Souness claimed even Pep Guardiola couldn't have done any better but one Arsenal hero wasn't having it
15:28, 29 Jun 2026Updated 15:32, 29 Jun 2026
Scotland and Rangers legend Graeme Souness
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Scotland and Rangers legend Graeme Souness(Image: PA)
Graeme Souness claimed even Pep Guardiola wouldn't have done a better job with the Scotland squad than Steve Clarke.
But one aspect of his bullish defence of the outgoing boss simply wasn't flying for Arsenal legend Martin Keown.
Clarke stepped down after a damaging 3-0 defeat to Brazil meant results elsewhere weren't enough to send Scotland through to the knockout stage.
It was the third tournament running in which Scotland failed to deliver and Clarke admitted that, despite signing a four-year deal just weeks earlier, he'd always planned to step down if he failed to advance.
The hunt now commences for the next manager but Souness, writing in his Daily Telegraph column, claimed even legendary former Man City and Barcelona boss Guardiola couldn't have done any better.
He also defended Scott McKenna, who lost the ball for the opening Brazil goal, claiming no central defender would have wanted to take Angus Gunn's square pass out in that situation.
But Keown wasn't having that and believes the blame lies squarely with McKenna.
"No, not on that aspect about the ball out to McKenna. Scott McKenna had plenty of time to deal with that. He could even have gone back to the goalkeeper.
"Souness is probably going to ring in again, like he did last time I complained about him, but McKenna should have dealt with it, 100 per cent. It's on him, it's his mistake.
Martin Keown on talkSPORT
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Martin Keown on talkSPORT(Image: talkSPORT)
"In the modern day game you have to pass it out from the back, otherwise it just comes straight back at you. So Souness is not right on that one."
Souness then pointed out that in McKenna's situation, the better thing to do was play it long. But Keown added: "It's about working with the players to make sure they're comfortable. Fear is a huge thing within our game, it's almost a disease within our game. So the manager has to take that away.
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"In the modern day game, everyone's passing it out from the back. So if I'm the manager, I have to impart confidence in you to be able to go and do that."
As for the idea that Guardiola would have done no better than Clarke, Keown added: "I don't think anyone else in charge of that team could have taken them much further, but they could have gone to the knockout stages.
"They could have gone into the next round. Teams with three points went through and they could've done the same. At the end of the day they needed to score more against Haiti, and keep Brazil to one or two. They failed to achieve that."