Scotland has not qualified for a major tournament since 1998, but recently something good is happening to its players • The clubs are investing in the youth and the number of representatives in the Premier League is greater than ever • Against Israel in the last try before the really important game in October, about half
Robertson.
Champion of England
Photo:
Gettyimages
McTumini.
The future generation of United
Photo:
Reuters
Tyranny in Arsenal uniform
Photo:
IPI
The Scotland squad for the upcoming game against Israel has nine players who will open the upcoming season in the Premier League.
To them can be added Kenny McLean, who went down this season with Norwich to the Championship;
Callum Peterson, who previously played in the English Premier League;
And maybe from the graves of Sheffield United, who were called up for the game but were removed from the squad last night due to injury.
In total, and without counting Championship players, the wide Scottish squad has 12 players with a current or past Premier League record.
This is almost half of the full squad, a very respectable amount, and for the Scots one that inspires hope and belief that their football is in the right direction.
While these are not yet the days of Graham Sons, Kenny Dalgliesh, Alan Hansen, Steve Nickel or Gordon Strahan, who have starred in the biggest teams in England for years, but compared to recent times the current squad is the top Premier League the Scots have had in a long time.
Andy Robertson is the left-back and one of the big stars of English champions Liverpool;
Scott McTominy plugged a stake at the Manchester United link;
And Kiron Tierney, who is returning to the squad for the first time since scoring an own goal in a 2-1 loss to Israel in October 2018, is slowly starting to fit into the lineup of the gluttonous Arsenal.
To this list will also be added in the future Billy Gilmore, the injured prodigy of Chelsea, who is waiting for the debut summons.
And there’s also Stuart Armstrong, who scored five goals from the Southampton midfield position this season, John Falk, who did the same at the surprising Sheffield United;
And John McGuinn, who arrives after a good season at Aston Villa.
Armstrong. 5 goals this season in Southampton // Photo: AFP
For comparison, the Scottish squad for the previous meeting against Israel (November 2018) had only five Premier League players on the list.
In fact, since Craig Brown more than two decades ago, there has been no national team coach with such a variety of Premier League players.
"I think it's a great thing," national team coach Steve Clark said in an interview with the Sunday Post. Right and quality for training, so that everyone will benefit from the situation. "
When Clark talks about gaining from the situation he of course means qualifying for a big tournament.
Since 1998 Scotland have not qualified for one - the Euro or the World Cup - and the current squad gives hope that it can finally be done.
In recent years there has been a decline in the achievements of Scottish teams in Europe - Celtic have been relegated this season for the third time in a row in the Champions League and Rangers have not been in the home stage since 2011 and accordingly the level of the local player has been hurt.
Therefore, every player who moves to the Premier League, and certainly those who reach big teams and succeed in them, upgrade (at least on paper) the national team.
Clark. "Higher level players" // Photo: Scotland's official website
Coach Clark knows other days closely.
Even though he played 10 years at Chelsea in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he wore the national uniform only six times.
The best players then played most of them in the Scottish League, Celtic and Rangers were empires, and thanks to the local player the team participated in the 1990 World Cup in Italy and two years later qualified for the European Championship in Sweden for the first time in its history.
These were other, simpler days, and Clark was aware of that.
"Today you have to have players at the highest levels," he explained, "if you want to qualify for a big tournament you have to make that leap."
According to quite a few people in Scotland, the leap will only be possible if Celtic and Rangers move to the Premier League.
Thus the leading Scottish players will face and improve against English teams, and small Scottish teams will be able to win titles.
It's not happening yet, but the feeling is that something good is going on for the Scottish footballer.
Many clubs are investing in youth departments, English and European teams are looking for a reality in the local league, and the number of players moving to play in the Premier League is greater than ever.
Just before the most important game of Scottish football in the last two decades - the Euro 2020 playoff semi-final against Israel on October 8 - Clark will try to test the Legionnaires' theory on Friday against Willy Rotensteiner's team.
If he succeeds, it is not impossible that in a month and a week, in the more important game, the Scottish team will be more Premier League than ever.
