Scott Brown has highlighted how Scotland’s lack of tactical sharpness completely isolated Rangers striker Lawrence Shankland during their 3-0 defeat to Brazil at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Analysing the post-match fallout on the BBC, the former Celtic captain pointed out that while the 30-year-old Ibrox frontman battled hard against the South American giants, his international teammates failed to read the game quickly enough to offer any meaningful support.
The pundit noted that whenever direct balls were fired up to Shankland, Scotland were consistently one step behind the intelligence of the Brazilian defence, leaving the marquee Rangers signing starved of service.
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Scott Brown outlines Scotland failure to support Shankland on BBC
Brown was in complete awe of Bruno Guimaraes and his movement, as the Newcastle star displayed his intelligence to set up Matheus Cunha for his goal at the stroke of the one-hour mark.
He switched the attention to Steve Clarke’s men, who he feels were short of ideas when trying to attack, thus failing Shankland, as well as Scott McTominay.
Analysing Cunha’s goal on the BBC, Brown said: “I just love this movement from Bruno [Guimaraes] because naturally it’s coming in, you know it’s going to be a bounce pass, and Bruno’s trying to get in behind and that’s what I feel Scotland didn’t do well enough.
“If the ball did go up to Shankland, if it did go up to McTominay, we felt like we were struggling to get there or [have] ideas of thinking just ahead of the game, whereas they [Brazil] are naturally smart footballers, intelligent footballers, they were just that one step ahead.”
While Brown’s focus was on the national team’s shortcomings on the world stage, his tactical breakdown serves as a vital blueprint for Derek McInnes and his backroom staff in Glasgow.
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Brown’s tactical breakdown inadvertently exposes the exact trap newly appointed manager McInnes must avoid with Shankland at Ibrox next season.
The elite frontman joined the Light Blues from Hearts earlier this summer, arriving on the back of an elite goalscoring season in Edinburgh that saw him bag 20 goals in 34 games.
However, as his gruelling 90-minute shift against Brazil proved, he is not a forward who will tear past a world-class defensive line with raw pace on his own.
Shankland thrives on intelligent movement, tight passes, and rapid interactions with dynamic midfielders who can break lines behind him.
At Hearts, his most lethal spells came when midfielders gambled on his hold-up play, flooding the box to collect his lay-offs.
If McInnes deploys a rigid or overly direct system where the ball is simply pumped up to the striker without immediate supporting runs from high-energy teammates, the forward risks becoming just as isolated domestically as he was on international duty.
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