Scotland: What we learned from Pocognoli’s first game

Napoli midfielder Billy Gilmour missed the World Cup campaign after a heartbreaking injury against Curacao in Scotland’s final home warm-up game.

He returned to the heart of midfield alongside Lewis Ferguson and, according to former Scotland midfielder John Collins was “the catalyst for everything” in the second half.

“Straight from the start of the second half he was getting the ball, playing forward passes and following his pass to the strikers,” Collins said.

Gilmour played further up the pitch than Ferguson, “close to a creative 10” according to former Scotland winger Pat Nevin, and played 32 passes into the final third, more than any player on the pitch.

The former Chelsea man combined well with McBurnie on the edge of the box to set up a shot for himself; he slipped in Robbie Ure who opted to cross rather than shoot; and picked out Kieron Bowie with a wonderful through ball which should have resulted in a goal.

Those were just a handful of his key moments. Pocognoli spoke afterwards about the half-time tweak to bring Gilmour deeper to make it harder for Slovenia to play through them and have greater control of the ball.

“We fixed the position of Billy to be a little bit lower and to have Oli McBurnie a little bit more in his box, with two sixes and two 10s, and we were more compact to regain the ball when we lost it.

“Also, that creates some imbalance in the defence from Slovenia, where we can go through the lines with a good chance of Billy or through the depth with the chance of Kieron Bowie or with some crosses.

“He’s a fantastic player, I really like him. He’s a creative player who always looks forward, always ready to find a solution with a clear game plan, also a good presence around the box and also very good defensively.”