Scotland drew 0-0 with Slovenia in Ljubljana, but the result only tells part of the story. Sebastien Pocognoli said Scotland's first-half shape was off, then changed it at half-time and got a much better second-half display. Billy Gilmour was central to that shift, while the finishing problem that has followed Scotland for weeks was still there.

Pocognoli's half-time correction

Pocognoli said the first half was not what Scotland expected in terms of structure. Speaking to BBC after the match, he said: "We were in between for the press, actually we were a little bit surprised about the formation of Slovenia, but at half-time we fixed this and you can see that the second half was much better."

He also explained the adjustment in more detail: "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."

That showed up in the shape of the game. Stephen Welsh's average position in the first half was short of the halfway line, but by the end of the match it was in Slovenian territory. Welsh also finished with 16 passes into the final third, while Gilmour led the pitch with 32 passes into the final third.

Gilmour and the chances Scotland did not take

John Collins called Gilmour "the catalyst for everything", and the second half backed that up. Collins said: "Straight from the start of the second half he was getting the ball, playing forward passes and following his pass to the strikers."

Pocognoli was just as positive about the midfielder, describing him as a creative player who always looks forward and is also very good defensively. Pat Nevin felt Gilmour was operating "close to a creative 10", which fits the way Scotland started finding him between the lines after the break.

The problem was the same one that has hung around Scotland's recent games. Callum Davidson said: "International level is all about taking your chances, you don't get too many," and that was the case again in Ljubljana. Scotland have managed one goal in their last four competitive games, and Kieron Bowie had the highest expected goals rating in the team at 0.94. Oli McBurnie, Robbie Ure and Bowie have one club goal between them this season.

Two debuts were also part of the night, with McBurnie making his first Scotland appearance since 2021. The new shape helped Scotland look cleaner after the interval, but a 0-0 draw does not hide the bigger issue. They created more after the break, they just did not finish enough of it.

Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →