Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney has been singled out for heavy criticism, on the back of Scotland’s defeat to Denmark this week.

Danes cruise

Steve Clarke’s men got their latest round of fixtures underway on Wednesday night.

The Tartan Army made the trip to Copenhagen, for a World Cup qualifying showdown with high-flying Denmark.

Scotland were understandably viewed as underdogs heading into proceedings, with the Danes of course fresh off the back of an impressive run all the way to the semi-finals of Euro 2020.

Few, though, were likely predicting just how comfortable an evening’s work lay in store for Kasper Hjulmand’s men.

A dominant 90 minutes, across which they boasted 62% of the possession, ultimately saw Denmark emerge on the right side of a 2-0 scoreline, courtesy of strikes from Daniel Wass and Joakim Maehle.

Tierney targeted

Denmark, in turn, have kept the nation’s flawless start to their World Cup qualifying campaign alive, with a perfect 12 points from 12.

Scotland, on the other hand, now have it all to do, sitting in 4th in the Group F table behind both Israel and Austria.

And, as outlined above, the inquest into the struggles of Steve Clarke’s men is now well underway.

A number of members of the Tartan Army’s squad were singled out for deserved criticism on the back of their exploits on Wednesday night, with one to have come in for particularly heavy scrutiny having come in the form of Kieran Tierney.

Arsenal stopper Tierney has endured a less than ideal start to the new campaign, with his disappointing performances largely falling in line with those of the Gunners as a whole.

And fellow Scot Kris Boyd is evidently of the opinion that such woes have carried over onto the international stage, with the ex-Rangers hitman having not been shy in highlighting Scotland’s left flank as a problem area on the back of the nation’s meeting with Denmark:

‘It’s obviously an area that Denmark have looked at. Even if it was Kieran Tierney or Andy Robertson there. It’s an area that they have seen as a weakness and you have to say they have exploited it really, really well.’

Tierney was largely identified as having been at fault for the Danes’ opener, with Boyd, in turn, having continued:

‘I think it’s lazy defending from Kieran Tierney, and it’s not like him because he is usually a good defender.’

‘But maybe because he is in the three and he is tucked in a bit more. When you see the goal, he (Tierney) actually has a look at him (Wass) but I am not sure why he goes in the pitch, he runs inside and it’s a fantastic finish.’