The Tierney/Robertson Conundrum: The problems facing Steve Clarke in accommodating his two most talented stars.

In Kieran Tierney and Andrew Robertson, Scotland for once have two players that can genuinely be considered among the world’s best in their position. This has created a generational selection headache, how do you fit your two top talents into the same team. This problem has been further emphasised by Scotland’s unbalanced player pool, with excellent left backs and great depth in central midfield, yet having an alarming dearth of international quality players at centre back, right back and up front. 

Gordon Strachan nor Alex McLeish were able to find a solution to the Tierney/Robertson conundrum within Scotland’s unbalanced squad and eventually paid for it with their jobs. In the upcoming Nations League matches, Steve Clarke will attempt to find a solution for the first time, after injuries prevented Tierney from being involved within his first eight games. Naturally, there is no clear easy solution with both three and four man offering potential to include both within the team. 

Adopting a three man defence could be the best way for Steve Clarke to start the pair without sacrificing the overall balance of the team. This would allow the more conservative and robust Tierney to play in a left central defensive role, a position he has filled well regularly for Arsenal since the restart of the Premier League. Robertson would occupy the left wing back slot, enabling him to showcase his immense attacking prowess that has seen him record 25 assists in two seasons for Liverpool. 

The formation would have benefits to the Scotland team as a whole as it could be tactically flexible. In recent matches for Arsenal, Tierney has tended to play in an almost hybrid role between left centre back and as a more conventional left back behind Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Arsenal sought to use the pair to create more space for their talisman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to work in, using it to great success in their FA Cup against Chelsea and the community shield win over Liverpool. 

Naturally, Scotland do have a player as talented as Aubameyang but a similar strategy could work in trying to create overloads on the Scottish left hand side, helping to get Robertson into dangerous crossing positions near the byline and find target man Lyndon Dykes in the box. Furthermore, allowing Tierney to get forward somewhat and link with the midfield or cross towards Dykes from a deeper position than Robertson. Scotland’s shape would therefore become more like a conventional four man defence when on the ball before becoming more of a three (or a five depending on how you want to look at it) when defending. 

Lewis Palmer and James Forrest would also play important roles as they would be tasked with helping to keep the overall balance of the team through being disciplined in their right hand side roles. Palmer would be required to adapt between right back and right wing back, both positions he has played for Sheffield Wednesday before. Forrest would be required to provide width whenever Scotland attack down the right but being prepared to come inside, when play is going down the left, to attack the back post to get on the end of Robertson’s low driven balls from the byline. 

However, it is by no means a perfect solution to the problem. The last game where Tierney and Robertson started together, a 2-1 defeat away at Friday’s opponents Israel, Alex McLeish attempted to use a 3-4-3 formation to clearly poor results. Furthermore, after the game Robertson complained about the system as he felt it left both himself and Tierney out of position. Scotland have not played with a three man defence since that night in Haifa. This also shows that Clarke does not seem to fancy a three man defence, although it must be said that he has never had both Tierney and Robertson available to him so has never really needed to use the formation. However, if Clarke has decided that a four man defence is the way forward for Scotland is there a way to get both players into the team?  

Given Tierney is the tactical more flexible player, he would be the player moved around the team. Strachan experimented with Tierney at right back to mixed results, given it is a position of weakness for Scotland there could be a temptation to try him there again. The truth is that although Tierney performed admirably in a completely new position, it completely neutered him as an attacking threat. As Tierney is very one footed and was unable to cross effectively with his right foot severely impacting the balance of the team, failing to effectively overlap as he tried to get the ball onto his left. Given he was good there defensively there is an argument for playing him there against top opposition. However, against teams like Israel and the Czech Republic where Scotland are expected to at least try to attack, Tierney at right back is not a suitable option. 

Alternatively, there is the possibility to play Tierney as a conventional centre back, like Malkay MacKay tried to do in his one game as interim manager, a 1-0 defeat at home to the Netherlands in 2017. This would allow Scotland to again attempt to improve a problem position by fielding Tierney. However, this again is a position that Tierney is quite unfamiliar with and is very different to the left centre back role he has filled at Arsenal. Furthermore, standing only at five foot ten inches, he could be exposed in aerial duels. This could be made less problematic by playing him alongside a more dominant defender like Motherwell’s captain Declan Gallagher or Aberdeen’s Scott McKenna it does not seem like a position best suited to Tierney’s talents. 

There is one final nuclear option available to Clarke, leaving one of his top two talents warming the bench. It would certainly be a bold and potentially unpopular decision in Scotland but it may be how Clarke chooses to proceed, especially if he wants to stick to a four man defence. 

The question then becomes which player would start. The obvious answer to many would be Robertson, Scotland’s captain of two years, a Champions League and Premier League winner, regarded by many as the best player in the world in the position. However, controversially Tierney may be more suited to playing for Scotland than the skipper.  

There is no doubt that Robertson is a brilliant player and well worthy of his title as one of the world’s best. He is, however, a player that is excelling for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in a high intensity, counter pressing system that suits him perfectly. Scotland do not play this way and his performances for Scotland have been noticeably worse than his impressive displays at club level. Obviously, given the supreme talents that Liverpool possess, replicating his club form for Scotland was always going to be close to impossible, but does not fully explain just how different they have been. 

Tierney, in contrast, appears to be much better suited to playing for Scotland. He is arguably a more rounded left back, possessing more impressive defensive ability and being physically superior to Robertson. Furthermore, he appears better suited to the more conservative approach required by Scottish fullbacks and the lower intensity play suited to the national team. Dropping Robertson for Tierney would be an incredibly brave decision but if Clarke decided he wanted to persist with a four man defence it could be the best option available. 

On the whole, a three man defence, with Robertson at left wing back and Tierney at left centre back is the best option to fit both players into the team. This should help to create the most balanced line up while not impacting the pair’s game too severely. Furthermore, with Tierney fulfilling this role frequently for Arsenal it is more likely to be successful than it has been in the past. Trying to start the pair should certainly be attempted first before reverting to more drastic measures. However, should Clarke decide that he wants to keep a four man defence or if playing a back three backfires, the next best available option is dropping one of his top stars. A decision that would be incredibly brave, particularly if he was to leave out Robertson but it just might be the next best option.