Ryan is ready to get his altitude training started for Scotland
No one could accuse Ryan Fraser of not being prepared to go the extra mile for Scotland. Or, in fact, the extra 15,000 miles.
The Bournemouth forward gratefully accepted the challenge when Alex Mcleish asked him to play wing-back in Hungary this week.
And, in sharp contrast to those who have objected to the country’s friendlies in Peru and Mexico this summer, he is so keen to be involved he is already planning his personal altitude programme.
“I’ve heard the altitude is quite bad over there. But, thankfully, we have special altitude training down in Bournemouth,” he said.
“It is something that gets you really fit. The guys who don’t play on the Saturday are put on it on the Monday after. “Basically, you go on bikes and treadmills in a hot-condensed room, close the door and then have to do max sprints on the bike. It’s one of the worst things you have to do.
“You feel like you’re going to be good. Then 10 minutes in you’ll be like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t feel my legs!’.
“You can’t breathe, you come out of it and you can’t walk, you can’t stand.
“I am normally sick afterwards, but I will do it for a couple of weeks before the Scotland friendlies because I know the altitude is going to be tough for us over there.
“The negativity over the games has surprised me a little bit. It is far away and it will be difficult, but it is something we have to adapt to.
“I’m sure the lads will all turn up and, like me, will all be out to do their best.”
Fraser’s confidence that he will make the travelling party is rooted in the fact he acquitted himself well playing out of his comfort zone in Budapest last Tuesday night.
“If I hadn’t started the Hungary game, then I’d have been annoyed because I was disappointed not to play at all against Costa Rica,” said the Aberdonian.
“But it’s all happy now. I just needed to keep my head down and be ready so that if my chance came I could take it. Hopefully, I’ve done that.
“I understand as well there were 27 players that came away. And everyone needs to play. So the boss must have known I was going to be starting this game. That’s what I need to focus on.
“In terms of being wing-back, it’s one where I can’t say I’m not happy to play there because I need to be careful with my words. If you want to play every game, it doesn’t matter where you play.
“All in all, it’s a position I’ve played a couple of times, not a lot. I played there against Chelsea away and Arsenal at home. And I played right-back a couple of times this season against Stoke and Huddersfield away.
“So defensively there were always going to be ups and downs, but I think going forward I did alright, likewise on the one-v-ones.
“There was only that one bit of mis-timing when the opposition winger nearly got in.
“It’s always going to happen, I’m not a defender. I did my best for the team. You want to play in your position but position is taken so I’ll try and take that one back.
“It is one of those, you take it on the chin and try and express yourself. “However, you want to play in the position where you feel you’re going to get the best out of yourself. Obviously I’m not going to get the best out of myself at right wing-back.”
As much as Fraser wants to play as a winger for Scotland, he will not be attempting to cash in on a personal connection – his agent, Jon, is Alex Mcleish’s son!
“Jon has worked for me since I was 18. We’ve been friendly for six years now and he has helped me through my career,” he said.
“So when Alex got the job, everyone said, ‘Oh that’ll be good for you’.
“I replied, ‘Well, I don’t know’. Because if there’s ever a problem that I do have with the international manager now I can’t go and get Jon to sort it. It’s like your dad being in charge of the school team.
“I am at a stage where I can do my own talking on the pitch.
“If I keep doing that then, hopefully, I will achieve my ambitions.”
There’s something I need to get off my chest.
I wasn’t happy with FIFA last week for putting a 10-day break in the football calendar for international friendly matches. For me, it made no sense.
It interrupted the flow of the league campaigns in the UK and, when we are at the business end of the season, we don’t want that.
We want to see momentum and players going for glory for their clubs, whether it’s to win silverware, clinch a place in Europe or avoid relegation.
It’s the same for supporters. They are in a rhythm and they will have felt as though their week-to-week routine was gatecrashed at such a pivotal time.
For what it’s worth, I think FIFA should have allowed March and April to be for club football. That would have allowed the domestic season to finish a week to 10 days earlier.
That, in turn, would have allowed the international teams to then meet up for friendly games and for those nations lucky enough to have qualified for Russia this summer to prepare for the Word Cup.
Take Alex Mcleish. The set-up I’m suggesting would have allowed him a period of time, of his choosing, with his players.
He could have had them for one week, or 16/17 days, or something in between. It would have given him proper time to look at players and organise games.
The players would have been focused and not concerned about getting injured to make sure they arrived back at their clubs in one piece.
It may also have allowed Scotland not to take on the end-of-season tour to Peru and Mexico, although we can’t hold FIFA responsible for that.
I’ve spoken to a number of football supporters about this and they agree with me. You only have to look at attendances around Europe and beyond for the games last week and the stadiums weren’t exactly bursting at the seams.
Sure, a few nations did have capacity crowds. But if you take Scotland’s game against Costa Rica, Hampden was less than half-full.
The game was big Alex’s first back of his second time in charge. It didn’t go to plan and the 1-0 defeat wasn’t well received by many inside the stadium.
Scotland did take a while to get going. But we have to remember it was a new team, with five debutants, so that was always going to throw up one or two difficult situations.
Costa Rica’s goal was a wee bit jammy and it gave them something to hold on to. They packed their box, so it was difficult for the Scots to break them down. That’s to be expected as it always easier to destroy than create. As much as I say that the games didn’t serve any real purpose at this stage of the season, Alex would have been delighted with the way Scott Mckenna from Aberdeen played.
For the past five or six years, we have been crying out for one or two central defenders to emerge. Mckenna has absolutely stepped forward.