Scotland ace labelled key to Pocognoli’s ‘modern’ plan as Switzerland boss hints at Xhaka return

The Napoli midfielder made his first appearance for Scotland since picking up a knee injury in the 4-1 friendly win over Curacao in May, which ruled him out of the World Cup, starting the 0-0 draw with Slovenia in the Nations League on Saturday, and was hailed for his impressive performance.

The catalyst to many of Scotland’s attacking moves in Ljubljana, Gilmour made 32 passes into the final third against Slovenia, including a defence-splitting through ball that put Kieron Bowie one-on-one with Jan Oblak in the closing stages of the game for what should have been the winning goal. He also linked well with strikers Oli McBurnie and Robbie Ure before Bowie’s golden opportunity.

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“First half, was not what we expected in terms of structure,” explained Pocognoli. “We were in between for the press, actually we were a little bit surprised about the formation of Slovenia, but at half-time we fixed this and you can see that the second half was much better. We produced what we wanted to show every minute, but first half we learned to stick together, to defend the box, to be resilient and to be patient to change the game.

Shifting Gilmour to a deeper role in the second period to establish better control in midfield, Pocognoli’s adjustments at the break sparked a major upturn in performance, with Gilmour at the centre of the action. After the game, he revealed why he views the Napoli star as crucial to his team’s chances of success in the coming months.

"I really like him," admitted Pocognoli. "He's really the type of player that we miss in the big topic in modern football. Creative players who always look forward, always ready to find a solution with a clear game plan. Also a good presence around the box. Also very good defensively. We are happy to that he is back and we can move on with this good performance. I think we had two games in the same game, but you can analyse in a positive way both of them.”

Meanwhile, Switzerland head coach Murat Yakin has not closed the door on captain Granit Xhaka and striker Breel Embolo making a return to his squad following their 3-0 win over North Macedonia on Saturday night, admitting he won’t rule either player out of making a return for the Nations League games with Slovenia and Scotland in November.

Xhaka is Switzerland's most-capped player with 152 international appearances, but withdrew from international duty last week alongside Embolo amid a pending investigation into claims he forged a Covid certificate. While he won’t feature when the two sides clash at Hampden Park this Tuesday (September 29), Yakin believes they could return when they meet again in the Nations League in St Gallen this November.

“It’s not as if the door is closed now,” said Yakin following the win over North Macedonia. “[We need] the best players to win all the Nations League matches. I feel sorry for them that this decision was made. But it was important for the team that we were able to work in peace. [Ardon] Jashari played his position very well, was the linchpin of the team, and was strong both defensively and offensively. He may have been a little hasty at times, but overall it was a very good performance.”