Evil Del

Only kidding about the evil.

[Evil Del @evil_del]

@offtheballbbc What percentage of the BBC World Cup coverage will end up being hosted by Kelly Cates?

[Evil Del @evil_del]

Standard American police response to a child getting a selfie.

[Football Talk @FootballTalkHQ]

Shocking scenes in Dallas as a member of the Egypt national team staff was violently pushed by Dallas police while taking a photo with a young fan.

[Evil Del @evil_del]

But...I thought we lived under Sharia Law?

[Politics UK @PolitlcsUK]

🚨 BREAKING: Keir Starmer will introduce emergency legislation tomorrow to let all pubs stay open until 5am for England’s 1am match against Mexico on Monday

[Evil Del @evil_del]

@ScotRail What even is this?

[Roger Bonet "Ruxi" @Ruxiiii4]

Let's talk about Scotland.

Scotland have been lacking certain player profiles in key positions, which limits their playing style. This eventually led Steve Clarke to constantly experiment with different line-ups in an attempt to fit all of his best players into the team, but it ultimately affected the team's overall dynamics.

Scotland have been usually playing on a 4-2-3-1/4-4-2.

In possession, Scotland are not a team that genuinely want to build from the back. They may initially look to play short, but as soon as they face pressure, they tend to go long. The only player capable of consistently receiving under pressure, organising play and progressing the ball was Billy Gilmour. Unfortunately, he got injured before the World Cup.

The second player who could really help Scotland control possession is McGinn. That's why I never understood the decision to use him on the left. McGinn is a specialist in the right half-space, where he excels at receiving between the lines, turning under pressure and protecting the ball. Maximising those situations was one of Scotland's best ways to progress possession. In the preparation game against Japan, some of Scotland's best attacks came from McGinn receiving vertical passes from the right centre-back. At times, Scotland even allowed him to drop deeper to collect the ball.

Neither McLean nor Ferguson are midfielders who naturally receive under pressure and dictate play. Under Thiago Motta, Ferguson thrived with the freedom to drift wide, attack space in behind and roam from an advanced midfield role, while McLean is a much more defensive profile. Because of that, it didn't make much sense to me that Scotland tried to build from the back against Brazil when they lacked midfielders comfortable under pressure and had also moved McGinn away from his best position.

Using McTominay as a central midfielder wasn't the solution either. He's much more effective as a second striker who wins second balls, attacks the box aggressively and makes excellent runs beyond the defence. For me, the logical solution was to maximise the qualities of your two best players by keeping both McGinn and McTominay in their natural roles. Against Morocco, Scotland looked better because McGinn played on the right, but McTominay was once again used in midfield. Overall, there were very few minutes during the tournament when both players occupied their best positions at the same time.

Another major issue is Scotland's lack of players who can attack space in behind or provide genuine pace in the front line. As a result, they struggle to threaten opponents in transition. The game in which Scotland looked most dangerous on the counter was when Tierney played on the left wing, simply because he offered more speed. I also thought Steve Clarke got the line-up and the team's dynamics right in that game. Using Tierney to track Hakimi made sense, and overall it was Scotland's best performance of the tournament.

In general, though, Scotland struggled to get out of their own half. If you can't dominate possession and you also lack a real transition threat, your attacking options become very limited. It's striking that England have several athletic players who can attack large spaces, (Gordon, Rashford and Bellingham, for example...) while Scotland lack those profiles. Scotland looked most dangerous when they delivered crosses into the box for McTominay or from set-piece situations.

I understand Steve Clarke's idea of using Doak to add energy, pace and 1v1 ability on the wing, but I wouldn't have done it at the expense of McGinn's position. The trade-off was simply too great. For me, Doak was better used as an impact substitute.

Another issue is the lack of a complementary centre-forward alongside McTominay. He would benefit from playing with a striker capable of dropping deep, holding up the ball and linking play, creating space for him to attack beyond the defence. One name that stands out is Robbie Ure, currently playing for Sirius in the Allsvenskan. He offers exactly that profile and provides qualities Scotland currently lack. Although he's still young, he has the potential to become Scotland's future number nine.

Defensively, Scotland also lack the profiles needed to clearly define their identity. If they press aggressively and go man-to-man high up the pitch, their back line is exposed. Several goals over the last few months have come from Scotland pressing high but being punished because they lack athleticism at centre-back. On the other hand, if they defend in a low or mid-block, they don't possess enough pace to consistently threaten on the counter.

As a result, Scotland often rely on isolated moments to push higher up the pitch before looking to create chances through crosses or set pieces. At the moment, their most reliable way of reaching the opposition half is by playing long rather than through controlled possession or dangerous transitions. While this approach can occasionally be effective, it is too chaotic and too limited to consistently compete with stronger opponents.

To improve, Scotland need Billy Gilmour available to enhance their ability in possession. They need a link-up striker who complements McTominay's strengths, a left winger capable of attacking large spaces to improve their transition threat, and more athletic centre-backs if they want to become a more proactive defensive team. Above all, they need to keep their best players in their best positions.

If they address some of these issues, Scotland can become a much more competitive side.

[TIME @TIME]

The grass at this year's World Cup has traveled farther than some of the fans.

Half of this year's tournament stadiums were built with artificial turf for football, so FIFA had to bring in natural grass to transform them into soccer pitches. That meant growing custom hybrid grass on farms, trucking it hundreds of miles across multiple states, and maintaining it—sometimes under stadium roofs with artificial lights.

TIME senior sports correspondent Sean Gregory went behind the scenes at Los Angeles Stadium, to see what it takes to prepare one of the world's most important playing surfaces.

[No Context World Cup @NoContextEPL]

An England fan tried to smuggle beer into the World Cup… you’ve got to admire the effort. 🍺😂

[Gordon Hall 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @GH1876]

Seen a lot over the last few days about how the SFA is run like a bowling club. A bunch of dinosaurs with no real progress being made. I don’t think there’s a better example of that than the U21 setup. 🧵

[Evil Del @evil_del]

You’ve got to say well done to the most successful manager ever 👏👏👏

Time for something new:
- Big Ange?
- Moyes?
- McGlynn?
- Naismith?
- McCann/Dodds?

[Scotland National Team @ScotlandNT]

Scotland Men’s Head Coach Steve Clarke has stepped down from his role.

Our most successful National Team Head Coach has called time on his seven years in charge following our participation at the FIFA World Cup 2026.

[Evil Del @evil_del]

The exact opposite of a complete lack of surprise.

[CoveredGeekly @CoveredGeekly]

Edward Norton talking to himself at the game

[Evil Del @evil_del]

@AdamDunn1872 Players who know the league? You mean the Hearts team that nearly won it?

[KM2 archive @KillianM2]

'Bob Says Opportunity Knocks' auditions in Glasgow.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[Mark Nelson @marknelsoncomic]

This is excellent

[Evil Del @evil_del]

@RedHighlander83 I usually agree with @TEnglishSport when he challenges orthodoxy. But he’s factually completely wrong here. There are some very gifted players who have been praised for their technical ability. Those are facts.

[ITV Football @itvfootball]

"They are letting down this country on a massive scale"

@IanWright0 looks at Scotland's football vision and future moving forward... 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

🎙️ @markpougatch

[Dudes Posting Their W’s @DudespostingWs]

The Tartan Army marched through Miami Beach in full Scotland gear. The most impressive thing about this is their ability to do this in the intense Florida summer heat

[Evil Del @evil_del]

This is a terrible idea. Hampden is a tiny embarrassment and not suitable for NFL.

[Herald Sport @HeraldSportScot]

Hampden has been offered up to host NFL matches, after the Tartan Army's takeover of Boston at the World Cup.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has proposed the move for American Football matches in Scotland.

✍️ Exclusive from @mcgowan_stephen.

🔗https://t.co/wlLw5zQtdC

[Scottish Sun Sport @scotsunsport]

Have you ever seen the like? 😂

A kilt wearing, cone sporting, dancing robot cuts shapes with the Tartan Army in Miami 💃