Fashion Sakala Jnr of Rangers celebrates his goal with his team mates during the Scottish Premiership match at Fir Park, Motherwell.
It’s definitely not a brand-new concept. For a number of reasons, many international managers favor players they know and trust above those who are performing well.
Due to his performances in the Eredivisie, Jordan Henderson, the much-maligned veteran of Ajax, was most definitely not included in Gareth Southgate’s most recent England squad. Didier Deschamps, the manager of France, was often criticized for selecting Moussa Sissoko over a plethora of considerably more talented midfield options.
On the other hand, Steve Clarke is perhaps somewhat to be forgiven for continuing to believe in the players who have been the foundation of a Scotland team that hopes to win European Championships.
However, there were still raised eyebrows in Glasgow’s blue corner when Ryan Porteous of Watford and Jack Hendry of Al-Ettifaq, a £6.5 million former Celtic player, were selected to start ahead of the frequently controversial John Souttar for Friday’s friendly match against the Netherlands in Amsterdam.
John Souttar one of Rangers’ stand-out performers
This was, at least, still a step in the right direction.
Souttar, who played a few minutes off the bench in the Dutch capital, was left out of Clarke’s squad entirely in November. In fact, he hasn’t started a Scotland game since June 2022.
And while the former Hearts stopper didn’t really do his hopes of further game time much good during a difficult second-half cameo – the Netherlands scoring three late goals while storming to a 4-0 win – former Rangers and Scotland striker Kevin Kyle is not the only one feeling that Souttar can consider himself a little hard done by to slip so far down the pecking order.
Indeed, if Scott McKenna and Grant Hanley hadn’t been forced to withdraw, he might not have appeared at all.
Kyle asserts to Open Goal that Southtar is “Scotland’s best defender,” giving the 25-year-old every chance to defeat Clarke and earn a spot on the manager’s Euro 2024 team. “Prior to his injury, I thought well of him. I thought he was excellent. I simply enjoy him.
He plays, too, but I just believe he’s a true, proper defense. He can play, but he plays very, very good on defense.
Steve Clarke has Scotland selection headache
Souttar’s aerial prowess and penalty box-presence would certainly come in handy at the Euros, especially in a group containing home nations Germany and the dangerous Switzerland.
As Kyle notes, Souttar is more than just a basic ball-blocker. At Rangers, he initiates as many attacks as he ends up playing those game-changing passes by charging into midfield.
Souttar has put those injury worries behind him by playing 33 games for Rangers in all competitions this season. In the Scottish Premiership, he has also started the last ten games, scoring against Ross County and dishing up an assist in the team’s 5-0 thumping of Motherwell.
