Scotland liked to pass the ball as a team, while England’s players preferred to dribble like rugby players with the ball, surrounded by their teammates for protection. This is actually pretty cool concept to me lol
This match had a huge impact because of this very reason.
The English system was to dribble the ball right into the opposition, then your ‘backs’ would try to recover it and repeat the process.
They were highly sceptical of the passing game, and it was only when they were held to a 0-0 by Scotland that they started incorporating it - England saw themselves as markedly superior to Scotland so a neutral result was a bouy to Scottish style and England thought well, if they can do that, what if we did it too?
English football has had periods at the zenith of innovation, but it’s equally had periods of stagnation and stubbornness.
Even later on, once they’d adapted to passing, the English 2-3-5 system was considered the only way to play football. The numbers on shirts still carry that over, because no matter how teams lined up in their formation, the English would just pretend they 1 goalie, 2 backs, 3 half backs, and five forwards.
This match had a huge impact because of this very reason.
The English system was to dribble the ball right into the opposition, then your ‘backs’ would try to recover it and repeat the process.
They were highly sceptical of the passing game, and it was only when they were held to a 0-0 by Scotland that they started incorporating it - England saw themselves as markedly superior to Scotland so a neutral result was a bouy to Scottish style and England thought well, if they can do that, what if we did it too?
English football has had periods at the zenith of innovation, but it’s equally had periods of stagnation and stubbornness.
Even later on, once they’d adapted to passing, the English 2-3-5 system was considered the only way to play football. The numbers on shirts still carry that over, because no matter how teams lined up in their formation, the English would just pretend they 1 goalie, 2 backs, 3 half backs, and five forwards.