Alex McLeish claimed that Scotland ‘played very well’ in the 3-1 defeat from Portugal.
While it wasn’t as dismal as ‘the game of two halves’ in Israel even the most determined spin doctor would struggle to put a gloss on the friendly defeat from Portugal’s reserve side.
McLeish made six changes to the side that lost 2-1 to Israel with most of them enforced at the back where the three man defensive set up was ditched for a more flexible 4-2-3-1
“I THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD PERFORMANCE.”
Alex McLeish defends Scotland’s display in 3-1 defeat to Portugal.
Match report: https://t.co/aAodlyPMEQ pic.twitter.com/dQgxJJso4d
— The Football Schedule (@UKFootballTimes) October 14, 2018
That was a good performance, if you watched the game I think Scotland played very well
It would be impossible to read too much into the match due to Portugal’s approach to the game- had there been points at stake the margin would probably have been far greater.
While McLeish has given some younger players a chance to play at international level there has been no players emerge that look comfortable at that level with confidence in the new old boss fast disappearing.
A total of seven players withdrew from the original squad but even if all of them had been available it’s highly doubtful that the outcome would have been any different.