Craig Levein explains why his Scotland team must play with just one up front

Published on Saturday 6 March 2010 20:07

ALONG and grinding road is the only path that Craig Levein's Scotland team will travel in the quest for international credibility. He has told us as much since his appointment three months ago. And on Wednesday night, his team showed us. We'd better like the lumpen football that will be served up. It is the only means by which the new Scotland manager considers sustenance rations can be scavenged at this level.

The 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic allowed the Levein era to begin with a scoreline to savour. Since the genuinely historic first Hampden friendly win in 14 years, he has thrown the odd bone to those who crave the teeniest bit of adventure from the team, conceding they were possibly "too negative". Deep down, though, he won't be swallowing that. Levein will consider their very negativity a positive. His way forward is going back to basics and feeding off scraps.

"If we are going to take points off the Czechs (in the forthcoming Euro 2012 campaign] then our defenders are going to have to be really good and our goalkeeper is going to have to be really good," he said. "They are 20 places above us in the team rankings (at 25], so we have to accept they've probably got better individuals than us. The team and the work ethic is worth more than ten places in the rankings. The question is whether they are worth more than 20; and that is what we will find out."

Levein maintained that the country does have flair. He pointed to James McFadden, the "bit of class" Darren Fletcher has added, "the little gem" of Graham Dorrans, the technical ability of Charlie Adam and the fact he'd be "surprised" if there is a better attacking full-back than Alan Hutton. Shaun Maloney and Kris Commons deserve to be mentioned in that company but, at best, one of McFadden, Dorrans, Adam, Maloney and Commons will play in any Levein side. And one striker too. Indeed, after all the verbiage devoted to Kris Boyd's international return, the prospects of him seeing much more game-time under the new man compared to his predecessor George Burley appear slim.

"We have got enough flair to cause people problems, but at this minute the emphasis has to be on the other end of it," Levein said. "You can't say we have these great players, then throw them all in and hope for the best. There has to be a way of thinking, way of playing and the hope that, once we get confidence, these sort of players will be the ones that make the difference for us in game. But the confidence comes from winning games. We need to be hard to beat, dogged, determined. If that way can get us results, it gives us something to cling to; a common purpose. We can't have a system where it's 'right, we just need to get the ball to him and he'll beat four players and score'. Brazil maybe can do that, but we don't have enough flair for that to be our philosophy."

Levein almost bristled at the suggestion that, but for Steven Fletcher breaking a bone in his hand in training on Monday, he would have gone with two strikers. "Everybody's got this thing about two up front," he said. "But look at the majority of international teams, Champions League sides, very few do. It is 4-2-3-1, 4-5-1 or 4-1-4-1. Man United play (Wayne] Rooney on his own. Even if (Dimitar] Berbatov plays, he drops off to pick up the ball. Even Kenny Miller and Kris Boyd this season, Boyd has dropped into far deeper positions than the past. The traditionalists think 4-4-2 is an attacking formation but the way the game has developed, even in that (formation], as soon as a team loses the ball, the strikers turn and a player drops back in to the deepest positions. Those who do think they are 4-4-2 are 4-6 when they lose the ball. I feel, certainly to begin with, until we get a foothold, we must be hard to beat and that involves these other formations."

Levein said he had realised it was important to "rein" himself in and not try to cram his charges with too much information just because he was excited to have players to work with after three months without that luxury.

All of them were given DVDs of all those in the Czech squad. "I was really pleased none were left lying on their seats," he said. The Scotland manager was "surprised" just how little time he had to work with his squad in any practical sense. But he isn't perturbed that he won't do so again until three days before Scotland play in Sweden on 11 August in their second friendly ahead of the Euro 2010 qualifying campaign kicking-off with the double header against Lithuania away and Liechtenstein at home three weeks later.

Refreshingly, Levein doesn't look to build up his part, or exaggerate the problems of settling on a side ahead of these ties. "I've only got two games but they've got loads of games. It is more important they are fit, hungry, desperate come along and play for us," he said. "The Scotland thing has to become important. "

Overriding any other aspect for Levein this past week was victory from a game Scotland didn't do anything eye-catching in except net against opponents who otherwise outplayed them. Levein was asked what, apart from the result, pleased him. His reply was essentially that there was no "apart". The result was what it was all about, what allowed his players, and the country's supporters, "to feel better about ourselves and go away looking forward to next time". And the one beauty of these inordinately long time gaps between international matches is that, when the result is good, the team, and their manager, can bask in it for the next six months.

Performances are remembered for a couple of weeks. Results remain forever. That is the guiding factor in Levein's route one… and only.