Sebastian Pocognoli is Using Billy Gilmour all Wrong

Sebastian Pocognoli is Using Billy Gilmour all Wrong

The Sebastian Pocognoli Scotland era has begun, and through his first two games we can begin to see the foundations of what he wants from his side.

The Belgian has been tasked with creating a more expansive side and freshening up a team that had perhaps begun to stagnate under former boss Steve Clarke.

To achieve a new identity, the squad has welcomed fresh faces, as well as the reintroduction of some old ones.

But what does Pocognoli see for those who have already become well established in a Scotland shirt?

Well, his ideas around Billy Gilmour are clear.

“He (Gilmour) needs to be higher up the pitch because he can also make assists from there.

“If he is lower in the pitch, he will be less dangerous.

“I think Lewis Ferguson has more of a defensive mindset and Billy’s more offensive.”

Pocognolis usage of Gilmour in his first two games has echoed these comments.

Gilmour has been pushed higher up the field and challenged to contribute with goals and assists, while Lewis Ferguson occupies the base of the midfield.

This feels like a misinterpretation of Gilmour’s value to Scotland, despite being one of the best signings of the summer for Napoli a few years ago.

He is a conductor, with his best work done not around the opposition box but in building the play and facilitating his teammates journey to the opposition goal. Positioning Gilmour as more of an attacking threat is ill-judged and risks wasting the qualities that make him different to the rest of Scotland’s central midfield options.

Gilmour provides the most value to Scotland the deeper he plays.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🪄 Billy Gilmour's first goal of the season for Napoli was a brilliant first time strike. 😍

Reminder: Napoli signed Gilmour in 2024 from Brighton. €14.75m. ✅ pic.twitter.com/8ct0RCdzPU

— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) September 24, 2026

From there, he has the whole game in front of him. He can set the tempo and dictate play. Gilmour relishes that responsibility. More importantly, he is the best Scotland have at fulfilling that role, and Scotland has already experienced what happens when he is absent.

Their poor showing in the World Cup was characterised by rushed, sloppy and misguided use of the football. They lacked a profile to settle them in possession. Gilmour was, and still is, that ideal player.

His absence was acknowledged at the time, but with hindsight, perhaps not enough was made of what Scotland lacked without him. Mctominay, Ferguson, Christie and Mclean were able to patch together the midfield. But they are fundamentally very different types of players.

None offer Gilmour’s composure and willingness to take the ball and keep it. Haiti was the clearest example of this. Despite the win, Scotland looked desperate for someone to put a foot on the ball and bring a degree of control. Instead, panic prospered. Decisions became rushed as they struggled to maintain possession, only scraping to a win.

Without Gilmour at the base Scotland do not just lose a solution to settling the team. Gilmour’s ability and willingness to progress the game is what the team have desperately missed, and is another reason why Pocognoli’s decision to have Ferguson as the deeper of the two, so baffling.

Performances against Slovenia and Switzerland both contained elements of slow play, an issue which has frequently plagued Scotland. The squad lacks pace, except for Ben Gannon-Doak, but where he will fit in positionally is an entirely different discussion.

But the slow play stems from more than just a lack of speed. It is an inability to progress the play quickly from back to front. Ferguson does not help this problem, that is not his game.

Gilmour would.

Pocognoli Needs to Recognise Gilmour's Qualities

His on-ball calmness and technical quality, relieves some of the burden off the back three to break lines and progress the game. Ferguson’s a destroyer, Gilmour a craftsman.

The calling card of the first two games and what Pocognoli wants to do is an aggressive pressing style. Pocognoli highlighted Ferguson’s defensive prowess comparatively to Gilmours.

But under this new, more aggressive pressing style, isn’t Ferguson’s physicality better served further up the pitch?

Despite the 0-0 draw with Slovenia, Kris Boyd sees plenty to like about Scotland 💪🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

He believes the team are already strong and hard to beat and with Billy Gilmour back in the squad, the new manager has plenty of quality to work with👏#BBCFootball #NationsLeague #Scotland pic.twitter.com/SXxmDR7cYq

— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) September 27, 2026

Ferguson, not Gilmour, should be alongside the likes of Mctominay (when he returns) and McGinn, hounding the opposition, closing down centre backs and midfielders, and crashing the box. Meanwhile, Gilmour operates deeper, dictating play and providing cover.

It feels as though both Ferguson and Gilmour, have been given roles which do not maximise what makes them different to one another. Pocognoli is entitled to view Gilmour is a different light, and perhaps his decision to push him higher will be vindicated.

But, for now, it seems this advanced role keeps Gilmour away from what he is best at. He is seeing less of the ball, while being asked to operate in areas where his technical and physical qualities are not best suited.

The return of McTominay may even remove Gilmour from the starting eleven entirely. If that is the case Scotland will once again be lacking a composed operator to control the games when necessary.