The names may change but challenge is as big as ever
SCOTLAND were acclimatising to a six-hour time difference and the icy March winds of Astana when the capital city changed something the sports scientists couldn’t plan for. Its name.
Hours after the national team arrived in Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of the oil-rich nation for the last 28 years, stepped down. New head of state Qasym-Jomart Toqayev wasted no time in renaming the capital city Nursultan in his predecessor’s honour.
For Scotland’s manager Alex McLeish, it’s the constant changes to the names in his starting Xl which pose the bigger concern.
Five months since a 3-2 win over Israel secured a Nations League play-off place, only five of the starting line-up from that game will play in Kazakhstan.
Goalkeeper Allan McGregor has retired from international football. Callum Paterson and Ryan Fraser are prohibited from playing on the artificial surface of the Astana Arena — if it’s still called that — by their clubs. Andrew Robertson was willing to give it a go until a dental abscess flared up hours before the squad left Glasgow. Ryan Christie and Steven Fletcher are injured, while Kieran Tierney, a ready-made replacement for Robertson, was ruled out yesterday morning.
Recently recovered from a hip injury, the first hint of a problem for the Celtic defender came when he sat out training on Tuesday; a precautionary move quickly taking on a greater significance. Suddenly, a game against the team ranked 117 in the FIFA rankings feels a good deal trickier than it really should.
After one step forward against Israel, McLeish now finds himself battling to prevent Scotland taking two steps back here.
‘It’s not easy,’ sighed the national coach. ‘It’s not easy to maintain that.
‘I think momentum is the key in international football. And, unfortunately, we don’t own the players. The clubs have them and they go through rigorous seasons. It’s nearing the end of the season and some of them have pulled out with injuries or are getting injuries because of over-fatigue and things like that. A lot of that is not in our control. ‘If we could get the momentum of the last two games and that nucleus of those two teams that played, I think we are on the right track. ‘What we do have coming in are players on very good form for their clubs. You see teams rotating. It’s like clubs at the beginning of the season — they play a team for the Premier League and then a team for the cup and you think, on paper, it’s a brilliant team.
‘But without momentum or a bit of rhythm, something isn’t quite right.
‘The good thing about this is a lot of the players have been together now for a while and it’s a very familiar-looking squad — albeit one losing three or four of the players that would probably have figured for us.’
After years of being overlooked and insulted by Scotland bosses, Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie now finds himself centre stage in a significant, competitive qualifier. To his right will be the increasingly important figure of club-mate Scott McKenna. An injury doubt at the weekend, the £7millionrated centre-half is likely to resume his partnership with Hamburg’s David Bates.
‘Getting him in there was really important for us,’ said McLeish (right). ‘Getting a lot of the young players was important for the spread of the whole squad.
‘We haven’t been afraid to bring in other young players and blood them and have a look at them in the set-up — and some of them have come through the system of 18s and 21s.
‘That has stood us in good stead in terms of these games (in Peru and Mexico) last year that we thought might end up as nightmares.’
With so many changes, it is difficult to maintain the forward momentum the manager craves. Attack is another area of concern. Five months ago, McLeish had Leigh Griffiths, Steven Naismith and Steven Fletcher vying for places. None of the main contenders to lead the line today have scored a goal for Scotland.
Accentuating the positive, McLeish insisted: ‘Marc McNulty has seven in eight games or something. Oli McBurnie has 16 goals. So there are goals in these guys.
‘Oli Burke has come to Celtic and he’s got some much-needed confidence back and he was looking really good in training yesterday, so I have a bit of food for thought. We’ve had discussions already with the coaches and we’ve changed our minds a couple of
times on things. We have a big assessment to make.’ Kazakhstan have never reached a major finals. Lying 77 places below Scotland, it’s a game the national team are expected to win. Yet Scotland teams have been here before; travelling to Eastern Europe, fearful of being gobbled up by a side looked upon as minnows. ‘I thought we climbed a big hurdle in the last game against Israel when we played a really attacking game,’ said McLeish. ‘We didn’t blow it at the end, the way that probably a few people would be thinking we would with ten minutes to go.
‘I think that was a tremendous boost to the mentality. And that’s what they have to take into these games.
‘It’s an extremely important game.
‘We are expected to come to places like Kazakhstan and win. We’re ranked above them and that’s the mentality that the players have to get used to.
‘The biggest respect they can pay themselves and the Kazakhs is to play to their top level.
‘We have a great spirit within the squad going into this competition, so let’s hope we do it justice.
‘Let’s believe we can do it justice. I keep using the word momentum, but, if we can build that, we can be a threat to anybody.’
“It’s not easy. But what we do have coming in is players in good form for their clubs”