Pocognoli Frustrated as Scots Ignore Game Plan in Shock Slovenia Defeat

SEBASTIEN POCOGNOLI has admitted his biggest frustration from Scotland’s damaging defeat by Slovenia was watching his game plan unravel almost immediately.

The Belgian rejected fatigue as an excuse for the 2-1 loss at Hampden, despite Scotland playing their fourth game in 11 days and fading badly after Ryan Christie had given them an early lead.

Instead, Pocognoli was angered by the way his players moved away from the plan they had worked on before kick-off.

After watching Scotland produce an encouraging performance away to North Macedonia at the weekend, the head coach had hoped to build on that result and strengthen his side’s position in the race for second place in the group.

However, Scotland surrendered control after Christie’s early opener. Second-half goals from Aljosa Matko and Danijel Sturm completed Slovenia’s turnaround and left the hosts facing a costly defeat.

Pocognoli was visibly animated throughout the match and revealed afterwards that his frustration had begun well before Slovenia mounted their comeback.

‘I was angry because we didn’t deliver what we expected to deliver,’ he said.

‘From the first minute, we were not compact and we were not proactive enough in defending forward.

‘Many times, Slovenia’s players between the lines were able to receive the ball, turn and face us. With their speed in front of them, that can cause problems. That was what frustrated me.’

The Scotland boss believes the problems were tactical rather than physical. While some observers blamed tired legs after a demanding international window, Pocognoli argued that poor positioning made his players look more exhausted than they really were.

‘I didn’t feel this,’ he said when asked whether tiredness had played a part.

‘It looked like they were tired because we were not well-positioned.

‘It was the same feeling in the first half. We were too far away from the ball and simply not in the right positions.

‘When you are out of position, you have to cover twice the distance.’

So concerned was Pocognoli by what he had seen that he used half-time to stress the need for greater shape and compactness. He did not want Scotland to drop deeper; instead, he instructed his players to move up the pitch together and stay connected when pressing.

Pocognoli said the message initially appeared to get through.

‘At half-time we were just saying, “Let’s be more compact”,’ he explained.

‘Being compact doesn’t mean we are lower on the pitch. It is just to be compact and push together forward.

‘We did that and after we dropped again.’

For a brief spell after the restart Scotland looked capable of regaining control.

Pocognoli adjusted his side by pushing Billy Gilmour into more advanced areas in an attempt to improve possession and increase pressure on Slovenia higher up the park.

He felt the change was working.

‘We started well in the first 10 to 15 minutes,’ he said.

‘With Billy on the ball a little bit higher we created three 10s, so we had more control of the game and we were more proactive to press.’

However, everything unravelled once Slovenia levelled the scores.

The confidence and aggression Scotland had shown immediately after the break disappeared and, in Pocognoli’s eyes, the same mistakes from the opening period returned.

‘Then we give away the first goal and we go back to a bad feeling,’ he said.

‘We start to drop again and give them similar situations to what we faced in the first half.’

Scotland captain Andy Robertson claimed afterwards that the team had been ‘outfought and not good enough’, but Pocognoli refused to accuse his players of lacking effort.

Instead, he believes they were tactically outmanoeuvred.

‘I don’t think that they didn’t want to fight,’ he said.

‘That’s not the DNA of the team and we didn’t prepare the game with a feeling that it would be easy.

‘Not at all. Slovenia are a very good team.

‘We were just not… the front three from Slovenia dictated our back line and that was a little bit of a disappointment that we didn’t deal with that better.’

Pocognoli felt his side repeatedly found themselves too deep, creating gaps between defence, midfield and attack that Slovenia were quick to exploit.

‘If you are 10 metres lower then everything is bigger through the lines,’ he added.

‘We have to analyse why, but that’s for me the biggest disappointment.’

The defeat leaves Scotland three points behind Slovenia and facing an uphill task if they are to claim second place and the seeding benefits that would come with it ahead of the Euro 2028 draw.

Despite the setback, Pocognoli remains determined to take a long-term view after making bold selection decisions during his first camp in charge.

Several new faces were introduced and the Belgian believes there were still plenty of positives to take from the four-match window.

The Belgian now has a month to review his opening four matches before Scotland return to action against North Macedonia and Switzerland in November.

‘I’m always on the bigger picture because we made a selection with some strong decisions,’ he said.

‘We brought in some new faces. It was exciting to see them and they produced some good games. We experimented with things.

‘On Tuesday we saw what we need to improve and that’s also what this camp was used to do.’

While acknowledging that Scotland’s league position is far from where he wants it to be, Pocognoli insists the experience gained over the last fortnight can still prove valuable.

‘The points aspect is important,’ he said.

‘The ranking is that we are in third position with four points. That’s not where we want to be.

‘We want to combine good results with the good feeling that we had sometimes and we couldn’t deliver that.

‘If you look at the big picture, I hope this camp will make sense in the future.’