Liverpool star Andy Robertson has set his sights on going one better than Darren Fletcher did during his Scotland career.
The Red Devils hero has won all there is to win at club level. What he never managed to achieve during his career was taking Scotland to a major tournament during his stint as captain.
Fletcher won everything with United. (Photo by John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Whilst Robertson has the utmost respect for the former United man, he says he wants to go one further and emulate Fletcher’s international career.
He told the Evening Times: “I remember one of my first squads and I was speaking to Darren Fletcher and he was desperate to end the run. He had 80 caps, he was the captain, he was an unbelievable player who had won all the trophies with Manchester United.
“But the only thing he wanted was to end this run and get Scotland to a finals. Unfortunately, he didn’t manage it. For us, we don’t want to be in that position aged 34 or 35 and thinking about hanging up the boots and looking back and thinking: ‘what if?’
Doesn’t want dreaming of what could’ve been. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
“I’ve had three campaigns that have been like this, but it needs to change – whether it’s this campaign or the next, we need to change it. The only way to do that is by performing on the pitch and unfortunately, we are not doing that right now. ”
Robertson and Scotland have the squad to end a nation’s heartache
We’re at a stage now with the national team where all a generation of fans have to look back on are glorious failures. With the talent Scotland have at their disposal, this has to end.
Robertson is the crown jewel, arguably the best left-back in world football right now. He has the backing and talent to lead a nation and will always be looked to for inspiration.
A source of inspiration. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Then you have the likes of Ryan Fraser, Scott McTominay, John McGinn, Kenny McLean and Oli McBurnie, who are set to be Premier League regulars this term.
Even players who are still in Scotland like James Forrest and Callum McGregor are Premier League level. There’s no reason why Scotland can’t achieve something with this group.
For whatever reason though, something just doesn’t seem to be clicking. The wretched performance against Russia shows that Steve Clarke has a mountain of work to solve this side’s problems.
A pile of work ahead. (ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP/Getty Images)
Robertson is adamant that he wants to emulate Fletcher, but something has to change very soon for that to happen. Right now, the national team is simply not performing to a satisfactory level.