Former Scottish footballer and TV pundit Kris Boyd has labelled Kieran Tierney's defending as "lazy" following his performance in Scotland's 2-0 defeat to Denmark on Wednesday night in the World Cup qualifiers.
Tierney, 24, seems to be taking his poor start for Arsenal this season into international duty and this was shown with his and the team's dismal display in Copenhagen.
Unsurprisingly, this performance from Steve Clarke's men can be excused by growing distractions off the pitch, with a number of players missing out due to Covid-19 issues.
Regardless. the Arsenal man was at fault for the opening goal after Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg’s targeted cross-field ball from the left was headed home by Daniel Wass.
Tierney allowed his man to run off his shoulder, then misjudged the flight of the ball and was then beaten all too easily in the air.
Then minutes later, down the 24-year-old's side again, the Dane’s doubled their lead, with Boyd commenting on his woeful defending on both occasions.
“It’s obviously an area that Denmark have looked at,” said Boyd on Sky Sports via HITC. “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.
“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.”
The full-back's shortcomings in Wednesday night's encounter follow on from the mistake that led to Reece James scoring Chelsea's second of the afternoon at the Emirates Stadium in the Gunners' 2-0 loss to their west London rivals.
However, the calibre and character Tierney possesses suggests that he will work his way out of his sticky patch for both club and country.
