Scotland have to get serious about Euro 2024 – Robertson-Tierney photo proves it

Germany 5-1 Scotland (Wirtz 10’, Musiala 19’, Havertz 45+1’ pen, Fullkrug 68’, Can 90+3’ | Rudiger OG 87′)

Scotland did not come to Germany to be patted on the head and patronised, so the reaction of the Tartan Army to Antonio Rudiger’s late own goal should cut Steve Clarke every bit as deep as Toni Kroos’s post-match dismissal of his team as a “level below” Group A rivals Hungary.

Rudiger’s inadvertent deflection at 4-0 down was greeted with an ecstatic response from Scotland fans, who spent most of the game in a daze at the timidity of their team’s performance.

But the cheers felt a bit forced, a notch or two down from the ferocity of the wall of noise generated pre-match.

Clarke is a serious football man and the forced jollity was in stark contrast to the genuine pride he has brought back to the national team set-up in his five years in charge.

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Of course the Tartan Army were brilliant guests, patient even as Munich surprisingly struggled to cope with the full scale of their friendly invasion.

The fan park – queue time for beer or a Bratwurst was inexplicably an hour or more – had to close at one point on Friday and the U-bahn failed spectacularly but there was never a hint of trouble or Scottish snarling. Of course there wasn’t, there never is.

Turning up for a singsong and a drink is part of the appeal of travelling but this should also be a serious Scotland side.

They were underdogs in Munich but the pre-tournament consensus was that there was little to separate them, Hungary and Switzerland in the race of the other qualifying spots. There’s no excuse, then, to perform as if simply being involved was an achievement.

That inferiority complex seemed to seep through the whole squad.

Scotland have to ditch small time mentality

Liverpool’s Andy Robertson is a player of genuine class, who could walk into any Scotland side through the ages, but he got the mood so wrong when he fulsomely celebrated Kieran Tierney winning a goal kick on three minutes.

It looked small time and bemused the home fans. As if to emphasise that point Jamal Musiala, the man muscled out in that exchange, proceeded to put an exhibition of his world-class talent on for the rest of the game.

It says something that Clarke exhibited more fighting spirit in a bizarre seven minute post-match press conference than his team had.

Terse answers – he twice bristled at soft ball questions – asking if a reporter if his enquiry about an testy exchange with assistant Austin MacPhee was “serious” – reflected his rage but he should also remember he is talking to the millions back home who had sat through their heaviest tournament defeat.

“We didn’t play to our standard,” he said when asked what had happened.

A gentle full toss from another member of the press pack followed: what was the mood in the dressing room? Clarke responded as if Jeremy Paxman was pressing him. “What do you think the mood was? Disappointed.”

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Where do you go from here? “Four points in the next two games, that’s our target.”

Any message for the Tartan Army, who had brought colour and an insatiable thirst to Munich? “Keep the faith. See you in the next game.” You get the picture.

The beauty of tournament football is that there’s another opportunity in short order and Switzerland in Cologne will be a very different game. But only if Clarke learns his lesson and shrugs off the inferiority complex.

Dropping Billy Gilmour – Clarke insisted his selection “wouldn’t have made a difference” – was done presumably to get more pressure on Germany’s midfield. But it meant Scotland had no-one to hold the ball up and relieve their over-worked defence. He must return against the Swiss.

So must the Scottish press. Perhaps Germany, so impressive from the first whistle, simply conjured too many offensive patterns for a team hit by injuries and in mediocre form.

But there are ways to lose and sitting off, allowing the mesmering Florian Wirtz time and space and the majestic Kroos to play more than a 100 successful passes is not it.

Scotland arrived in Munich with aspirations of escaping the group stages and becoming “legends”.

Without huge improvement they risk returning home next week with bland pleasantries about partying and pints as their only prize.