Wrong tactics or players ‘not turning up’? Ex-pros weigh in on Scotland

Collins, who scored 12 goals in 58 Scotland appearances and featured at Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup, questioned the persistence with playing three central defenders after losing wing-back options Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson, as well as target man Lyndon Dykes, before the tournament.

“Three centre-halves on the pitch in a game we have to win means we have less creative players at the top of the pitch,” he said.

“You’ve got to have overloads. There was no penetrating passes from midfield, nobody making any runs in behind, the whole tournament. The only way to change that was to change the system. We never got to the byline in the whole tournament, for cut-backs.

“In fairness to the manager, his system worked in the qualifiers. If you’ve got a big striker at the top of the pitch, it means your wing-backs 20, 30 yards from the byline can put balls in the box because they see you’ve got a big centre forward, who’s going to get flick-ons, going to create knock downs for [Scott] McTominay coming in late. We never had that.

“When you’ve not got a tall striker, you’ve got a smaller striker, you’ve got to be more precise, you’ve got to try and get to the byline for cut-backs for him. He was left up there on his own.

“A lot of fans have criticised Che Adams. He had no service and he was asked to work the full width of the pitch. He had no energy after an hour because he had done so much work for the team.

“Against Switzerland, against Hungary, we should’ve gone 4-3-3. Games you’ve got to win, you’ve got to have players further up the pitch and stretching opponents’ back four.”