There’s no holding back Nathan now
Clarke delighted to see all-action Patterson earning plaudits on Merseyside after a frustrating start to his career in English elite
NATHAN PATTERSON is Scottish football’s elastic band. The longer a manager restrains him, the further he’s held back from the fray — the greater the force with which he will eventually spring forth. The phenomenon was evident in Patterson’s earliest international appearances. Perennial back-up to club captain James Tavernier at Rangers, an unleashed Patterson tore up and down Scotland’s right flank like a hurricane.
Such was the vigour of his play that his performances instantly drew favourable comparisons with what the team’s one world-class operator, Andy Robertson, was doing on the other wing.
Patterson accumulated even more pent-up energy during his first six months as an Everton player. Signed for £12million in one of the very last acts of Rafa Benitez’s tenure as manager last January, the 20-yearold did not instantly convince new boss Frank Lampard that he was worthy of a run in the team.
A fully paid-up member of the Patterson fan club, national coach Steve Clarke had made it his business to check in with Lampard on the youngster’s prospects in the interim.
‘I think everybody knows I like Nathan,’ said the Scotland boss. ‘I like the way he plays full-back and I like the way he plays wing-back. He is a great kid.
‘I spoke to Frank towards the end of last season and he told me he was going to play Nathan against West Ham but he got injured in training.
‘I said that once the boy gets the chance to play, I am sure he won’t come out of your team. Thankfully — so far — I have been proved right.’
After a palate-cleansing pre-season in which Jonjoe Kenny was moved on to Hertha Berlin and Seamus Coleman reverted to the role of back-up, Lampard has found the young Scot meets his tastes after all.
Patterson commenced the new campaign as first choice and has won over the Goodison crowd with his fearless approach to the right-back role.
Incorrigibly forward-thinking in his approach, he has also shown a capacity to improve his defending, as was most recently evident in the Merseyside derby, which finished goalless despite the best efforts of Liverpool’s front three of Mo Salah, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez.
After the game, Patterson took to social media to declare that he was ‘away for an early night’, a nod towards his tendency to empty the tank on every appearance.
Fifteen months have passed since Clarke handed Patterson his Scotland debut in a Euro 2020 warm-up match against Luxembourg. His first start, in a Qatar 2022 qualifier against Moldova, saw him gallop forward to tee up Lyndon Dykes for the winning goal and Patterson celebrated as if he’d scored the winner in the World Cup final himself. ‘Nathan plays with the right attitude and the right spirit,’ added Clarke. ‘He wants to be successful, he wants to be a winner and the more winners you can have in the squad the better.
‘Everton fans love him. You can see it. They are not dissimilar to the fans up here — they want to see their boys go into tackles, they want to see commitment. That is what he is, he is a committed player.
‘He is a good character who wants to be successful. He wanted to challenge himself in the EPL and with his performances so far he has done that.
‘It has been a brief spell and he has to continue at that level. That is what it is all about.’
While no one could dispute the solid service Stephen O’Donnell has given Clarke throughout his spells in charge of both Scotland and Kilmarnock, Patterson’s emergence has been a game-changer for a team that had looked seriously lop-sided owing to the presence of Robertson and Kieran Tierney on the left.
Yet just as Robertson’s rise was bolstered by Tierney’s emergence at Celtic, so Patterson has genuine competition for his spot too.
Aaron Hickey’s decision to leave Hearts for Italy in 2020 paid off handsomely as his two years in Serie A with Bologna laid the groundwork for a £15m summer transfer to Brentford.
Less explosive than Patterson, Hickey is another high-level option for Clarke yet he did not instantly convince on his first start against Ukraine in the World Cup play-off back in June.
With the same opponents due back at Hampden for the first leg of a Nations League triple-header on Wednesday, it’s clear Patterson will be the starting option.
‘Aaron has had a good start at Brentford,’ said Clarke. ‘He’s not been spectacular but he’s been steady. It’s a big step for Aaron but he’s in there playing every week. He’s coping and he doesn’t let anyone down. He’s a good prospect, one for now but also one for the future.’
Clarke also has Tony Ralston to call on but the Celtic defender has
‘I TOLD FRANK LAMPARD THAT ONCE NATHAN GETS A CHANCE AT EVERTON, HE WON’T COME OUT THE TEAM. THANKFULLY, I’VE BEEN PROVED RIGHT SO FAR’
been playing second fiddle to Josip Juranovic this term.
On the other flank, his Parkhead team-mate Greg Taylor is mining some career-best form and could start in place of the injured Robertson at left wing-back, allowing Tierney to start in his bespoke role on the left side of a back three.
‘A few years ago everyone said we had no right-backs but we’ve got two playing in the Premier League now, which is great for them and for the country,’ continued Clarke.
‘Losing Andy is a blow but we’ve got Kieran back and Greg Taylor has found a different level at Celtic, so we’re well off in the full-back positions.’
If Patterson’s role is set, the job required of Scott McTominay remains a fluid proposition.
Asked to nominate the Manchester United man’s best position, Clarke doesn’t miss a beat: ‘Right-sided centre-back.’
There’s a glint in his eye as he delivers that verdict but with Callum McGregor and John McGinn well established in the middle of the park and the coach always keen to find room for Billy Gilmour, often the best way to get as many of Scotland’s best players on the pitch is to accommodate McTominay in that three-man defence.
‘I have played Scott quite often there and, contrary to what people
say about him, he can play that position and he plays it very well for us,’ said Clarke. ‘He also plays the defensive midfield role where he can sit behind the game but he can also go box-to-box.
‘I am sure if I played him at rightback he would be decent as well.
‘He just wants to play for his country, he always says: “Wherever you want to play me, I will play”, which is great.’
Despite a widely-held assumption that the arrival of Casemiro from Real Madrid would drastically limit his opportunities at Old Trafford, McTominay has risen to the challenge by performing well enough to emerge as a mainstay in midfield for Eric Ten Hag.
‘Every time Manchester United make a change of manager they say it will be Scott McTominay (right, with Casemiro) who will go out of the team,’ said Clarke. ‘But he rises to the challenge. He has real competition in Casemiro and is still holding his place in the team and is enjoying it.
‘He is always here. When he misses the squad he is devastated because he wants to be here. He wants to be part of a successful squad, which all these boys do. This is a group that want to do well for the their country. They suffered in the summer when we didn’t qualify for the World Cup, they were suffering more than anybody.’
Except, perhaps, for Clarke himself. Slow to publicly convey emotion, the Ayrshireman has in the past admitted to brooding at home during the extended periods of down time that are at once the gift and curse of international management.
With hindsight, the six-month gap that opened up between the
2-0 victory over Denmark last December — a result that extended a competitive winning streak to six — and the June visit of Ukraine was a momentumkiller. The tie, originally scheduled for March, was promptly postponed after the Russian invasion.
If Scotland could handle the world siding with the
Ukrainians on match night, it was harder to suppress the visitors themselves who were playing for a cause far greater than mere qualification. Scotland’s hangover was in full head-pounding swing the following week in Dublin as a makeshift Ireland delivered a 3-0 thumping that was only partly offset by two wins over a poor Armenian team. Time has allowed Clarke to put all that in perspective but the fact remains — when the World Cup kicks off in Qatar this November, his team will not be involved.
‘Of course I suffered too,’ he admitted. ‘It wasn’t the outcome we wanted from the summer — we wanted to go to the World Cup and it didn’t happen. But football isn’t always about the good times, sometimes you have to suffer. You learn to deal with it.
‘Hopefully we can now have a successful Nations League campaign and also build towards the next Euro qualifying campaign for 2024.’
On Wednesday Ukraine will visit Hampden without inspirational captain Oleksandr Zinchenko, who delivered a complete midfield performance at Hampden.
Yet while Zinchenko will be missed, the continued development of Mykhaylo Mudryk, who delivered an impressive cameo from the bench in June, offers another dimension to their play.
Mudryk has been valued in the region of £50m and served notice of his ability with a fine equaliser for Shakhtar Donetsk in the midweek Champions League clash
with Celtic. Regardless of personnel, Clarke suspects this week will play out differently. ‘We’ve got some ideas on what went wrong against Ukraine,’ he added.
‘On the night, they played as well as they could and we didn’t reach anywhere near our levels.
‘If we get to our level and they play as well as they can again, we’ll see what the outcome will be.’
‘EVERY TIME MAN UTD CHANGE MANAGER, PEOPLE SAY IT’S SCOTT McTOMINAY WHO WILL BE DROPPED. BUT HE RISES TO THE CHALLENGE’