Play-off veteran hopes to see a case for the defence
Holland’s superstars flattened Scotland’s defence the last time the national side appeared in a play-off.
Neither Israel, Norway nor Serbia will have anything like the November, 2003 Dutch side’s firepower come March’s Euro 2020 deciders.
But Lee Wilkie, who played all 180 minutes against the Netherlands 15 years ago, fears the current crop will still be vulnerable – because they don’t know each other’s games.
“It must be a real headache for Steve Clarke,” says Wilkie of the Scotland manager’s defensive issues.
“The wins over Cyprus and Kazakhstan gave fans a wee bit of hope towards the end of the qualifying campaign.
“But the defence is still the area with question marks over it.
“It was a completely new back four for the two games, and you’d expect some tentative moments as a result.
“They were there against Cyprus, then again in the first-half against Kazakhstan.
“But in the second half, Scott McKenna and Declan Gallagher came out and seemed to be more on the front foot, which was heartening.
“Fans know what McKenna is all about, whereas Gallagher is new to the set-up, but I thought he did well.
“But there aren’t going to be many more squad get-togethers – if any – between now and the play-offs. That doesn’t give them much time to build an understanding, which is a huge thing for any back four.
“In an ideal world, you want a settled unit to build on, but Steve Clarke hasn’t had that luxury.
“And while there’s that bit of unfamiliarity between the players, it will always be a worry.”
As club team-mates with Aberdeen, McKenna and Mikey Devlin have the best chance of any of Scotland’s centre-halves to build a playing relationship.
“That’s certainly a possible solution,” said Wilkie.
“If they can play together consistently between now and March – and build a solid partnership – I’d imagine it will give Steve Clarke something to consider.”
That would be a bonus for the Israel match, but as Wilkie knows, even a win at the National Stadium is no guarantee of what is to follow, especially away from Glasgow.
Asked for his memories of Scotland’s 6-0 capitulation to Holland in Amsterdam in 2004 after a 1-0 home win and the pain is clear.
“At that time, the Dutch were in the play-offs only because they had been underachieving a wee bit.
“But when you look at the players they had available in those games, you start to see what Scotland were up against at the time.
“The Holland team was a who’s who of football – Wesley Sneijder, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars, Rafa van der Vaart, Edgar Davids, Philip Cocu, Clarence Seedorf.
“These are guys who are still household names today.
“It was a horrible night in Amsterdam. None of the guys involved will enjoy looking back on it. I certainly don’t.
“Hopefully, Steve Clarke’s team can get the job done this time around and we can start to maybe leave 2003 in the past!”