NATION CRIES OUT FOR LEADING MEN
McGinn knows Scotland need top-flight stars to shine
IT’S John McGinn v Robert Snodgrass tomorrow on Monday Night Football. Two of the most watchable talents on the flagship programme showcasing the richest league in the world this week are Scottish. Ryan Fraser, the assist king whose club is desperate for him to sign a new contract, will be one of the main men today when Bournemouth host Everton. Kenny McLean was in fine form for Norwich, the midfielder scored the opener in the 3-2 win over Manchester City yesterday. Scott McTominay and Andrew Robertson both featured for their clubs, too.
At no stage throughout the two-decade absence from major international tournaments has there been a greater representation of Scottish internationalists in the English top flight. So why are they dragged down by pulling on the dark blue of Scotland, outclassed whenever playing for their country against Premier League peers?
At least captain Robertson, for example, was brought up watching failure of the glorious type. Near
misses when the big guns came to Hampden. Two famous victories over France getting Scotland absolutely nowhere in the quest for a Euro 2008 place.
Routine dissections of Scotland teams at Hampden are a troubling low in Robertson’s third campaign. The Russia and Belgium defeats were brutal experiences for the Champions League winner and team-mates like Aston Villa midfielder McGinn, whose goal in the 10th minute last Friday night was followed by 170 minutes of double-header desolation.
Putting aside his pride at the achievement of scoring his first international goal, McGinn admits that the dichotomy of players being praised in England while being panned for Scotland failings cannot be allowed to continue.
He is one of the clutch of Steve Clarke selections who must find a way to replicate their work among the elite on a weekly basis when relied upon to lift the flagging spirits of a Scottish football nation.
‘You learn more from one game in the Premier League than I did in 40 Championship games last season,’ said McGinn. ‘You are playing against players like the Belgian boys week in, week out. So that can only enhance your game.
‘But, at the same time, for myself and the other guys who are thriving down the road, it is all fine and well doing that there. But we need to do it in the national team, we need to show those attributes in a Scotland jersey. A lot of us are doing things we don’t normally do at club level, so it’s important we eradicate those mistakes and bring our best to a Scotland team.’
To that end, McGinn has quickly tuned his thinking into the four otherwise meaningless Group I Euro 2020 qualifying matches. Russia in Moscow then San Marino at home in October. Cyprus away followed by a Tuesday night tie against Kazakhstan at Hampden.
The games in Glasgow are tough sells from a Tartan Army ticketing perspective. The trips away fraught with potential for another moralesapping loss. But McGinn is already emphasising the value of his Anglo colleagues’ trapping for every single available training session around those fixtures and making as many minutes in the competitive action count.
For Clarke is required to craft a team capable enough to beat a couple of middle-ranking opponents in March in the Nations League play-offs, paving the way to the continent-wide jamboree next summer. Two double-headers and four games in which to shape Scotland and make the best use of the resources he’s learned plenty about in the past fortnight.
For McGinn and Co, another six months operating in the Premier League will surely do some of Scotland’s key players no harm ahead of what he describes as ‘potentially the biggest two games this country has faced in years’.
McGinn added: ‘We don’t have a lot of time at national level to get ready but we fitted in some last week and we’ll prepare the best we can in the time we get together. The manager has got to get his best XI.
‘He’s chopped and changed a few times already and, by March, I’m sure he’ll have the strongest team that he believes will get us there. It’s a really positive group, who are desperate to get there.’
You learn more from one Premier game than 40 in the Championship