, ever.”
To the supporters, he said: “Keep the faith. See you at the next game,.
The statistical disparity between the two teams was stark, with Germany having 19 shots compared to none for Scotland, despite one goal to their name thanks to German Antonio Rüdiger. Clarke was not overly concerned with these figures. “I tend not to look at statistics. It’s not something I look at straight after a game but someone told me their expected goals was less than 2, I don’t know if that’s true but that’s what I heard so that tells you how clinical the German team were with the chances they got.”
The match took a decisive turn with the third goal and a red card for Ryan Porteous, making it increasingly difficult for Scotland to stay competitive. “The game ran away from us very quickly. Obviously conceding the third with the sending off was always going to make it a difficult night after that, it was about damage limitation and seeing what we can get.”
Regarding changes and improvements, Clarke confirmed that the team would conduct their usual thorough analysis. “Yeah, we’ll go away and analyse the game like we always do. We’ll work on Switzerland and we’ll shape our team to suit that game.“
An incident during the match involving an exchange of words with assistant coach Austin MacPhee was downplayed by Clarke. “Was that a serious question? Yeah we’re fine. I don’t even remember it. It’s emotional on the touchline.”
The decision to leave out Billy Gilmour from the starting eleven was acknowledged as a difficult one. “Of course it was. It would’ve been difficult to leave anybody out of the starting XI,” Clarke admitted. When asked if Gilmour’s absence affected the game, he remained focused on the overall challenge posed by their opponents. “I thought Germany were excellent, we couldn’t get a foothold in the game. I’m not too sure if it would’ve made a difference but we’ll find out.”
As Scotland prepares for their next match against Switzerland, the focus will have to be on learning from the defeat.
You can follow all the post-match reaction, and ongoing action from the tournament, here on FromTheSpot.
