After a difficult opening 35 mins in the Slovenia Scotland game yesterday, the Scots then took control & dominated but without scoring. However, 17 shots to Slovenia’s 4, 65% ball possession & an Expected Goals (xG) of 2.16 to Slovenia’s 0.47, tells the story that the Scots missed a huge victory opportunity. Below we use the average ratings from 3 different stats sites to answer, which 5 Scots impressed the most in the first game of the Pocognoli era? Stats tables are in the appendix.
Angus Gunn (average rating, 7.43)
A difficult first 35 mins for the Scots in which they were fortunate not to fall behind, as the Slovenes intelligently targeted gaps wide of the Scots back 3. However, off target finishing & offside ruling out a smart finish from Danijel Sturm, helped Gunn keep a clean sheet. Gunn had only 1 save to make for his 0.48 goals prevented stat. He acted as sweeper twice, made 2 high claims & achieved 23/32 (72%) for his accurate pass rate. Seems a relatively easy day’s work in the opinion of fitba.scot for such a high rating. We though do not design not develop the algorithms stats websites use for GK nor indeed any other position.
Gunn wasn’t though by any stretch the best performing keeper on the pitch. Player of the match, Slovenia’s Jan Oblak, yet again showed why he is so highly regarded.
Stephen Welsh (average rating 7.30)
Stats back up the praise Welsh has garnered for his senior international debut, continuing with the form that is quickly making him a fan favourite at Swansea City. Further, Welsh’s usefulness in possession is a welcome addition to a Scots defence that too often in the past devoid of ideas, played the ball side to side.
Only Gilmour & Ferguson on either side surpassed his 8 passes into the final 1/3rd. Welsh achieved an accurate pass rate of 51/56 (91%) from his 65 touches & created 1 chance. Further, he achieved 3/4 (75%) successful accurate long balls. He even had 2 shots at goal.
Encouraging signs of a new dawn in which Welsh’s name is potentially the first of the defenders to be added to a team sheet. Why did Celtic allow him to leave in the Summer, after he impressed so much at Motherwell last season?
Billy Gilmour (average rating 7.63)
An exhibition from Billy Gilmour of exactly what Scotland missed at the World Cup from him being injured. His creative spark in Ljubljana was responsible for so much of the Scots attacking play with incisive passing & driving forward.
He tops the chart for passes into the final 3rd with 10. He achieved an accurate pass rate of 64/75 (85%). The vast majority of those were first time passes, given he only touched the ball 83 times. He shot once (without scoring) & both of his dribbles were successful. His 0.60 xG+xA (expected goals plus expected assists), is 2nd on either side only to Kieron Bowie who had the game’s best chance.
Very encouraging.
Lewis Ferguson (average rating 7.63)
What a consistent performer Ferguson is. Specifically, in game after game over the last 12 months he has relentlessly been among the best Scots performers on the pitch, and not just at the World Cup. Ferguson contributed enormously to the Scots gaining a MF choke hold in Ljubljana yesterday. His 6 defensive contributions is the most of any Scot, & in contrast to Gilmour’s zero. Ferguson’s 121 touches make him the only player on either side to have 90 or more touches. His 84/98 (86%) successful accurate passes included 9 into the final 1/3rd, exceeded only by Gilmour’s 10. Ferguson shot at goal once & his one attempted dribble was successful.
Ironically & arguably symbolically, Ferguson & Gilmour’s average ratings in this game are identical. Encouraging signs that he & Gilmour could form a solidly performing CM partnership for Scotland for the future.
Andy Robertson (average rating 7.63)
A first half booking did little if anything to dampen the captain’s performance. For example, Robertson was the primary reason why Scotland offered more threat down the left rather than the right hand side of the pitch. Hence, his contribution justified Pocognoli electing to play him for the full game, despite that yellow card hanging over him.
The 3 chances he created is more than anyone else on the pitch. His 84 touches is 3rd highest on either side, behind only Gilmour & Ferguson. However, while his 46/55 (84%) accurate pass completion is satisfactory, only 3/13 (23%) accurate crosses indicates room for improvement in what is usually a trademark Robertson strength.
Also, Robertson is now on 98 caps, 4 behind the 102 cap record of Kenny Dalglish. Thus barring injury or suspension, Robertson is on track to gain his 100th senior cap in Skopje on Saturday. Similarly, he is on track to equal & then overtake Dalglish’s record when the November international break arrives.
Appendix: Table of Slovenia Scotland player ratings
| Average | BeSoccer | Flashscore | FotMob | |
| Angus Gunn | 7.43 | 7.6 | 7.1 | 7.6 |
| Jack Hendry | 6.83 | 6.9 | 6.5 | 7.1 |
| Scott McKenna | 6.90 | 6.9 | 6.7 | 7.1 |
| Stephen Welsh | 7.30 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.1 |
| Aaron Hickey | 6.77 | 6.7 | 6.9 | 6.7 |
| Billy Gilmour | 7.63 | 7.4 | 8.0 | 7.5 |
| Lewis Ferguson | 7.63 | 7.6 | 7.4 | 7.9 |
| Andy Robertson | 7.63 | 7.4 | 7.6 | 7.9 |
| John McGinn | 6.97 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 6.9 |
| Robbie Ure | 5.87 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 5.8 |
| Oli McBurnie | 6.53 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 6.8 |
Subs:
| Average | BeSoccer | Flashscore | FotMob | |
| Kieron Bowie | 6.37 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.8 |
| Ben Gannon-Doak | 6.50 | 6.6 | 6.6 | 6.3 |
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