Mac attack
James McArthur has shone at Premier League level, but last night’s scorer says Scotland have yet to see the best of him. He is desperate to put that right, hears Graeme McGarry
BY almost any standard, and certainly by those of a Scottish footballer over the past 20 years, James McArthur’s career has been a resounding success story. His transfer, and that of James McCarthy, from Hamilton Academical to Wigan Athletic kept his first club in clover for more than a season or two.
There is a lounge named after the duo at what is the now rather unromantically named Superseal Stadium, and the walls are adorned with pictures of the pair during their formative years in Lanarkshire.
McArthur’s time at the DW Stadium coincided with the best of Wigan’s recent history, playing at the top level of English football for three seasons and winning the FA Cup, before their annual valiant battle to avoid the drop finally ended in failure.
While Wigan have yet to resurface in the Premier League, McArthur’s quality meant he was only denied the glitz and glamour for one season before Crystal Palace succeeded where last term’s champions Leicester City failed, prising him away to London in exchange for £7 million.
There, he is currently keeping French international Yohan Cabaye out of the side as he stars in the Eagles’ midfield, and yet, there is still something niggling away at the back of his mind.
Despite having a goal at Hampden against world champions Germany on his international CV, McArthur feels the Tartan Army have yet to see the best of him in a dark blue (or white, yellow, or shocking pink) jersey. However, McArthur, who turned 29 on Friday, revealed a determination to prove he can cut it for his country just as well as he has done at club level, and seize the opening left in Scotland’s midfield since the retirement of former captain Scott Brown.
“I think I’ve done better at my club than I have done in internationals, and that’s frustrating because there is no greater pride than playing for your country,” McArthur said.
“When everyone you know is supporting you and you maybe don’t do as well as you can, then that’s frustrating, but I’m looking to put that right. I’m trying to do well here and I’m trying to become a regular.
“Broony has been excellent for the nation. We are gutted that he’s not here. But he needs to do what’s best for him as well. There’s that space there to fill and I’ll be doing everything I can do to try to fill that.”
The fact McArthur is able to play a key part in Scotland’s attempt to qualify for the World Cup in Russia in 2018 is something that he doesn’t take for granted, not after an ankle ligament injury last term and a serious knee injury that flared upin pre-season made him face up to the worst fear of any professional footballer – that his career may be in jeopardy.
“As a player you always worry about things like that because the game means so much to you,” he said. “It’s hard because you just panic a wee bit more than you should when it’s a pain that’s not really common, it’s quite frustrating.
“Every time I tried to push off there was pain going through my knee. I had no power at all in it.
“If I was in full running it was fine but every time I stopped and started it was like my leg was lagging behind. The physio did a great job trying to build my quads up but then it wasn’t only my quads, everything else wasn’t activating.
“You do start to worry for your career but the physios down at Crystal Palace are excellent and they made sure they did everything to get me back out again.”
That injury meant McArthur missed his chance to impress Scotland manager Gordon Strachan in the first match of the World Cup qualifying campaign, with Barry Bannan shining in a deep-lying midfield role in the win over Malta. That has only made McArthur doubly determined to make an impact now he is fully fit.
“I spoke to the manager [prior to the Malta game],” McArthur said. “I had the knee problem in the third day of pre-season and missed my full pre-season. Then I came back and played 25 minutes against Blackpool.
“There are players playing a lot of minutes here. Then I broke down with my knee again. So it was very frustrating because you want to come away here, to be involved and play. Now I feel great, I’ve no problems at all.”
The next hurdle in Scotland’s path to qualification for their first major championships since McArthur was 10, comes on Tuesday night, with a potentially tricky trip to Slovakia. The short window since the Lithuania match at Hampden last night won’t have helped the squad’s preparations
McArthur said: “They’re a good side. Even before the [European] finals they were excellent. We need to focus on doing the right things.”
I’ve done better at my club than in internationals, and that’s frustrating because there is no greater pride than playing for your country