CROWD PLEASER
Clarke hopes playing in front of fans in Israel will lift Scots
STEVE CLARKE hopes the novelty of playing in front of a live audience can help inspire his players to a World Cup victory over Israel in Tel Aviv.
The Israelis opened the gates to 5,000 spectators for Thursday’s Group F opener against Denmark and a similar number is expected at the Bloomfield Stadium this evening.
Having started with a 2-2 draw at home to Austria at an empty Hampden in midweek, Clarke hopes his players are energised by performing in front of fans for the first time this season.
He said: ‘It’s nice that there will be a little crowd in. There will be an atmosphere and that might give us a little boost because the players have been playing in empty stadiums.
‘That might work in our favour. We’ll mention the crowd because it will be different to them.
‘I used to enjoy playing in front of a hostile crowd — you go there with an attitude of digging in, getting the result you want. Hopefully we can feed off the crowd.’
Clarke has also given an assurance that Scotland are looking to finalise a couple of warm-up matches ahead of this summer’s Euro 2020 finals.
Group rivals the Czech Republic, England and Croatia have all
TRYING to throw a curveball is virtually impossible when your opponent can read every trick, tick and tell in your make-up. Israel and Scotland have developed an intimacy more akin to that of club rivals than international opponents over the past two-and-ahalf years with no more than a goal separating them in five hard-fought meetings.
Little wonder Steve Clarke is giving serious consideration to starting Che Adams for the first time in Tel Aviv this evening.
Clarke would love to find an edge in a fixture that, even this early in the World Cup qualifiers, has a must-win look about it.
Adams debuted from the bench in Thursday’s opener against Austria, initially as foil for the hard-running Lyndon Dykes who looks a little worn down by the exertions of English Championship football with Queen’s Park Rangers.
Not only does Adams operate at a higher club level with Southampton, he is also more prolific from open play having netted seven to Dykes’ two non-penalty strikes for QPR.
He also scored in three consecutive Premier League fixtures against Sheffield United, Manchester City and Brighton earlier this month.
The 25-year-old’s power and movement would give Israel something new to think about but, never one for grand statements, Clarke was giving away little prior to boarding the SFA’s charter plane last night.
‘I’m tempted to throw Che in but Lyndon did well for us again the other night,’ he said. ‘He’s a good target player, gives us a good out, fits well into the way we play.
‘Ryan Christie was lively again, a little bit unlucky in the first half when he got the finish on his right foot. Young Kevin Nisbet has looked good in training, so we have good options.
‘It’s not about trying to surprise them, they’ll be able to second-guess what we’re doing much the same as we can second-guess them. It’s about small margins. All the games against them have been tight.
‘You have to learn to develop as a squad to stay calm, like we did against Austria on Thursday, and find a way back into the game if it goes against you.’
Dykes has scored twice in eight appearances since accepting Clarke’s invitation to join up with Scotland at the start of the season but looked a little leg-weary against the Austrians.
‘Lyndon’s a big, strong boy who’s physical and can get around,’ added Clarke. ‘He’s had a taste of the English Championship and QPR have rested him a couple of times recently, to be fair to them.
‘Funnily enough, I spoke about it with Lyndon this morning. The load that the Championship puts on to players makes it a relentless league but he’s found his feet.
‘He looked lively for us against Austria. His movement was good, his power and pace was there to be seen.
‘If I had to play Lyndon in all three games, he could do it no problem.’
As well as Dykes has done, the team’s real goalscoring talisman is John McGinn, who popped up with an overhead-kick equaliser at Hampden in midweek.
Like a lot of what the Aston Villa man does, the execution of the strike off his left foot was a little unorthodox but he has been an effective attacking force for the national team and has already accrued an impressive tally of eight goals in 30 appearances. Commonly used in a deep-lying role for his club, Clarke loves the range of possibilities the 26-year-old brings to his midfield.
‘John’s been playing that little bit deeper for most of the season with Villa and he gives you solidity in that role,’ said the Scotland boss.
‘But we don’t put the reins on John. He’s an attacking-midfield player and has an eye for goal.
‘He’s already scored eight times for his country and he’s still relatively young, so he can look forward to a few more goals.
‘Hopefully, he’ll get at least one more on Sunday.’
As impressive as McGinn’s goal return has been, the presence of Eran Zahavi in the Israeli ranks offers some perspective ahead of tonight’s match.
Zahavi netted 11 goals in the Euro 2020 qualifiers, a tally only bested by Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane, who both required penalties to inflate their numbers.
Yet as good as Zahavi is, Clarke does not want his presence to in any way fret his players ahead of tonight’s match.
Having punched up against second-seeds Austria on Thursday, his players are ranked a pot higher than tonight’s opposition.
If Scotland are to be qualify for Qatar 2022, this is the sort of match they must win, no matter the coach’s efforts to talk down its significance.
‘You can never say the second game in a group is a must-win, not when there are so many points up for grabs, he said.
‘Austria play Denmark later in the week, so one of them, or both, will drop points.
‘It might not be apparent now but this will be a group with twists and turns.
‘The last few times we’ve been in Israel, we haven’t got the right result, so we try to do it properly this time and get the result.
‘We’re starting to build up a good experienced squad so that when we go to these places we should know what to expect. We certainly know what to expect from the Israelis.’
If he so chooses, Clarke has the means at his disposal to make Scotland less predictable.
Che is a good target player and he fits well into the way we play