Sebastien Pocognoli takes charge of Scotland for the first time on Saturday, when they open their Nations League campaign against Slovenia at Stadion Stozice in Ljubljana. Kick-off is at 14:00 BST, and the squad will fly into the Slovenian capital on Friday after training in La Manga, Spain, with the Tartan Army already gathering in the city.
Pocognoli’s first squad offered an early indication of his intentions. He named eight uncapped players in a 27-man group before releasing Findlay Curtis and James Wilson to the under-21s, a shake-up that earned him credit from supporters who had been calling for fresh faces. Whether any of that translates into his starting line-up is a different question.
Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin believes it would be “slightly bizarre” to see more than two uncapped players start, while former forward James McFadden expects the team to look “pretty similar” and without any “big surprises”.
Much of the debate about the shape stems from Pocognoli’s past, with many assuming he will use a back three. The addition of Stephen Welsh, Luke Graham and Luis Binks, all new to the Scotland set-up, may hint at what is to come further down the line, but for now Jack Hendry and Scott McKenna appear to be the favoured pairing, with Graham and Binks providing McKenna with left-footed competition. The right-sided centre-back role is less clear, and McFadden would like to see Brentford right-back Aaron Hickey there. “I hope the centre-backs aren’t the players on the team who have the ball the most,” he said. “I don’t want to see this centre-back to centre-back play. If they’re getting it, I want them to drive and I think, if you had Hickey as a right-centre-back, he’d be driving into the play and trying to commit to going forward. I don’t want them just sitting in a safe position, playing around the back. I don’t want to see that, it’s boring.”
Billy Gilmour is expected to return in midfield. His presence was missed at the World Cup, and he signed off from Serie A at the weekend with a goal for Napoli. Nevin said he would make a swift exit from the Stozice Stadium if Gilmour is not starting, with the midfielder likely to line up beside Lewis Ferguson, the Bologna captain McFadden described as “one of, if not the best player for us at the World Cup”. Captain Andy Robertson is expected at wing-back, and McFadden sees no reason to alter the middle of the pitch. “You’re not going to go and change the midfield up. I don’t think there’s a need for a change for change’s sake,” he said. “I think that the freshness was needed, but I’m just looking forward to seeing them actually play and see if there’s any difference in how they approach it – if they are more aggressive in a press and more dominant with possession.”
John McGinn’s role remains a recurring question for Scotland. The Aston Villa captain has at times been difficult to fit into his best position, yet still performs. With Scott McTominay missing from the squad as he recovers from successful minor heart surgery, Nevin wants McGinn pushed higher up the pitch. “We need his explosiveness in the final third, so I would like to see him a little bit further forward,” he said.
Further forward, Bournemouth’s Ben Gannon-Doak is likely to operate on the right, depending on where Hickey plays, while his club-mate Ryan Christie is familiar with the responsibility on the left of the front three. The central striking role is expected to go to Oli McBurnie, who has 16 caps and returns from an international exile that makes him feel like a new addition. “He’s coming back with a point to prove, which I like,” McFadden said. “You’ve got someone who will give their all, which is how Oli plays anyway, and he’ll feel privileged that he’s got the opportunity to play again. It’s a big opportunity, because over the last couple of years we’ve been so used to seeing Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes and Lawrence Shankland, so it’ll be nice to see a bit of freshness up there.”