Just over two years ago, on a Friday night in Amsterdam, Lawrence Shankland walked into his grand audition for the role of goalgetter-in-chief for Euro 2024. Sixty-two minutes in, with Scotland one down to the Netherlands in what had been a highly competitive friendly, his sliding doors moment came. Scott McTominay intercepted a slack pass from Mats Wieffer, the ball fell the way you would want it to, and the Hearts captain found himself straight through on goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
It was the kind of opening that had been meat and drink for him during a prolific season at Tynecastle. He had to convert it. Yet, he did not, his effort hitting the top of the crossbar and going over. Shankland had not played badly. He had done a lot of unfamiliar work pretty well. He had made a clear contribution to a strong performance that only went downhill with the concession of three late goals that created a 4-0 scoreline largely unrepresentative of the game just gone. By the time that collapse came round, Shankland was off the field, replaced by Che Adams. However, for all the positives in his display, the fact remained the grand audition had fallen short. He needed to do something truly special that evening to muscle in front of Adams and Lyndon Dykes. That did not happen. There were few complaints when he ended up fulfilling the role of second-half sub in the living hell of the finals in Germany.
Different Landscape for Shankland
It is easy, of course, to draw parallels between that game against the Dutch and Saturday's World Cup send-off against Curacao at Hampden. Shankland was completing his recovery from injury for the underwhelming double-header against Japan and Ivory Coast last time out. George Hirst was given the opportunity to stake his claim. Now, it is surely time for Shankland to take centre stage again ahead of the kind of games that really, really matter. This one should not be regarded as an audition for the 30-year-old, though. Two years on, the landscape is different. Shankland, a fine campaign of shouldering huge responsibility behind him, is different. And the circumstances around this friendly with this Caribbean island with such Dutch influence – including 78-year-old Dick Advocaat as coach – is quite particular.
It is as close to a dress rehearsal for the opening game of the World Cup against Haiti as you are going to get. And no matter what national coach Steve Clarke has in mind for those more exacting tests against Morocco and Brazil later in the tournament, Shankland has to play in that curtain-raiser. The nation expects. You can hear it in the general chit-chat around what is now about to dominate the lives of the populace now a nutty, absorbing, ultimately foam-flecked domestic campaign has come to an end.
Goals Crucial Against Haiti
We need goals against the Haitians. As many as possible. Thanks to the silliness of modern international football, three points and third place might be enough to make it out of the group stage and create history. Score a good few in that opener and the vista looks infinitely brighter. It stands to reason then that the squad's most natural finisher by far must play. Ergo, the major purpose of Curacao's visit has to centre around more than just giving Shankland his shot. It must be geared around figuring out how to structure a starting line-up that lets him do what he does best.
Clarke appeared to drop something of a hint when naming his squad midweek, stating that he liked having two up front in the loss to Ivory Coast in Liverpool in March. He also mentioned playing with two strikers in the first game of the qualifying section against Denmark in Copenhagen and stated that he is thinking of doing the same again for at least one of the fixtures in the States. It is surely got to be that one against Haiti. And in a front two is where Shankland is undoubtedly best. He did show against the Dutch two years ago that he can be asked to lead the line, but going with someone beside him feeds into his strengths.
He is not pacy. He does defend from the front, but he is not the physical type to knock hulking defenders around either. Shankland is good at dropping deep, finding spaces, holding the ball, linking up play and then being ice-cold in front of goal. Right foot, left foot, head. He scores with them all. And that is what he brings to the mix that none of the other central strikers in the squad do – that lethal intent. That composure in front of the target that comes from pure instinct.
Who Partners Shankland?
It is just a matter of who Clarke goes with beside him. Dykes has had such a mixed campaign that he is surely only going as an impact sub able to bring a bit of late chaos if required. Hirst did OK in the last double-header, but has he shown enough to be starting games? The late and welcome inclusion of Ross Stewart brings aerial presence and something different to the mix too. Right now, though, you would probably stick with Adams. He is a willing worker. He can drag opponents out of position, make those spaces Shankland and others such as McTominay would capitalise upon. At some stage over the next two friendlies against Curacao and Bolivia, seeing what kind of chemistry exists between him and Shankland feels crucial.
The next question, of course, is what shape Scotland should adopt to fit two front men in. Up until the end of Euro 2024, Clarke had leaned heavily on a 3-5-2. He had another look at that against Ivory Coast and seemed happy enough with how it worked. With Kieran Tierney looking fitter and contributing well to Celtic's end-of-season charge, maybe it represents an easy way, as it did before, to get him and Andy Robertson into the same team while keeping bodies in midfield.
Doak's Emergence
What has changed a little is the emergence of Ben Gannon Doak. Even though he has barely played since injuring his hamstring against Denmark in November, the pace he offers in a squad hardly overflowing with it makes him an important weapon. There are ways to get him into a 3-5-2 or some version of it. He even played through the middle for the Under-21s – terrific away from home against a Spain side full of first-teamers – and might even be considered as a foil for Shankland, someone to run in behind. Yet, he feels a better bet on the wing. He has been dangerous there. Scotland have been doing all right with four at the back. Would some kind of 4-2-3-1 work against Haiti, with Gannon Doak and John McGinn in wider positions and Shankland just behind Adams?
Dealing with such quandaries, of course, is why Clarke earns the big bucks. And it is why these last two friendlies need to be used as exercises in assembling the jigsaw, looking at options. Certainly, after the fear that crippled everyone in the toothless surrender of the last Euros, it feels like there needs to be a greater exposure to risk in that curtain-raiser against Haiti. A proper statement of intent.
The Haitians are no great shakes. They have Sunderland striker Wilson Isidor and players based around Europe, but a look at the squad list offers little to fear – as does the footage of their most recent matches. Of course, there is plenty to worry about when it comes to Scotland at the World Cup. Results aside, the general level of performance was not good in the qualifiers. Influential figures are short on game time. The goalkeeping position is a headnipper, with Craig Gordon probably the better option from three guys who do not play. Things are a little clearer at the other end of the park, at least. Shankland starts the opener at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on June 14. That is no longer even an argument. The main point of debate now revolves solely around how we get him in the mix and in among the goals for a team and head coach that simply cannot afford another major tournament stuck in the slow lane from the off.
