Points shared, a plethora of positives, attacking play and plenty of shots at goal. An all-round success as Pocognoli took charge of the Scotland dug out for the first time.
Gone were the days of overly defensive football as Scotland were resurrected and fans were given something to anticipate, with Scotland gradually growing into a scintillating game in Ljubljana.
Slovenia were on the ball straight from kick-off and began to cause Scotland trouble down the left side. Robertson and Welsh looked uncomfortable as Matko bore down that channel on multiple occasions.
With only seven minutes on the clock, the Balkan side thought they’d opened the scoring as Scotland were sliced open by a through pass and Sporar rocketed the ball into the top corner, but the flag was up for an obvious offside. A very real warning sign for the backline.
For the next seven minutes, Slovenia were relentless and clearly targeted the left side of the Scotland defence. Hendry cleared Matko’s shot off the line, and Sporar flashed another shot across the face of goal. One pass was all that was required to untie Scotland, and Slovenia were pinging the ball down that channel.
Scotland slowly grew into the game, with vast possession spread across the backline, which isn’t particularly the direction you need the ball to be heading. They lacked pace on the attack and someone to give the Slovenian full-backs a hard time. With that being said McBurnie and Ure paired well together in terms of hold-up play and attempting to fashion attacks.
Pocognoli cut a frustrated figure on the touchline, as the game plan didn’t quite fall into place.
Despite holding the majority of the possession, it was Slovenia who once again assaulted the Scotland goal. A well-delivered corner in the 32nd minute was thumped goal-bound by Drkusic, although the join of the crossbar came to Scotland’s aid.
Scotland’s motto over the past four years has been ‘better late than never’, and that rang true as the first half drew to a close. Hickey mustered the first shot for Scotland as his driven effort was blocked by the Slovenian defence.
Robbie Ure came to life minutes before the close of the half, with his effort from 20 yards out firing off the post. It was a fantastic shot from the debutant, who was unlucky to narrowly miss the bottom corner.
The first half produced flashes of positivity, and the second half began to embody that positive ideology as Scotland shifted through the gears to cause Slovenia problems.
Scotland’s account of themselves in the second half was much improved from the first, with the intention from Pocognoli clear: constantly play the ball forward and keep the intensity high.
Five minutes after the restart, McBurnie should have buried his effort to open the scoring and truly sail the ship of the Pocognoli voyage. However, the striker’s poor feet allowed Oblak to claw the ball into his chest from the one-v-one situation.
Scotland upped the intensity once again with great link-up play between Gilmour and McBurnie. The striker flicked the ball round the corner for Gilmour, who opened up his body and tried to pass the ball into the far corner, but Oblak’s strong hand denied the Napoli midfielder.
Both Bowie and McBurnie had consecutive shots within the space of a minute, but nothing was penetrating the Slovenian goal. Welsh played a delightful ball through to Bowie in the 72nd minute, but the striker’s chipped effort was closed down by Oblak. The Slovenian goalkeeper was called upon once again as he had to save McBurnie’s header from point-blank range.
The final opportunity of the match came naturally for Scotland in the 77th minute as Gilmour’s cute ball through to Bowie allowed the striker plenty of time to dig the ball out, but with too much time to think about placement, he fired the ball wide — much to the surprise of everyone.
A draw was a result many would have taken before this tie. It gives Scotland something to build on and three points to aim for on Tuesday night. The main positive to derive from this game — at least we are finally playing attacking football.
Analysis
Loose on the Left
In the first half, certainly, Scotland looked very shaky in the left-back and left centre-back positions. Now, was that down to nerves and rustiness? Welsh received his first cap, and Robertson isn’t playing regular football with Spurs — who knows? But it gradually disrupted the flow of the game.
In the opening exchanges, a loose pass or misreading of play could be excused. However, it became more frequent as the first half ticked on. The Slovenians barraged that side of the pitch, with every wave of attack flowing down that side, and they experienced joy as Matko was in acres of space behind Robertson for their goal — albeit offside.
A similar situation occurred on another three occasions, with Scotland extremely fortunate not to concede from that flank. The only saving grace was that this nervy left side didn’t continue into the second half.
Positive Pocognoli
There were plenty of positives to take from Scotland’s performance. The team looked energetic and were striving to work their way further up the pitch. The formation appeared to work in their favour; with that being said, the squad did lack a certain degree of pace.
Speaking of formation, the 3-5-2 afforded Hickey the ability to move up and down the wing freely, not so much for Andy Robertson, who was caught out on a few occasions. Hickey was abundantly successful in advancing into the Slovenian half, with his wicked passing and appetite for shooting causing concern for the Slovenians.
The style of play, coupled with the formation, tapped into Gilmour’s creativity as he advanced further up the field of play. Gilmour was a standout player for the national side once again, with his range of passing and accuracy on the ball leaving nothing to be desired. If he continues to play in that position, he looks destined to create for Scotland in later games.
The message in the second half definitely added to the positivity of attacking football. The full-backs were used more effectively in the forward areas and were afforded space and time to fire crosses in, left, right and centre. The only aspect missing was the willing takers in the box.
The interchangeable nature of personnel, especially in the striking department, was a welcome addition to Scotland’s game, as all three strikers, McBurnie, Ure and Bowie, looked positive in possession.
The only aspect of the game that would have added the cherry on top was a more clinical end product in front of goal, but naturally, that will come over time.
To watch the match reaction from Slovenia vs Scotland follow the link to the Tik Tok video: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZN8rhd3v6/
