From turgid to thrusting - mixed start for new Scotland
· Yahoo Sports
For 45 turgid minutes in Slovenia, some in the Tartan Army might have reimagined the Steve Clarke years as a time of plenty, the halcyon era of ambitious football when Scotland were an all-electric thrill-fest.
The opening half of the Sebastien Pocognoli regime was, as expected, disjointed.
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It was also, rather unexpectedly, devoid of anything remotely related to what Pocognoli laid out as his non-negotiables - front-foot pressing, high intensity, speed of thought and mind, goal threat.
They had no shot on target and lost so many aerial duels that you stopped counting beyond the half-hour mark. They took 38 minutes to touch the ball in Slovenia's penalty area.
It wasn't like they were under major pressure - the hosts are a pretty toothless side - but neither were they accurate or energetic. Everybody who preached patience in the new era gulped hard. This was not good. We didn't expect champagne, but this was stale beer.
And then it changed, not so completely that Scotland roared and won the game, but they certainly cleared their throats as an attacking force.
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McBurnie and co show promise without poise
From being impotent, they became thrusting. That second half was as big a 0-0 rout as you're likely to see. Frustrating, but encouraging at the same time.
It will be agonising for Oli McBurnie that he's still without an international goal - he said he wouldn't sleep after failing to convert a one-on-one with Jan Oblak - but his second-half performance was full of good things; efforts on goal, link-up play, presence and danger.
Robbie Ure hit a post, Kieron Bowie had a terrific chance, but missed. The three strikers drew a blank, but as far as 0-0s go, it offered hope that more productive days may lay ahead with these guys.
There are two ways of looking at the draw. All 10 starting outfield players had a shot on goal, the first time that's happened since June 2022, against Armenia.
Scotland had 17 shots, their most attempts in a competitive game in more than 14 years. The flipside is that they have now failed to score in three tournament games in a row for the first time in almost 22 years.
After the break, Pocognoli dropped McBurnie a little deeper, in a pocket just behind Robbie Ure and then Bowie when he came on. He got Billy Gilmour to sit lower in midfield, where he had time to dictate, which he absolutely did. Gilmour tied it all together in the second half.
Pocognoli called it "two games in one game" and he was right. The subtle shift in McBurnie's and Gilmour's positioning brought Scotland alive.
It was an impressive watch; ambition, relentlessness, belief. No cherry on top but enough there to leave most folk happy about day one and motivated ahead of day two, against Switzerland on Tuesday night at Hampden.
McBurnie, not so much the prodigal son but now the forgiven one, had that big chance six minutes into the new half - the one he would have dreamed about. He created it for himself, winning possession and getting into a wonderful position right in front of an isolated Oblak.
He could have dinked it as the goalkeeper committed himself, he could have slid it home to Oblak's left or through his legs. Instead, he went for the flourish, trying to take it round the Slovenian and marking his return to the side after 2,005 days in the wilderness with a first goal on his 17th appearance.
Oblak won the duel. Painful, for sure, but a prelude to a stirring second half from the striker and his new-old team-mates. McBurnie played a slick one-two with the increasingly dominant Gilmour, who had his shot saved. Oblak was by a million miles Slovenia's best player.
McBurnie had a header fly over, Aaron Hickey had a header just wide, Bowie came on and had an immediate impact. He had three chances in eight minutes - a tame shot, a clipped attempt and then the big one - played in by Gilmour but pulled wide. In that moment, he joined McBurnie and Ure (after hitting a post late in the first half) in the torture chamber.
In the midst of all of that, McBurnie powered a header on goal, but Oblak was equal to it. That was Scotland's ninth consecutive crack without reply. They were utterly dominant but achingly goalless. So much encouraging stuff and yet just one point to show for it when it really should have been three.
Pocognoli demonstrates tactical acumen
Pocognoli said he was heartened by that second half. Scotland fans should be buoyed by the new head coach recognising the problems in his team and then fixing them.
With such a small track record to feed off, the subject of his tactical acumen was always going to be an interesting one - the ownership of the second 45 minutes showed that he's no slouch in identifying and changing the things that need to be changed.
Going with McBurnie and Ure up front was something of a surprise, but it sent a signal out that Scotland are here to go on the offensive rather than just defend their way to decent outcomes.
That didn't materialise in the first half, but it clicked in the second. It's a touch surreal that, at the end of another game when Scotland failed to score, there is a lot to be hopeful about in the men who are there to supply the goals.
McBurnie, Ure and Bowie are an exciting trio. When others are fit, there's Che Adams, Lawrence Shankland, Tommy Conway and Ross Stewart. Young James Wilson will have his moment at some point. New blood has joined the old guard and things should be better when everything settles down.
For Pocognoli, the next test is the biggest one. Switzerland, ranked 14th in the world, are missing some serious operators, but they are brilliantly coached by Murat Yakin and they're settled and formidable.
Their whole is greater than the sum of their parts. This will be a fascinating examination of Pocognoli's prowess. Win on Tuesday night and it's lift-off time.