Scotland manager Steve Clarke surprised fans in last night’s 1-1 draw with Israel at Hampden by playing Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay as the right-sided centre-back in a three-man defence – and by the full-time whistle, fans were certain they didn’t want to see it happen again.
McTominay lined up beside Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna and Arsenal’s Kieran Tierney in a new-look Scottish defence and started well before a few lapses in concentration almost saw him badly exposed.
(Photo by James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images)
The Old Trafford star is clearly one of the most talented players at Clarke’s disposal but the decision to play him ahead of Leeds captain Liam Cooper didn’t seem to make much sense to the watching Tartan Army.
He had keeper David Marshall to thank for keeping the scores level at 0-0 after McTominay misjudged the flight of the ball and missed a header, only for Marshall to pull off a brilliant save to deny Dabbur.
Fans were clearly unimpressed with the Manchester United star’s performance – and took to Twitter after the game to make clear they wanted to see a change for Monday’s clash with the Czech Republic.
Here are some of the comments from unhappy Scotland fans :
Mctominay is not a CB and John mcginn is not a RW
— gordon sawers (@SawersJnr) September 4, 2020
Watched full game, tell me mctominay wasn’t supposed to be in defence?????
— Big Fudge (@bigantsmasain) September 4, 2020
Think McTominay should be raging that Jack played ahead of him in his own position
— Raymond Christie #BLM (@mondo_christie) September 4, 2020
Watching Scotland… McTominay is not a centre half. McGinn shouldn't be playing as part of a front 3. Ollie Burke is absolutely gash. Dykes played well but he needs some sort of support.
— Christopher Black (@chicoblack1875) September 4, 2020
Scott McTominay a Midfielder Played as a Centre Back for Scotland Tonight and Showing Poor Awareness in that Position 🤦🏾♂️ he is not a Centre Back why Play him there 🤨 #Scotland #NationsLeague #MUFC
— KSN (@Kulz83) September 4, 2020
Only positives I can take from this evening
-Dykes looked decent at 9
-We’ve discovered 3 at the back is a horror show and we should never do it again
-McTominay should never play CB again
-We can forget about Euro 2020 so the hopes can die early.
Did I miss anything?
— Ruaraidh Britton (@RuaraidhB) September 4, 2020
Steve Clarke na big 🤡 playing McTominay as RB 😂
— Adebayo (@classydudeOG) September 4, 2020