BILLY THE KID GROWS AS SCOTS’ MAIN MAN
Gilmour showed he’s a class act against the Dutch and is vital for Clarke at Euros
WHEN Billy Gilmour left the stage, Scotland lost their leading man. The lights flickered and dimmed and the play ended with a slightly gory, unwelcome finale. For 69 minutes Gilmour was here, there and everywhere. Linking the midfield with Scott McTominay and John McGinn, the Brighton man came of age in a Scotland shirt.
Steve Clarke described it as his best display in a dark-blue shirt so far, and it was no coincidence that the roof of the Johan Cruyff Arena caved in when Gilmour and Kieran Tierney left the pitch.
It’s not easy to find positives is a bruising 4-0 defeat, yet some perspective is necessary. For 70 minutes, the Scots kept the ball better than they had in some time. While defence and attack remain serious grounds for concern, Gilmour’s midfield masterclass was something to build on.
‘I took Billy off and that was harsh,’ Clarke admits. ‘It was Billy’s best game for Scotland, in my opinion. It was his best game. Outstanding.
‘I took him off because I wanted to freshen it up, I wanted to give Lewis (Ferguson) a bit of time on the pitch. Before those substitutions had a chance to bed themselves into the game it is 2-0. And then from 2-0, it suddenly became a long night.’
The ultimate exponent of Total Football, Johan Cruyff wore the number 14 during his glittering career as the Netherlands orchestrator-in-chief.
Wearing the great man’s number in the stadium named in his honour, it would be hubristic folly to place Gilmour in the same postcode just yet. In the context of Scotland’s national team, however, the 22-year-old Ayrshireman is no longer just a kid for the future. On the evidence of Friday night, he’s a man for the here and now.
‘It just shows the regular football he is playing for Brighton in the English Premier League is pushing him on,’ Clarke admits.
‘He is getting better and better. We have always said that about Billy. He is one for the future, but he’s also one for now. He is a good player. He showed that.
‘He is an integral part of the squad. Everyone wants to be involved in the team.
‘We have good players. It is up to me to pick the right players at the right time to get the right results, and you guys can go away and say
I didn’t do that. But I would say the team was good for 70 minutes. Their subs impacted the game a little bit better than our subs.’
Gilmour wasn’t the only straw to clutch at. With Kieran Tierney in the starting XI Scotland look a better team. The quality threshold rises.
Replaced by John Souttar, the Rangers defender was caught wrong side of Georginio Wijnaldum minutes after his arrival and the game was gone. While the arrival of Wout Weghorst and Donyell Malen made
Ronald Koeman’s team better, Clarke’s changes backfired.
Had it been Germany in the Allianz Arena on June 14 neither Gilmour or Tierney would have been replaced.
‘Listen we know what Kieran brings to the team. His last 90 minutes for his club was on January 17. He has not been featuring a lot,’ said Clarke.
‘I have to take him from the pitch. I have to protect the players, that is really important. So we did that.’
Koeman acknowledged that Scotland were unlucky to trail at half-time. Ryan Christie had a netbound header tipped on to the crossbar by Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken. Until Tijjani Reijnders smashed the ball into the roof of the net from 25 yards, Angus Gunn hadn’t had a save to make.
‘It was disappointing to lose the goal before half-time. We will analyse that as well. He had too much time to hit it,’ said Clarke
‘We could have been better in one or two situations around the goal, we could have squeezed the box. We didn’t, we sat in and invited the shot, it was a great strike.’
Both teams mustered 13 efforts on goal each. While the Netherlands put six on target — scoring four — Scotland only tested Flekken twice.
At international level the margin for error can be minuscule.
Presented with similar headers to Wijnaldum, Christie and Scott McTominay missed the target. Had he taken a glorious chance to make it 1-1, meanwhile, the Lawrence
Shankland bandwagon might have taken some stopping.
Through on goal with Flekken to beat he lofted his shot on to the crossbar from 16 yards. Three inches lower and he was the favourite for a starting place against the Germans. When he missed, it felt like a better night for Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes. ‘There are goals in this team for sure,’ claimed Clarke. ‘We created a lot of chances and on another night you score one or two of them. Like I say it can be a different night. Unfortunately it wasn’t. ‘Lawrence is a striker. Strikers miss more chances than they score goals. He will recover from it. I thought he did well, he
We could have squeezed the box. We sat in and invited the shot, it was a great strike
did well in the game, he made a good contribution.’
Clarke always planned to make changes against Northern Ireland. After six games without a win, there might now be fewer than he planned.
‘I need to go away and think about that one,’ said Clarke. ‘I had an idea in my head.
‘I need to go away and sleep on it. Whatever team I pick should win a game, that’s how I feel.
‘We keep saying we have strength in depth in the squad, so whichever team, whether I decide to make five or six changes or one or two, we still look to win the game.
‘Going into the June camp, it will be nice to go in on the back of a win. That is what we will aim to do on Tuesday.’