An elongated international window does not prevent Sébastien Pocognoli from glancing towards the next one. Scott McTominay’s absence from Scotland’s opening set of Nations League games is understandable as the Napoli midfielder recovers from a heart procedure. The scoreless draw in Slovenia on Saturday raised the question of where McTominay will fit in when he returns.
We will see.” Indeed we will. The answer is not immediately obvious. Pocognoli deployed Billy Gilmour and Lewis Ferguson as central midfielders in Ljubljana with John McGinn placed ahead of them to support a two-man strike force.
Gilmour was heavily influential during Scotland’s impressive second half. Ferguson’s combative and defensive skills are valuable. McGinn, like McTominay, is a mainstay of the team.
It is therefore legitimate to ask how Pocognoli handles McTominay, who is expected to return to the Scotland scene in November. I hope he can look and think: ‘Yeah, I want to play.’ “Andy Robertson was really positive after the game and said that he really enjoyed it. It is really good to hear that from top players.” That Scotland improved markedly after half-time messaging from Pocognoli, in his maiden match as the country’s manager, reflected well on the 39‑year‑old Belgian.
Pocognoli seems determined to emphasise that he is not tactically inflexible, despite Scotland’s shape being typical of what he deployed at Union Saint‑Gilloise and Monaco. Pocognoli also insisted there will be consistent involvement for Ben Gannon-Doak, a winger who does not automatically seem to fit into a 3-4-1-2 setup. Gannon‑Doak, whose game time has been restricted at Bournemouth, appeared as a second-half substitute in Slovenia.
At his club he also needs to settle. He is young and he needs to play more for his club. That is why Josh McPake is also with us because I want more of that.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
