LEVEL PEGGING
Playing Scott at centre-half wasn’t a square peg... it was an oval peg. It probably wasn’t that far off the mark. It was one solution to get Tierney and Robertson in the same team SAYS STEVE CLARKE
IF only it had just come off exactly as Steve Clarke hoped it would.
If only the Israelis had been convincingly swept aside last time out at Hampden and maybe even put in their place ahead the one that really matters a week tomorrow. Had it all slipped seamlessly into place then Clarke would have left the National Stadium that night credited with a stroke of managerial genius. A major reshuffle of Scotland’s pack that allowed him to deploy all of his cards in one go – and a warning to the opposition of more punishment to follow in the crunch Euro 2020 play-off which is just about upon us. If only. But Clarke must know by now that life as Scotland’s manager is never quite so simple. Instead, after a jittery uninspiring 1-1 draw, he was roundly accused of ramming square pegs into round holes and maybe even setting his entire international project back just when building momentum was critical. Almost one month on, though, Clarke is still not convinced it was the tactical blunder that his critics made it out to be. By deploying Scott McTominay on the right side of a back three, using Kieran Tierney on the left and asking Andy Robertson to operate further up the field as a wing-back, Clarke was effectively ripping up his own Scotland blueprint. And even though he won’t commit to rolling it out again next week, neither was he ruling it out yesterday after naming his squad for the one that really matters.
“I’m not going to give anything away in terms of the nitty gritty of tactics as Israel will want to know what we’re planning,” he said yesterday with a glint of a smile.
“What I would say is that the players and myself were reasonably comfortable with system. The players quite enjoyed the system. “It gave me an opportunity to utilise players in positions that they play for their clubs. The only one would be Scott McTominay who probably hasn’t played right-sided centre-back in a three for Manchester United. He has played it before but that was a long time ago. “If you analyse his performances over the two games they were actually OK. I know he got caught under a cross which gave Israel a big chance in the first game and that’s the one everyone highlights. “But I’ve played with a lot of top centrebacks and let me tell you, all defenders at some point get caught under a cross. “In the second game, because we gave the ball away twice in 30 seconds, it exposed the midfield, exposed the defence and exposed Scott to a through ball. If you take those two moments out his performance wasn’t bad. “The criticism that came his way was a little unfair. I know he can play that position. The more he plays it the better he’ll get.” And yet the accusation of a major tactical misstep has not yet gone away. Clarke’s faint smile quickly disappears.
He said: “If you look at the 11 there weren’t too many square pegs. The one everyone is trying to put it on is Scott, which I accept.
“But it wasn’t a square peg. It was probably an oval peg. It wasn’t so far off the mark.
“For a year I was being asked how I get Kieran and Andy into the same team. Well, that is one solution because Kieran plays left of a back three for Arsenal and Andy plays like a wing-back for Liverpool. So it’s a formation and system that suits them both very well.”
Of course, the dilemma may be removed if Rangers linchpin Ryan Jack is unable to join up for national duty on Sunday night, having pulled up with a damaged calf after the last double-header.
Clarke has named Jack in his squad even though he can’t be sure the Ibrox medics will allow it.
He added: “Obviously I’ve named him in the squad. Rangers have a game on Thursday night and a game on Sunday. If Ryan is not fit to play in either of those then obviously he wouldn’t be fit to come with the national team.
“But he has become a key player for us and his performances in recent matches have been good. If we didn’t have him in the squad it would be a bit of a blow so hopefully he manages to take part in one of the Rangers games.
“I haven’t spoken to Steven Gerrard about him. The medical team is liaising with the Rangers medical team. If there’s an issue with him then I’m sure Rangers will tell us.”
The message here is clear enough. Clarke wants all his best players in the trenches for this big tilt at a major finals – and he counts Jack as one of them even though Scotland’s squad has seldom boasted so many top operators from England’s Premier League.
There’s no doubt this team has come a long way over the last two years. But now comes the biggest step yet.
Clarke nodded: “The squad is evolving and the experience they are picking up is really important. But when we lost heavily to Russia everyone said we had to make sure that was the low point. That we had to build from that.
“Well, we’ve managed to do that by going five games unbeaten and in four of them we were victorious. We’re in a good place and the players understand more about international football the more often they play.
“You can see I’ve tried to keep a consistency in selection in the squad. For this one, 13 of our players will be involved in club games on the Sunday which means we don’t have a lot of preparation time.
“But because we’ve been together in a number of camps with the same players – not one of them hasn’t been with us before – they understand the ideas and the principles of what we are trying to do and understand what it takes to win international matches. And that’s what we have to do next Thursday.”
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