Sebastien Pocognoli admits he feels a “positive nervousness” as he prepares for his first match as Scotland head coach, Saturday’s Nations League tie against Slovenia in Ljubljana. The Belgian will take charge of the national team for the first time at Stadion Stozice, with kick-off at 14:00 BST.
Pocognoli was appointed in August, replacing Steve Clarke, whose seven-year tenure ended after Scotland’s exit at the group stages of the World Cup. His opening spell in the job is a condensed one: four Nations League matches across 11 days, starting with the trip to Slovenia, followed by Switzerland at Hampden, a fixture in North Macedonia, and then a return meeting with the Slovenes in Glasgow.
Scotland are preparing at a warm-weather camp in La Manga, Spain, with a much-changed squad. Pocognoli has selected 19-year-old James Wilson, four 20-year-olds in Findlay Curtis, Ben Gannon-Doak, Lennon Miller and Colby Donovan, and three 22-year-olds in Kristi Montgomery, Luke Graham and Robbie Ure. With Blackburn’s Montgomery coming in for the injured Kenny McLean, there are now eight uncapped players in the group. “It’s a lot of new faces, so it’s a challenge to find the right balance, to keep the cohesion in the team,” Pocognoli said.
The head coach says he knows his team and his formation for the Slovenia game, but is not wedded to any particular system, even though playing three at the back has been a staple of his coaching so far. “I always think the players select themselves,” he said. “We have four games, so we need to plan. We need to have a periodisation about the tactical aspect and the physical aspect. This team can be flexible. We’re ready for the four games in terms of what kind of approach we want to give.”
Pocognoli also revealed he has spoken to his predecessor, describing it as “a nice meeting on the phone”. “He was very kind, very… humble. That was very helpful for me. It just was to let me know that he’s behind the team,” Pocognoli said of Clarke. “He was very happy in his time in the job but he also felt that it was the right time to leave. He wished me all the best. I will try to be as successful as the previous staff because we want to play in a big tournament. We want to create this moment for the country.”
Asked whether his football will carry more risk and adventure than Clarke’s, he struck a cautious note: “We have to find the right balance because if you play fantastic football and you don’t qualify you get some criticism.” His style is built on aggressive pressing and a fast tempo, and while he accepts cohesion may take time, he has clear immediate demands. “For me, it’s about the personality of the players. I like a unit team who are just fighting for each other,” he said. “It’s a basic principle – attack together and squeeze the pitch. When we need to defend, it’s just to defend like brothers. When we lose the ball, it’s try to regain the ball as quickly as possible. From that, there are a lot of other principles, but that’s the base. If you cannot get this, you will never have good principles on the pitch.”
Given the condensed nature of the schedule, Pocognoli expects a fair degree of rotation across the four fixtures, from Slovenia away to Switzerland at home, North Macedonia away and Slovenia at home. Of what he has seen so far in La Manga, he said: “So good so far. But we need to get the response through the games. It’s up to them to perform well, but it’s up to me to make them perform well.”