Mark Bird

Data, Tactics & Scouting 📊
SPFL | Scotland NT | Scots Abroad 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
PFSA Level 1

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

🇱🇻📝 JJ Williams - Hearts' New No. 9?

The Rhode Island FC centre forward is expected to travel to Edinburgh this week to finalise his move to the Jambos.

I've watched 4 of his games across the last two seasons and here's everything you need to know about the American 👇

[SM Scout @SMScout_]

⚔️ 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐯𝐬 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐚 𝐕𝐢𝐠𝐨 - 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬

Celta Vigo travel to Glasgow on Thursday for a game that will be crucial for both teams chances of progression from the League Phase.

I've scouted Celtic's Europa League opponents, learn more here ⬇️

[Football Park Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @FP_Scotland]

What a day for Scotland U21 striker Barney Stewart!

The former Falkirk striker scored his first West Brom goal as James Morrison’s side from 2-0 behind to win 3-2 over Blackburn Rovers.

Up and running in terms of goals for the Baggies! 👏🏻

[🔢: @FotMob]

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

Scotland's 3-4-1-2

I know it's very early days and we've just played against a top side for 80 mins with 10 men, but there's a few things making me question if this system is a good fit:

1. Centre-Back's Pace

For me if you're going to play this front foot, high-press system you need to have at least some sort of pace across the backline. I think this system can maybe be effective against weaker sides who lack the speed or quality to get the balls in behind, but as seen tonight we can get punished and quite easily to be honest. I'm just unconvinced the personnel fits the philosophy.

2. The Press

Personally I like the sort of modern, high-energy, high pressing systems that are so exciting to watch - but they take time to implement. My worry here is that at international level there's just isn't sufficient time on the training ground to really nail down the tactical nuances required individually to make it as effective as it can be.

3. Ben Gannon-Doak

I have absolutely no doubt Gannon-Doak can put a shift in at wing back when needed, even for his cameo against Slovenia I thought he looked threatening. But you're just not going to get the absolute best out of him shoehorning him into the side and without him, we just have such little pace to really stretch defences.
By playing the wing-backs there's so much onus on Robbo/Hickey/Paterson, none of which have had a particularly stellar start to the season.

Maybe I'm just being too reactionary after a pretty dismal second-half performance, but is this the system to get the best out of our players? I'm yet to be convinced.

Let me know your thoughts below 👇

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

A respectable performance from Scotland given the circumstances.

Their forwards look very sharp but we've limited their chances well.

We need a bit more quality with the final pass cause we're getting into promising positions.

McBurnie been excellent up top himself!

[Scotland National Team @ScotlandNT]

HALF TIME: Scotland 0-1 Switzerland.

The visitors lead at the half, but there’s still plenty to play for tonight.

#SCOSUI

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

Thank you for reading! If you want to read more on how Slovenia set up including in possession, out of possession and transitions, a full analysis can be found here:

https://t.co/E93OJ98i1h

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

🇸🇮 v 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | What to Expect From Slovenia

A new look Scotland squad will travel to Ljubljana to face Slovenia in Sébastien Pocognoli’s first game in charge.

With Slovenia a bit of an unknown quantity, I’ve tried to dissect what Scotland need to do to win.

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

Conclusion

Before summarising what this all means for Scotland, an important caveat to this entire analysis is that this will be Slovenia’s first competitive game in charge under Boštjan Cesar so it’s really difficult to predict how they’ll set up. They did carry on with a 5 at the back formation in their friendlies earlier this year, but could just as easily switch to a back 4 and play two up top. However, I do think a lot of the fundamentals and patterns of play will remain the same.

Being at home against a Scotland side who are very much at the early stages of a revamp, both tactically and personnel wise, I wouldn’t be surprised if Slovenia came out all guns blazing. Similar to how they started against Hungary, they might look to spook Scotland early with their press, harassing Scotland’s backline deep inside their half forcing turnovers. I suspect this won’t last too long as Slovenia naturally drop back into their structure.

Personally if Slovenia do set up this way I would very much be in favour of Scotland sticking with this 4-2-3-1 formation, but with two outright wingers. Not only does this provide a little bit of protection if Slovenia overload the wide areas, but the pace of each winger could be crucial in exploiting spaces left out wide and in behind. Scotland’s triangle in midfield can also overrun their midfield pairing, including finding spaces between the lines.

Most importantly I want to see Scotland play as a unit. Individually to a man, I think Scotland comfortably have more quality across the pitch but that means nothing if we don’t operate as a team. I suspect tactically there will be quite the shift from how Scotland played under Clarke and I want to see the players really buy into it. It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight, but this is a good a time as any to start. Stick to the game plan, stay patient, and take our chances.

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

@Prospect_Radar_ Excited to see how he gets on, i’ve not actually watched much of him tbh!

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

I'm a big fan of this, seems to have got the balance between old and new faces spot on.

If I'm being picky would liked to have seen Calvin Miller in there but can't have many complaints.

Excited to see how Pocognoli can get these boys playing 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Scotland National Team @ScotlandNT]

Sébastien Pocognoli's first Scotland squad 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

➡️ More here: https://t.co/rnrAH89XKo
🎟️ https://t.co/ay7oj2Tsgp

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

@ScotlandNT For anyone looking to see what Luis Binks is all about:

https://t.co/UDLyfXnVaW

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Luis Binks | Scotland's Centre-Half Solution?

With Sébastien Pocognoli set to announce his first Scotland squad tomorrow ahead of the Nations League, Brøndby captain Luis Binks is one I'd really like to see called up.

Here's what type of player he is 👇

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

💡 Conclusion:

I feel over recent years, Scotland have struggled a bit trying to find the right blend of centre halves who are solid outright defenders but also tidy on the ball. For me, Luis Binks is both.

Defensively he's strong, displays good positioning and spatial awareness, but above all excels in the air. With the ball at his feet he shows a good range of passing, likes to get it forward, remains composed in tricky situations, and can drive with the ball at his feet. An exceptionally strong combination of skillsets.

The main thing that can hold him back is his lack of pace and mobility. Particularly against teams with quick forwards who look to get in behind would be my concern, certainly not a deal breaker but something Pocognoli would need to be mindful of. I think I'd probably prefer to see Binks in a back 3, but he doesn't seem to have much of an issue playing in a back 4 with Brøndby that's for sure.

On that, Binks is already successfully operating in a Brøndby system which I suspect some aspects of which could mirror what many expect of Pocognoli's Scotland side, so his familiarity could allow him to seamlessly slot in.

Overall, Luis Binks is an excellent centre-half option to bolster the Scotland defence and is absolutely worthy of a call-up to see what he's all about.

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Luis Binks | Scotland's Centre-Half Solution?

With Sébastien Pocognoli set to announce his first Scotland squad tomorrow ahead of the Nations League, Brøndby captain Luis Binks is one I'd really like to see called up.

Here's what type of player he is 👇

[Mark Bird @MBirdAnalysis]

❓ Reservations:

• Mobility - whilst Binks can get around the pitch no problem, he's not blessed with much pace in a straight line so can be exposed by through balls in behind. This also wasn't helped by how high a line Brøndby were playing from the footage I watched. With how marauding Andy Robertson can be, I'd have some concerns over how well Binks could cover that area left behind. That said, Binks' positional awareness is strong so he knows how to negate his lack of recovery speed as much as possible.

• Discipline - Being an aggressive centre-half, Binks gets carded a lot. Last season he picked up 12 bookings (all competitions) and faced two separate yellow card suspensions. This season after just 7 games, he's already been booked 4 times and is suspended for their game this evening.

• Passing Decision-Making - Binks' range of passing and execution is arguably his greatest strength, but also highlights a real area for development - choosing the right pass at the right time. Binks can be guilty of trying to force passes or playing long diagonals when he doesn't necessarily need to leading to losing possession. It is a tough balance to get right when taking on that role of a ball-playing centre-back but one he'll likely fine tune the more experienced he gets.