Kieran Tierney’s first World Cup start for Scotland didn’t go to plan.
The Celtic defender has just come off a brilliant individual season on the domestic stage, rediscovering his old form after several years of injury heartache.
But while Steve Clarke is Scotland’s greatest-ever coach, it doesn’t mean he isn’t immune to criticism, as Charlie Mulgrew rightfully called out how he used Tierney against Morocco.
With his ultra-defensive hat on, Clarke played Tierney as a left-sided winger to try and deal with the threat of Achraf Hakimi, as Mulgrew told Go Radio that the Scotland boss was ‘scared.’
“Tierney playing left midfield, I don’t know if there is any other country in the World Cup that would play a left-back who can play centre-back at left wing,” said Mulgrew.
“I can see what he (Steve Clarke) is doing. He is terrified of Hakimi. I think that mentality, when you put it to the team, that goes right through the changing room.
“When you are playing your left-back at left wing, you are thinking, ‘We are pragmatic here. We are scared.’”
Is Steve Clarke getting the best out of Scotland at the World Cup? 🤔🏴
Share us your thoughts…👇
Charlie Mulgrew urges Steve Clarke to change his ways as Scotland face Brazil
After Scotland fans took over Boston, they are now in Miami ready to face the might of Brazil on Wednesday, knowing a victory will send them through to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
It will be interesting to see if Tierney keeps his place in the XI, because he did go down with a knock in the second half before being replaced by Ben Gannon-Doak.
In truth, even Celtic fans will have their head in their hands if they see Tierney’s name on the teamsheet and he is put on the left wing.
You have just seen Tierney produce stellar performances during the second half of the campaign to help Celtic win the domestic double as a left-back.
Yet, all of that is being wasted because of Clarke’s fear of putting the foot on the accelerator, as Mulgrew urged him to allow Scotland to ‘press’ from the front against Brazil.
“I think we have more of a chance of getting a result against Brazil than Morocco,” said Mulgrew. “I have always said that. I think Morocco, in this tournament, are a right good team.
“Tierney playing left midfield, I don’t know if there is any other country in the World Cup that would play a left-back who can play centre-back at left wing.
“I can see what he (Steve Clarke) is doing. He is terrified of Hakimi. I think that mentality, when you put it to the team, that goes right through the changing room.
“When you are playing your left-back at left wing, you are thinking, ‘We are pragmatic here. We are scared.’
“As I say, I can understand it. I can understand that Steve Clarke knows that there is a chance of going through. He is a big believer in, as long as there is only one goal in the game, we always have a chance of getting a result.
“So, he wouldn’t have panicked. That’s why the players didn’t panic at 1-0 down. Although it wouldn’t have been a great feeling.
“When you play like Steve Clarke plays at times. The players would have known that they would have been sitting and defending for long periods. The minute you go 1-0 down early, it’s really, really hard to recover from that, because your whole game plan is set on stopping them rather than what you are doing.
“We need to get up and press a wee bit – we let people like McTominay open his legs up. McGinn go and get his body contact and aggressive with people. Let Doak press somebody. Get us up the pitch with his speed.”
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
