SWNT on Tour: Three Takeaways as Scotland look towards the Nations League
Pedro Martinéz Losa guides Scotland to four wins on the bounce for the first time during his reign. So how are SWNT looking ahead of the Nations League?
Scotland fans should feel encouraged by two contrasting victories from their national side as SWNT headed into the start of the Nations League in September on the back of a six game unbeaten run. Victory in Tampere also meant that Pedro Martinéz Losa had guided Scotland to a run of four consecutive victories for the first time under his stewardship with the second anniversary of his appointment just around the corner.
But what can we learn from the contests against Northern Ireland and Finland? In this final dispatch of the SWNT on Tour Series I reflect on three key takeaways from this week’s games.
A sheen of steel emerges to accompany ever blossoming talent.
In November 2021 Scotland fell to a shambolic 8-0 defeat to Spain, a record equalling loss and one that raised concern about the future direction of the national side under Pedro Martinéz Losa. Losing to Spain wasn’t a surprise but it was the manner in which Scotland capitulated that raised alarm bells.
Scotland is known for being fiercely proud of its identity and fighting spirt. Ask the average-Jo American who’s great uncle twice removed was born in Kilbarchan to sum up Scottishness beyond whisky and three-legged haggises and at some point stage the blood-curdling cry of ‘Freedom’ bellowed by Mel Gibson as William Wallace took his last breath in the sketchily accurate but nevertheless entertaining blockbuster Braveheart will be referenced. It’s a piece of Hollywood history that encapsulated an oft-referenced psyche; proudly defiant until the last, even if at times it is to our own detriment.
Martinéz Losa’s Scotland have shown that trait in flashes. Rachel Corsie’s late winner against Hungary and Abi Harrison’s equally late leveller against Ukraine during Euro qualifying evidence that this iteration of Scotland can dig results out just when it appears all hope is near lost. The extra-time winner against Austria, a big goal for a moment that mattered and yet there has been a sense that fragility is just a slip away.
That defeat in Seville was the zeitgeist, a freak result perhaps, but then Republic of Ireland came to town with a place at this summer’s World Cup on the line and Scotland were outfought by their well drilled opposition. Once Ireland scored it never felt like the result was going any other way.
In Tampere, fans, both those watching at home and the twenty or so in the stadium made up of a small travelling contingent and an even smaller handful of ex-pats, got to see Scotland at their steeliest. In the closing stages, and with Finland chasing an equaliser, cross balls would seem laser guided onto the forehead of Sophie Howard, who is now (for this guy) Scotland’s first choice centre back. The experienced Lee Gibson would crunch down on top of any ball that would be gathered safely in her arms. The fresh legs of Jamie-Lee Napier, Martha Thomas and Kirsty MacLean in the closing stages picked up the running that those who had gone before them had done with a level of urgency that comes when you find yourself starting on the bench. Finland dominated possession towards the end but were for the most part restricted to efforts from range.
Two key flash points did arrive as the pressure began to mount. Both would involve Rangers full-back Rachel McLauchlan, the 26-year-old having stepped in on the left-hand side of defence with club team-mate Nicola Docherty slipping in at centre back (more on that below).
First a tired slash at the ball saw an attempted clearance skew off her boot and loop towards Gibson’s goal, luck has often deserted Scotland in recent history, maybe even that tide is starting to turn, as the ball would thud the crossbar and head to safety.
Moments later a perfectly executed slide tackle from McLauchlan would deny Finland a golden opportunity to level the game. It was a challenge that got a roar of approval from the small pocket of Tartan Army in attendance and epitomised the collective effort from a squad playing in just their second game of the season against opposition containing a number of players deep into their summer season. Togetherness has been a watch word of recent camps and as the final whistle blew, with celebratory slapping hands transitioning to weary knees there was an infectious unity translating from the pitch to the stands.
In Tampere, as torrential rain battered the Ratina Stadion, it wasn’t just the climate that felt light years away from that night in Seville but the performance too. One to recall the next time this squad have to dig in and get a result when all momentum seems to being pushing against them.
A centre-back conundrum ahead of the Nations League
Scotland’s starting line up in Tampere had me intrigued, with no recognised striker and only one recognised centre back in the starting eleven.
Up top Emma Watson was charged with leading the line, the youngster taking to her latest brief with the same fearless approach that has seen her become one of football’s hottest young commodities. Her third goal in four international appearances taken with the same composure that Jane Ross or Julie Fleeting would have converted with during their pomp.
It was defensively though where the real head-scratching was taking place with Emma Mukandi, Amy Rodgers and Jenna Clark all looked over in favour of Nicola Docherty, who barring a few rare forays into the side positions of a defensive three has played very little in the centre of defence over the course of a hugely successful career in Scotland.
When asked post match about his decision to start Docherty over other more recognisable options Martinéz Losa spoke towards a combination of niggles and managing early season fitness levels as the driver for his surprise decision. Docherty handled herself capably, but it does leave you wondering who will be the starting duo against England in September?
The most obvious pairing is that of Sophie Howard and Rachel Corsie, however the Scotland captain has been stung by a recent run of injuries and missed the last two camps. She has come off an excellent season with Aston Villa, rotating between centre half and a midfield holding role and has experience like no other in the current squad. However, given the successes during her time on the sidelines is Corsie’s inclusion in the starting eleven as locked in as it once was before?
Her absence saw Scotland turn to full-back Emma Mukandi. The partnership of right-footed Howard and and left-footed Mukandi has impressed, going three games without conceding against Australia, Costa Rice and Northern Ireland. The former Reading defender played on the left-hand side of a back three last season at club level and along with adding the balance to the heart of the defence Mukandi’s evolution also adds a level of pace that Corsie herself acknowledges has started to drift away from her game. At the time of writing she remains without a club following her departure from the Madjeski Stadium, although that situation will be remedied.
The Clark’s, Kelly and Jenna have stepped in without making the spot their own while recent cap Amy Rodgers, who made her debut at Dens Park replacing Howard, had been called up with a view to providing competition to Sam Kerr at the base of the midfield three. As it stands there has been no perfect resolution, there may never be one such is the nature of international football, but as was shown against Northern Ireland the odd lapse of concentration can still permeate the backline, something that talents such as Rachel Daly, Vivianne Miedema and Tessa Wullaert will be far better placed to take advantage of later this year.
Of all the positions in the Scotland side centre back feels the one operating in the most heightened state of flux and how players currently within the squad or perhaps someone outside of it performs in the opening months of the season could have a significant bearing on the starting eleven come September.
The ethos has never been clearer, but the true test will come in the autumn.
After a lot of tinkering Scotland now feels like a team with a plan. A central striker will operate at the point of attack with a mandate to bring others into play. If they drop deep or wide, which they have the freedom to do, it will allow wingers to step inside and the likes of Caroline Weir and Erin Cuthbert a route further up the park.
Those wingers will also leave the pitch with chalk on their boots, an educated assessment would say that Kirsty Hanson and Claire Emslie are the preferred candidates for that role although Emma Watson (who may even land the striker role given her performance in Finland), Lauren Davidson or a fit again Christy Grimshaw are potential alternatives. High-pressing full-backs, Docherty and Fiona Brown most recently, will support from behind.
In the midfield Sam Kerr, who has established herself as a first team regular, will drop back to receive the ball and split the centre backs. On occasion she will rotate forward to but her position should ensure that Weir and Cuthbert maintain their positions further up the pitch where they can do the most creative damage. A centre back duo and Lee Gibson providing the foundations for a more expansive approach.
It’s bold and a shift that the players appear to be relishing. How that is tweaked for those Nations League contests where Scotland will likely cede possession will no doubt be at the forefront of Martinéz Losa’s mind as he scouts his future opposition in Australia and New Zealand in the coming weeks. A further evolution will have to come.
Away from the pitch that ethos has also trickled down to how players are called up to the squad. At the beginning of his reign replacements would be called up in a seemingly haphazard manner but in recent squads like-for-likes have become the norm. Player profiles are built to ensure every position within a Scotland starting XI is layered two, three, even four players deep, and if the player isn’t already in the Scotland set-up at youth level or domestically then there is now a flexibility to look beyond conventional methods, as evidenced by Amy Rodgers, the daughter of a Glaswegian was called up with a specific role inside Martinéz Losa’s structure in mind.
Bigger picture there is of course still questions to be resolved. When will a strategy for the U23 side emerge after their hasty re-debut against Panama in November last year? Who will replace Pauline Hamill as Scotland U19 Head Coach following her departure in May? Who will take on the recently advertised role of National Performance Head Coach for the Girls and Women’s Pathway? Can the unresolved issues behind the scenes finally be put to bed?
All questions that need to be answered if this current wave of positive momentum is to have longevity, but the exciting news dear reader is that we are now officially riding a wave of positive momentum, so bring on September, bring on the Nations League and bring on England!
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How are you feeling ahead of the Nation’s League? Is the saltire blood pumping through your veins? Who would you start in defence come September? Are we now massive? Thanks for reading and we will speak again soon.