There’s little point attempting to glean much meaningful insights from the Scotland Switzerland game. 8 minutes of play passed before the optimism gained from the encouraging performance 3 days prior in Ljubljana evaporated. Specifically, Jack Hendry’s decision to impede the clear through on goal Dan Ndoye resulting in Hendry’s red card was deeply regrettable. Consequently, 10 Scotsmen were then left to play the rest of the game against their skilful, pacey, well drilled, #14 world ranked opponents. Hence, the Scotland Switzerland content below is brief.
Angus Gunn goalkeeping
These are Angus Gunn’s stats as per FotMob:
| Saves | 6 |
| Goals conceded | 3 |
| xGOT faced | 2.84 |
| Goals prevented | -0.16 |
| Acted as sweeper | 2 |
| High claim | 1 |
| Accurate long balls | 14/30 (47%) |
| Accurate passes | 20/36 (56%) |
That goals prevented stat of -0.16 suggests that the post match questions asked & allegations made concerning Gunn’s performance have some merit. Gunn went through a period in the 2024 Nations League campaign of appearing somewhat cotton fingered. Further, his inability to stop the 3rd Swiss goal has that concern re-appearing, after the last couple of years or so of his generally competent goalkeeping for Scotland.
Scott McKenna made the most defensive contributions
| Scott McKenna (Sco) | 9 |
| Stephen Welsh (Sco) | 7 |
| Nico Elvedi (Swi) | 6 |
| Lewis Ferguson (Sco) | 6 |
| Luis Binks (Sco) | 5 |
| Oli McBurnie (Sco) | 3 |
A couple of minor observations to add to the obvious that McKenna topped the defensive contributions chart:
- Lewis Ferguson ranks highly v Switzerland, supplementing his chart topping defensive contributions on Saturday v Slovenia
- Oli McBurnie who has widely received measured praise for his attacking contribution, in his hour on the pitch was also the 5th highest defensive contributor of any Scot who played
Debuts
Luis Binks is now a full Scotland internationalist & played the full game v Switzerland. Hendry’s suspension from his red card increases Binks’ chances of further appearance in this international break. Further, Hendry’s suspension also increases the likelihood of a Luke Graham full international debut.
