New head coach Sebastien Pocognoli said his Scotland bow against Slovenia was "two games in the same game" as his side claimed a Nations League point after a much-improved second half showing. The Scots struggled in a disjointed first half, but took control of the game in the second period and created enough chances to win, but had to settle for a 0-0 draw. "First half, was not what we expected in terms of structure, " Pocognoli told BBC Scotland.
"We were in between for the press, actually we were a little bit surprised about the formation of Slovenia, but at half-time we fixed this and you can see that the second half was much better. "We produced what we wanted to show every minute, but first half we learned to stick together, to defend the box, to be resilient and to be patient to change the game." There were two debuts in Ljubljana, a return for Oli McBurnie, and a change of shape after seven years of Steve Clarke ended after the World Cup in the summer. It is only the first of four games in this international window, but here are the key takeaways from Pocognoli's debut.
Scotland begin Pocognoli era with encouraging Slovenia draw 'Eternally grateful' McBurnie ready to show what Scotland have missed Napoli midfielder Billy Gilmour missed the World Cup campaign after a heartbreaking injury against Curacao in Scotland's final home warm-up game. He returned to the heart of midfield alongside Lewis Ferguson and, according to former Scotland midfielder John Collins was "the catalyst for everything" in the second half. "Straight from the start of the second half he was getting the ball, playing forward passes and following his pass to the strikers," Collins said.
Gilmour played further up the pitch than Ferguson, "close to a creative 10" according to former Scotland winger Pat Nevin, and played 32 passes into the final third, more than any player on the pitch. The former Chelsea man combined well with McBurnie on the edge of the box to set up a shot for himself; he slipped in Robbie Ure who opted to cross rather than shoot; and picked out Kieron Bowie with a wonderful through ball which should have resulted in a goal. Those were just a handful of his key moments.
Pocognoli spoke afterwards about the half-time tweak to bring Gilmour deeper to make it harder for Slovenia to play through them and have greater control of the ball. "We fixed the position of Billy to be a little bit lower and to have Oli McBurnie a little bit more in his box, with two sixes and two 10s, and we were more compact to regain the ball when we lost it. "Also, that creates some imbalance in the defence from Slovenia, where we can go through the lines with a good chance of Billy or through the depth with the chance of Kieron Bowie or with some crosses.
"He's a fantastic player, I really like him. He's a creative player who always looks forward, always ready to find a solution with a clear game plan, also a good presence around the box and also very good defensively." Swansea City defender Stephen Welsh was one of two debutants in Slovenia, playing on the left of a back three despite being right footed. Scotland struggled defensively at times in the first half, with Slovenia playing over the top of them, but Welsh's positioning after the break also helped change the game.
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