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Selection concerns rumble on despite Scotland sitting top of Nations League group

Allan McGregor was in fine form against Israel - AFP
Allan McGregor was in fine form against Israel - AFP

Alex McLeish got his selection right for Scotland’s visit to Israel and his reward is to see the Scots sit on top of their Uefa Nations League table at the midway point of their group campaign. That is a declaration that would have gratified the Tartan Army before the tournament qualifiers got under way, so how does it square with a Scottish performance in Thursday’s 2-1 defeat by Israel in Haifa which has been the subject of widespread and corrosive condemnation?

In this case, the vindication of McLeish’s selection was singular, not general. Faced with the difficulty of having to choose between two goalkeepers of similar calibre, the manager decided Allan McGregor would play in the Scots’ competitive matches, by virtue of his shot-stopping form with Rangers, while Celtic’s Craig Gordon would continue to amass caps, but in friendlies.

McGregor was Scotland’s best performer in Haifa and his series of vital saves spared his team-mates – and McLeish – the experience of being irrevocably linked to a humiliation that could have extended to a four or five-goal battering by a team ranked 94th in the world, whose record going into the match was a single win from 10 games against the micro-power of Liechtenstein in a World Cup qualifier last October.

Having resolved one dilemma decisively, however, McLeish has seen his response to another conundrum explode in his face. He is entitled to sympathy for the fact that the two classiest acts at his disposal – Andrew Robertson of Liverpool and Celtic’s Kieran Tierney – operate at left-back at club level.

McLeish’s solution was to abolish the position. Scotland field a back three, with Tierney on the left, partnering Blackburn’s Charlie Mulgrew and John Souttar of Hearts. Robertson is at left wing-back and the Kilmarnock man, Stephen O’Donnell, is his counterpart on the right.

Robertson, Tierney and O’Donnell are out of position and all five players in central defence or at wing-back play in a back four for their clubs. “Both of us are out of position, so it’s two positions we need to try and learn,” Robertson said of himself and Tierney.

Craig Gordon - Credit: pa
Craig Gordon is Scotland's No 1 for friendly matches only Credit: pa

“We’ve played there before but we need to learn it in this system. Unfortunately, that will take time. Both of us want to play left-back and there isn’t that slot just now.

“The gaffer has looked at it and wants to get me and KT down the left. I’ve got to start a lot higher and I don't have a winger to play with. From that point of view, it is a lot harder. I won’t speak for Kieran, but I wasn’t good enough.”

Robertson’s self-effacing candour is admirable and, in truth, could be expressed without fear of contradiction by most of his colleagues on the night. “I don't want to take anything away from them (Israel) but I think it was more us being bad,” Robertson said. “If we play to our capabilities, we get a more positive result but we made them look good.”

It can be argued – and McLeish did so in the aftermath of the proceedings in Haifa – that the same system and personnel were deployed in the Scots’ opening qualifier, against Albania at Hampden Park, which produced a victory. “It’s nonsense to criticise the system,” McLeish said.

He added that the yellow card shown to Souttar for a challenge on Moanes Dabour which, combined with an earlier caution, meant dismissal for the Hearts man, was an error by the Polish match official. “He (Dabour) fooled the referee,” McLeish said. “I thought it was very soft.

Alex McLeish - Credit: reuters
Alex McLeish is feeling the heat Credit: reuters

“The referee was about 60 yards away and not up with play. Maybe he had something in his ear. It’s never easy playing with 10 against 11. Israel had one or two players in really good form and they deserved it on the night, although we are disappointed with the goals we lost.”

Special pleading, though, cannot hide the fact that the back-line deployment was accident-prone in Haifa. Not only was Souttar sent off, Tierney was forced into an almost unprecedented error when he sliced an attempted clearance past McGregor for what proved to be the winning goal.

The clamour, from disenchanted supporters and critical pundits alike, is for McLeish to do what looks obvious to everybody else and play a back four of O’Donnell, Souttar, Mulgrew and Tierney, with Robertson wide in left midfield and James Forrest on the right, in a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 formation. Whatever notion McLeish might have had about Scotland’s shape and tactics for Sunday’s friendly against Portugal at Hampden, he is under almost irresistible pressure to go with four at the back.

As said, Scotland top their group, though only with a goal difference preserved by McGregor’s outstanding performance. By Sunday night, that will change, one way or the other, after the Israel v Albania fixture. The choice of prospects was summed up by McLeish’s long-time defensive partner at Aberdeen, Willie Miller.

“Alex can't let it get any worse. He's got the chance to rectify it in the next two games and we can still top the group.”