As part of our Euro 2024 coverage, we are running our TFA Tactics Talk series with people inside the professional game – today, we were fortunate enough to grab ten minutes with Ally McCost – former Rangers manager and currently believed to be the best co-commentator in the industry, in partnership with talkSPORT bet.
TFA: Ahead of the Scotland game, how do you think Steve Clark should approach this one tactically?
AMc: They need to defend higher up the pitch – there were too many gaps between our back five and the four midfielders. Jamal Musiala and Ilkay Gundogan in particular were starting high up the pitch and dropping into areas behind our midfield and taking the ball on the half turn – there was no passing on from the centre-backs to deal with the danger and that was the major problem for me. The other problem was that the midfield four was too narrow and that allowed the German full-backs acres of space down the right and left hand side.
Scotland didn’t get up the park at all against Germany, so I think we’re going to have to take a higher defensive line and be a lot more aggressive against Switzerland, in terms of when we don’t have the ball. By aggressive, I mean we need to go hunting and close people down in twos and threes and fours. The other thing is that when we play with one man up top, we need to get support over to him – that’s a must.
TFA: With each team having played once, which tactical performance as impressed you most?
AMc: Probably Romania, to tell you the truth. They went with a 4-1-4-1 formation against Ukraine and played Dragus as the main centre-forward, but they managed to get support to him well. It was the perfect example of how not to isolate your striker when he’s playing by himself. They’re solid enough at the back and they had Marius Marin sitting in front of the defence.
Tactically, it was absolutely spot on, but more importantly, the way the players executed their game plan was fabulous. I thought it was probably one of the best performances so far of the tournament. There have been some good performances so far – Germany were also great, although I don’t know how good it was because Scotland were so poor, but Romania for me had the best tactical performance.
TFA: Have you seen any early tactical trends?
AMc: Something that caught my eye was how effective the classic 4-4-2 was for Slovenia against Denmark, it was brilliant to watch them and I really enjoyed it! It was just a throwback approach to the game – they played the ball to Benjamin Sesko and Andraž Šporar up front and worked their socks off, and they certainly deserved a point in that second half. For all the deeper tactical performances here, there and everywhere, I loved the throwback to the old 4-4-2 from Slovenia!
TFA: It’s the burning question for England – how do you get the most out of Phil Foden without treading on Jude Bellingham’s toes?
AMc: I think the only way you can do that is by bringing Bellingham back, and then leave yourself open to criticism. That’s the problem England have and Gareth Southgate has got. If he’s going to play Trent Alexander-Arnold in there alongside Declan Rice, you might not see the best of Phil Foden, sadly, because you’re starting Bellingham in that side all day.
The best way you can do it is by playing Rice as a 6 then having Bellingham and Foden as two 8s – I think that’s the only way he can do it. Southgate will get crucified if he brings Bellingham back to partner Rice as another 6, because he was Player of the Year in La Liga playing as a forward and as a 10. The only way he can do it is to change the formation from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 with a sitting 6 and two 8s.
