A draw might not be the most inspiring result for a new era, but there were still plenty of positives for Sebastien Pocognoli to take from his first game in charge of Scotland. On the surface, 0-0 against Slovenia doesn't exactly scream entertaining. On another day though, Scotland could've either won by four or lost by a couple; such was the nature of the contest.
In the first half they looked vulnerable, but the second completely dominant. So, what exactly did Pocognoli do to change things up for the better, and what does he still need to keep his eye on? Despite his record of qualifying for more major tournaments than any other manager, the one criticism Steve Clarke repeatedly received during his tenure was that Scotland sat too deep.
Pre-match, Pocognoli made a point of emphasising that his ideology was the opposite. "I try to be a little bit higher up the pitch," he said. "On the ball we need to have patterns, which is the most difficult part.
But off the ball, we need to be solid. That doesn't mean dropping off though; we need to be higher." What that created at the start was far more exposure to Angus Gunn's goal. In the first 30 minutes, Slovenia had a goal ruled out and missed numerous other chances.
All it would take was one ball over the top of the Scotland backline, and they were in. Andy Robertson and Stephen Welsh were caught out several times in particular and it was the hosts' poor finishing that kept them from going ahead in that period. However, when Scotland did finally get to grips with the game, the benefits of the high press came to the fore.
It created a glorious chance which Oli McBurnie squandered and helped keep a chaotic tempo which suited Pocognoli's men and kept Slovenia very much on the edge. It needs some fine-tuning, but with the likes of John McGinn and Scott McTominay when he returns, there's enough energy and quality to make the most of this change in approach. Pocognoli's formation was similar to what we have seen from Scotland previously.
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