Ex Hibs star admits Scotland must learn quickly from painful Swiss lesson as new Pocognoli era dealt 'big setback'
Midfielder accepts lessons must be learned as Sebastien Pocognoli begins reshaping the national team
John McGinn conceded Scotland were given a harsh lesson in the demands of their new era as Switzerland exposed the scale of the task facing Sebastien Pocognoli’s side at Hampden Park last night.
A 3-0 Nations League defeat was a sobering first home outing for the new Belgian head coach, with Scotland reduced to 10 men after just eights minutes when defender Jack Hendry was sent off for denying Nottingham Forest striker Dan Ndoye a clear goalscoring opportunity.
Veteran full-back Ricardo Rodriguez duly punished the error from the resulting free-kick, and Switzerland took full advantage of their numerical superiority to control the remainder of the contest.
Nico Elvedi doubled their lead shortly after half-time before Zeki Amdouni completed the scoring eight minutes from time, leaving the Scots still searching for their first victory in Group B1 under Pocognoli.
McGinn, winning his 91st Scotland cap that saw him move level with Jim Leighton in third place on the country’s all-time appearance list, accepted that there were difficult lessons to absorb from a night which unravelled almost immediately.
Once Hendry was dismissed and Rodriguez converted the resulting free-kick, the match became a test of survival against opponents whose quality eventually told. But McGinn believes Scotland must take something constructive from the experience.
“We could have done better at times but we’re starting a new chapter, learning to play a different way,” said the Aston Villa midfielder. “That was a big setback for us. We’ve got a lot to learn from tonight but a lot to take from it as well.”
“Going down to ten men, it’s a test of character, you need to dig in. It’s a huge learning curve for us and when we play them away we need to win now.”
Scotland's immediate concern is to recover quickly. They have collected just one point from their opening two Nations League fixtures following Saturday’s goalless draw in Slovenia and will travel to Skopje to face North Macedonia this weekend before Slovenia return to Hampden next Tuesday.
The sequence has also extended an unwanted run in front of goal. Scotland have now gone four matches without scoring, their longest such drought since 1971. And with North Macedonia sitting bottom of the group after their 2-0 defeat in Ljubljana, pressure will be on Scotland to turn their early promise under Pocognoli into results.
For McGinn, though, the response must begin with understanding what went wrong against Switzerland and accepting that a new system will require time to develop.
The veteran midfielder also reserved particular praise for Oli McBurnie, whose contribution was largely selfless as Scotland were forced to play without the ball for long periods.
“I thought Oli McBurnie was outstanding,” McGinn said. “He’s had a lot of criticism in a Scotland shirt but tonight was a thankless task and he gave everything for us.”
It was a night when Scotland had little opportunity to display the attacking football Pocognoli is keen to introduce. Scotland are learning a new way of playing. Against Switzerland, they learned just how unforgiving that process can be.
The defeat leaves them with little margin for error in the remainder of the group campaign. The task for Pocognoli is to turn the disappointment into progress. His Scotland reign is still in its infancy, but this opening Hampden defeat provided an immediate indication of the work required if his team are to adapt successfully to his more aggressive approach.