Steve Clarke feels like a new man—and at 62, after guiding Scotland through two previous major tournaments that left him frustrated, he has every right to. The Scotland head coach is stepping into Euro 2024 with a refreshed sense of purpose and a tactical evolution that has caught the attention of players and observers alike: a more aggressive 4-4-2 formation with two central strikers and direct winger Ben Doak operating off the right, a marked departure from the measured approaches that defined his earlier campaigns.
It took Scotland more than two decades to return to a major tournament when Clarke led the men's national side to Euro 2020, the Covid-impacted championship that now feels like a cautious first chapter. Yet the experience left him cold. "I've not really enjoyed the previous two tournaments if I'm being honest," Clarke told BBC Scotland, candor cutting through the usual managerial platitudes. The sparse crowds and the fractured schedule—two group games at Hampden, another at Wembley—"didn't give the feel of a tournament," he reflected. That competition ended at the group stage, a familiar refrain for Scottish football.
Two years ago in Germany, the wound cut deeper. A 5-1 opening loss to hosts Germany was, by Clarke's own admission, "one of their biggest letdowns"—a defeat so severe it put the entire campaign "on the back foot." Again, Scotland limped out at the group stage. "We let ourselves down," Clarke says. "We didn't play as well as we should have done and I probably didn't make the decisions that I should have." Those words matter. They signal not defensiveness but a coach willing to examine his own role in underperformance.
The play-off heartache that followed—missing out on the 2022 World Cup—only strengthened his resolve. But the roaring return to Euro 2024 feels different. Clarke speaks of breaking "that glass ceiling" by progressing to a historic knockout tie, the first time Scotland would advance beyond the group stage at a major tournament under his stewardship.
The tactical shift to 4-4-2 speaks to a coach unafraid to evolve, though Clarke pushes back against the suggestion he's been "tagged with a label" of rigidity. "I think I've shown consistently throughout my time that I'm prepared to try something different," he says, noting that international football presents unique constraints. "When you're at a club you can work on a system for a long period of time and have a lot of training sessions on it. When you're in an international camp you don't have that." Yet with what he believes is his deepest squad yet, Clarke feels equipped to test this new approach.
Early signs from warm-up displays suggest the aggression can translate into results. Facing a similarly-ranked nation in their opening weekend match, Scotland has the chance to learn the hardest lesson from Germany 2022: start on the front foot. "This time, we have to make sure we start on the front foot," Clarke insists, the determination unmistakable.
"What we've achieved up to now is great," he says. "Let's see if we can achieve a little bit more."