Following Steve Clarke’s resignation as national team head coach, there was a thirst from Scotland fans for change.
Behind the scenes, they got revolution. On the pitch, evolution, in flashes.
Sebastien Pocognoli’s football is – in essence – what he promised it to be. Front-foot, attacking and aggressive.
However, perhaps not in the same way that everyone assumed when a fresh faced 39-year-old walked through the doors of Hampden Park as the Tartan Army’s symbol of the modern progressive game.
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In his first camp as Scotland boss, we were privy to the good (North Macedonia away), the bad (Switzerland at home), and the ugly (Slovenia at home).
Slovenia away was somehow all of the above in one game.
Aside from the convoluted, yet potentially damaging, implications for seeding for Euro 2028 qualification, here are three things we have learned from Pocognoli’s first four matches in charge.
Worries at wing-back
Pocognoli, Steve Clarke, Gordon Strachan and Alex McLeish presented Andy Robertson with a special jersey
The back three is back.
The formation which served predecessor Clarke so well in the early days of his Scotland tenure was Pocognoli’s preferred shape at Monaco and Union Saint-Gilloise – so this comes as no real surprise.
The contention lies not in its deployment, but its functionality.
On paper, it makes sense. The squad has been starved of wingers and feasted on full-backs for almost a decade.
However, with 20-year-old rising star Ben Gannon-Doak as well as Josh McPake and Findlay Curtis all included in the squad, the question was where would Scotland’s creative wide players all fit in.
Findlay Curtis came off the bench at Hampden Park after being recalled from the U21s
Gannon-Doak started both of Scotland’s final two matches at wing-back with captain, and now centurion, Andy Robertson operating on the opposite flank.
With a natural winger on one side and a full-back on the other, the asymmetry of the new shape should, in theory, make Scotland more elastic. Yet a lack of deep runners made them look more rigid.
When the Scotland boss flipped to a back four in the closing stages of Tuesday’s dismal defeat to Slovenia, Curtis and McPake immediately looked more threatening than the players they replaced as out-and-out wingers.
Fluster in the front line
Ryan Christie gave Scotland the lead at Hampden
The only distinct tinkering in Pocognoli’s starting system came in attack.
The new head coach used a 3-5-2 in his first three matches – with McGinn in behind two No 9s – before switching to a 3-4-2-1 against Slovenia as McGinn and Ryan Christie provided support for Oli McBurnie as two No 10s.
While McBurnie, Kieron Bowie and Robbie Ure all impressed at different points throughout the camp, there may only be room for one to start in Scotland’s strongest team going forward.
Oli McBurnie (left) made a Scotland return after eight years
Talisman John McGinn – whose penalty against North Macedonia moved him level with Lawrie Reilly as the country’s fourth-highest scorer of all time – will surely partner returning hero Scott McTominay in that area next month once the Napoli star fully recovers from minor heart surgery.
McTominay and McGinn have been a dangerous double act for the best part of a decade now, so they almost have to start. But will that change be made to suit personnel or suit the team?
The Gilmour Gambit
Billy Gilmour is back in the Scotland squad after missing the World Cup with injury
Central to the Pocognoli press is reimagined Napoli midfielder Billy Gilmour.
The 25-year-old – who earned his 50th cap on Tuesday – has transitioned from quarterback to seeker.
Primarily a deep-lying playmaker with outstanding press-beating qualities, the former Chelsea man was deployed in a more advanced role by his new international manager to use his energy to smother opponents and his exceptional technical prowess to try to unpick blocks instead of breaking lines.
But like all tactical decisions, it’s a gamble.
The 25-year-old earned his 50th Scotland cap against Slovenia
Gilmour’s advanced starting position quite often left Scotland vulnerable to counter-attacks, and the lack of pace in Scotland’s back three was exposed in those transition moments. He is also still expected to be the team’s most important component in the build-up, thus expending a lot energy at both ends of the pitch.
That being said, most Scotland fans would probably still highlight him as their best player from this camp.
Whether he is eventually preferred at six, eight or 10, Gilmour is clearly going to be a key player for the new head coach.
Scotland’s Nations League fixtures
- November 13 – North Macedonia (H) 7.45pm
- November 16 – Switzerland (A) 7.45pm
