Scotland will rely on defence in a tough group

One of the dark horses of the tournament, but one that could easily end up in the group stage. Scotland will face tough battles from the first day of play, alongside Germany, the always strong Switzerland and, in recent years, a quality Hungary. What kind of squad are the islanders taking to the tournament?

Scottish manager Steve Clarke has nominated 28 players for the preparatory camp, of which he has to cut two before the start of the tournament. The selection includes 18-year-old winger Ben Doak, who has been picking up his first minutes in the Premier League under Jürgen Klopp.

With no major surprises

The Scottish national team nomination includes all the mainstays of recent years. John McGinn has had a historic season as Aston Villa captain with promotion to the Champions League, while Andrew Robertson, on the other hand, hasn’t played much at Liverpool due to injury.

On the other hand, Scott McTominay and Kieran Tierney, other Scottish stars, have not had a firm foothold at their clubs. The former was on loan at Manchester United, the latter was on loan from Arsenal at Real Sociedad. Both feature regularly in the national team.

In particular, central midfielder McTominay plays as a stopper in the national jersey in a five-man defence. Tierney and the experienced Grant Hanley or Scott McKenna are expected to be his teammates. Angus Gunn will be in goal.

Question marks in the attack and an unnominated worker

Scotland have long built on hard play and quality standard situations, but they don’t have a killer in attack. At one time that was Che Adams, but despite Southampton’s team-successful season, he has individually disappointed and even dropped out of the line-up.

The other strikers are not doing well either, Lyndon Dykes has the label of a second league goalscorer and has faded at a mediocre Queens Park Rangers, James Forrest is not catching on in the runaway Celtic Glasgow machine.

More than the goalless attack, however, the Scottish public are frustrated by the midfield situation. The nomination of Ryan Jack, who doesn’t play for Rangers, is criticised, while Elliot Anderson doesn’t fit on the roster. He, on the other hand, had a taste of the Champions League with Newcastle alongside the Premier League.

The lack of quality in defence and midfield could be a problem, especially given the quality of Scotland’s opponents. The Germans are at home, the Swiss are black horses at every tournament and the Hungarians have been among the wider European top flight in recent years.

Source: EURO 2024