Scotland boss Steve Clarke thinks he may have loaded his players up with too much information before they were thrashed 5-1 by Germany on Friday night. The Scots got their Euro 2024 campaign off to the worst possible start and supporters will be desperate to see a dramatic improvement against Switzerland next time out.
The Tartan Army flooded the streets of Munich last week as they got ready for their first major overseas tournament in almost 30 years. But things quickly went pear-shaped after kick-off at the Allianz Arena.
A first-half barrage saw Germany head into the break 3-0 up and with a one-man advantage after Ryan Porteous' reckless challenge. And the hosts added two more after the break, creating a scoreline which did their performance justice.
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Speaking about what may have gone wrong in Munich, Clarke said: "Maybe I gave too much information and clouded those on the pitch, in terms of what we do with the ball and without the ball. We worked on that a little bit this morning. We'll keep working on it and hopefully see a different performance on Wednesday night."
Scotland's squad is dotted with senior players who bring big-game experience such as Manchester United's Scott McTominay, Liverpool's Andrew Robertson and Arsenal's Kieran Tierney.
And Clarke admitted that he has sought the advice of several trusted stars ahead of Wednesday's meeting with Switzerland. "I've spoken to one or two players in the squad whose opinions I value," said the former West Bromwich Albion boss.
"I had a good chat with a few of them. I had a little chat with a lot of them on the training pitch this morning, just to put one or two things in their head which maybe weren't there against Germany."
The Scots are rock-bottom of Group A after the first round of matches. Hungary also began their tournament with defeat, but their 3-1 scoreline against Switzerland sees them sneak ahead of Scotland on goal difference with two games still to play.
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Clarke's captain, Robertson, received warm words of encouragement from Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk after the demoralising defeat to Germany.
"I think Robbo will be fine, he’s the captain there," said Van Dijk ahead of Holland's clash with Poland. "It’s never easy to deal with situations like that but I’m very confident that he will be fine and lead the Scottish nation to better days."
