CHERRY ON THE CAKE
Ryan’s reinvention at Bournemouth makes him an even more important player for Scots boss Clarke
RYAN CHRISTIE and the Euros will forever be entwined.
The Bournemouth star’s goal in Belgrade was the one that ended Scotland’s painful wait for a return to a major tournament.
David Marshall saved the shoot-out penalty and got most attention afterwards, yet it was Christie’s strike that set it all up and saw Steve Clarke lead the nation into battle against the continent’s elite at the last one.
Fast forward almost four years and the former Inverness, Aberdeen and Celtic man still has a key role to play.
But his growing ability to offer a very different and handy option feels like just what any national coach wants when they build a squad for a tournament.
Going into the double-header over the next nine days against Holland and Northern Ireland, Clarke is fast drawing up plans.
You can be almost sure he has an inkling of a starting line-up in his head already for the Euros opener against Germany and is working his way backwards from scribbling out that team sheet in Munich. Clarke admits whittling his squad down to 23 for the Finals will be a brutal business and, for any player, having more than one string to your bow isn’t a bad trait.
Christie’s reinvention at club level offers an ideal example.
With just three strikers in the squad this week, he’ll almost certainly be utilised as the fleetfooted attacker playing off the main hitman or operating wide of the front line.
But Christie can do far more. Capable of scoring and creating, his tenacity and running power was also an asset heading back into defensive territory and it was that energy and ability on the ball that caught the eye of Cherries boss Andoni Iraola.
Clarke misses nothing. He’ll have been aware of what’s been happening with Christie since the minute he started doing it. When Clarke needed that mission accomplished in Belgrade, Callum McGregor and Ryan Jack were the midfield men tasked with protecting and dominating the ball against the Serbs. That pair aren’t involved this week due to injury.
In the past, John McGinn and Scott McTominay have shown their aptitude to work within deeper parameters in the middle of the park.
However, given the recent performances and the way those two have been able to bag vital goals at key times, having them as far as advanced up the pitch as possible seems ideal.
A door is open for other individuals to further their claims in the deeper position.
Billy Gilmour is adept at it. Kenny McLean too. Lewis Ferguson is ready to step in having been so impressive in Italy. Going forward, you couldn’t have imagined this time last year Christie would’ve entered the conversation for that area of the pitch. Now he can.
It’s not just Christie. This unit has other men of many talents. McTominay might be a scoring midfielder but he’s played for Clarke in a back three. McLean’s been a centre-back for Norwich.
Kieran Tierney can play centre-back, left-back and wingback and there are others within the group who can turn their hand to alternative taks.
Of course, there’s more to squad selection than versatility.
Grant Hanley isn’t going to play left wing. Lyndon Dykes can’t do a job as wing-back. That doesn’t mean they aren’t priceless in their chosen positions of centre-back and central striker.
But some flexibility is surely going to count because it’ll come down to tiny margins when Clarke makes his final calls.
Stats can lie. But some of the figures flying around about Christie winning more possession than any other Premier League player including Manchester City’s Rodri raised awareness, as did him ranking first for tackles and duels won for Bournemouth at one point and second for winning it back and interceptions.
With tackling now virtually classed as a crime, the job is to press, harry, force people into areas they don’t want to go with energy and tactical acumen and the talent to be comfortable in possession and move it quickly.
Alongside Lewis Cook in the Cherries’ midfield, that’s exactly what Christie has been doing.
What other managers do with Clarke’s players won’t deviate him from his own shrewd plans.
Christie’s value for Scotland has been in the more advanced areas where he’s always played for his national boss. But there isn’t a manager in the world who doesn’t like having options or players who can adapt.
Christie is highly unlikely to be a sitting midfielder against the Dutch or the Irish. Or maye ever for Scotland depending on who is available. But guys such as him who can influence in more than one role will surely have the upper hand when it comes to making the plane for Germany.
Capable of scoring and creating, his tenacity and running power is also an asset