Given that Sebastien Pocognoli used to count Kevin De Bruyne among his team-mates with the Belgian national team, it can safely be assumed that he knows a decent midfielder when he sees one.Pocognoli watched first-hand as a young De Bruyne burst on to the scene and started pulling the strings in the heart of midfield for the Red Devils.Not merely as a deep-lying playmaker who could control the tempo of a game, but also as an attacking and creative outlet at the top end of the pitch.Whilst the body of evidence may still be limited to only one match so far, it’s not difficult to imagine that Pocognoli envisages Billy Gilmour fulfilling a similar role in this new-look Scotland team.After the 0-0 draw against Slovenia in Ljubljana on Saturday, Pocognoli singled Gilmour out for praise for the manner in which he bossed the midfield for Scotland in a dominant second half.The manager tweaked his position and it allowed Gilmour to influence the game higher up the pitch. He created several chances, the best of which fell to Kieron Bowie courtesy of an incisive through ball. Scotland midfielder Billy Gilmour played with a smile on his face against Slovenia on SaturdayAll of this would have been music to the ears of many Scotland fans. Particularly given that he had missed the World Cup in the summer due to injury.Yet, even if he had been fit, there was no guarantee he’d have played in America. There were times in the past when it felt like Steve Clarke didn’t quite know how best to utilise Gilmour’s talents.Despite being the most technically gifted player in Scotland’s squad, Gilmour would sometimes be left out the team for big games where Scotland perhaps wouldn’t see as much of the ball.But it already feels abundantly clear that Pocognoli will build his team around the Napoli midfielder. Gilmour will be the maestro handed the keys to unlock Scotland as an attacking force under the new head coach.A significant step up in class will come in the form of Switzerland at Hampden tomorrow night, a team who pushed Argentina all the way to extra-time in the World Cup quarter-finals in the summer.For Pocognoli, the chance to work with Gilmour has only served as confirmation of what he already knew some years ago.The Scotland boss was working as a coach with Union Saint-Gilloise in his native Belgium at the same time as Gilmour was plying his trade for Brighton in the English Premier League.The Seagulls have an affiliation with USG through Tony Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics company. Plainly, Pocognoli knew all about Gilmour’s talents long before he arrived at Hampden.Asked about Gilmour’s best position, the Scotland head coach replied: ‘Yeah, I see him there (higher up the pitch). If you see the goal he scored for Napoli last week, it shows his ability to do this. Boss Sebastien Pocognoli believes that an advanced role will bring out the best in Gilmour ‘He almost scored in Slovenia with a fantastic combination with Oli. He needs to be there higher up the pitch because he can also make assists from there as well.‘If he is lower in the pitch, he will be less dangerous. I think that Lewis (Ferguson) is more with a defensive mindset and Billy more offensive.‘That doesn’t mean that Billy cannot play as a six in some games at home. But I see him more in the offensive area than defensive.‘I just want Billy to enjoy his football with a smile. If he can do that, the rest will come.‘I remember him well when he was in Brighton. I thought he was fantastic for them. When I was working for Union in Belgium, I already knew all about Billy. There is obviously a relationship between the two clubs and we were really close.‘I want to see this level from him again — and I think we can produce a style of play to help him.‘If these type of players can be happy after a game, it usually means that we had a good game and played well.‘He had a good second half on Saturday and I really enjoyed it. If you have a player who plays one touch without even looking where he puts the ball, it means that he understands the game plan.‘My comment to him was to bring this on the pitch because we don’t have a lot of players like this. Even Switzerland don’t.‘I need to make sure that he finds his smile on the pitch and he was smiling after the game. I see the Billy from Brighton in Slovenia.‘At Napoli it is a little bit different, it is more thinking about off the ball. But when he can play he is smiling.‘He will make mistakes, he played bad passes against Slovenia. But he has to take the risks to play like that for us to see his qualities.’Pocognoli’s side battered Slovenia on Saturday but ultimately had to settle for a point after wasting several gilt-edged chances.A classy Swiss side will pose a far different test in Glasgow tomorrow but should offer a decent gauge of the progress being made by Scotland’s new head coach.He spoke last week about trying not to overload the players with new information as he seeks to change the style of play.Given the cautious game plan favoured by Steve Clarke so often in the past seven years, this new-look approach was always going to take some time.Asked whether it might feel like a revolution to some of the players, Pocognoli replied: ‘Yes, a little bit. On the ball, we try to go through the lines and take some risks. Midfielder Kevin De Bruyne was a team-mate of Pocognoli in the Belgian national side‘We have the players to do this, but it is a change. We have players who made mistakes at the World Cup so it is a process to give them confidence.‘We have to create a game plan which makes decisions easier for them. I allow them to make some mistakes.‘We have the quality to go more direct and we showed it against Slovenia. We did not always go through Billy, we also played long and after the counter press.‘We tried to find a balance. We have good players through the lines and we also have players who can run, maybe not like Ben (Gannon-Doak). But some players can explore the depths.‘The result and performance usually blend in. If you win, people are happy. Sometimes you also can have an ugly game and still win.‘Then other times where you actually play really well but don’t win. It’s about finding a good combination between playing well and still winning games.’