This was a defensive and tactical failure. Efe Ambrose was slow to follow his man for the first goal (Fraser was the beaten easily, though redeemed himself later). Efe was also brushed off the ball at the second goal. Strength in the six yard box is imperative for a central defender.
Mikael Lustig was caught underneath his man for the cross which led to the second goal, a feature of our defending all night. All he could do was attempt to block the header back across goal, instead of challenge for the ball. He was also in the wrong starting position, and therefore, unable to stop the cross which led to the fourth goal.
With Lustig and Ambrose already culpable at the second goal, Virgil van Dijk was caught napping. He may have expected better from his team-mates, but he should have remained alert with the ball inside the penalty area. The space afforded to Radovic, Virgil’s man, should never have existed.
I’ve no idea why Emilio, our only left back, was omitted from the starting line-up. He offered balance when he came on, until his late horror show when he was turned inside out, then inside out again, at the third goal. It was like watching a clip from the 50s, when full backs didn’t know to get tight and close-off one option for the attacker.
Charlie Mulgrew had a nightmare beyond the level of the others, which is saying something. Two penalty kicks, failing to attack the ball with his man, who headed the third goal, failing to track the run for the fourth, and the debacle which led to possession being lost when Efe was red carded, was a calamitous return.
I’ve heard transfer rumours about everyone who played in defence last night apart from Lustig and Izaguirre. It looked like the defenders had been listening to them too, and had minds on other things.
The squad’s weaknesses were exposed by Legia.
It’s probably too late to lament the absence of Wanyama, but with Brown again out through injury, we’re short of bite in central midfield, exactly what we needed when the defence was comatose. Stefan Johansen and Charlie Mulgrew had the senior combative roles, it just didn’t work. We need to fix this gap as soon as possible.
Ronny got things wrong.
I agree with the manager’s assessment in his post-match BBC interview, the back four didn’t defend as a unit, which is fatal at any level of football, and we didn’t press as a team. I’ll make no excuses for the defenders, but playing this specific 4-3-3 away from home in Europe was asking for trouble.
If we’re short of bite with Johansen and Mulgrew, we’re shorter still if the third man in the middle is the creative Kris Commons. Love him, though we do, he is neither a tackler nor a box-to-box player. The middle three in this formation need to be mobile, covering as much ground as four, sometimes five, opponents. Johansen, Mulgrew and Commons was wrong on all levels. As a result, the Legia midfield probably had their easiest game of the year.
Callum McGregor delivered a goal, as much as anyone could reasonably expect of him, but this was his first game against top-flight full-timers. He needs people to ease him into the role. Jo Inge Berget hasn’t trained with the club, has played only twice since January and there’s a reasonable chance he didn’t know the names of all his team-mates.
If you want to know why we didn’t press as a team as soon as Legia got in amongst us, the clues are everywhere. Of course we didn’t press as a team.
On top of this, we ran the same Pukki experiment as last year, with the same outcome. We’ve seen a lot more of this Celtic team than Ronny, who might now be on the same page as the rest of us.
“Anywhere but Warsaw” was title of the CQN article on the day of the draw as this one was entirely predictable, and that was before Legia won in Dublin. The new manager has yet to get his feet under the table. The squad are in a state of flux. We are short of experienced, reliable, players in several positions, and football in July is often a lottery. There was a chance Legia would capitulate but it was more likely that they would be fitter and better rehearsed.
Seven days is a long time in preseason terms, and as you don’t need me to tell you, we’ve been here before. Don’t think this is over.
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Macjay
bournesouprecipe 10:10 on 31 July, 2014
tomtheleedstim @10.06
Oh dear ==============================================================
Dead right. A very significant observation from one who knows.
I think there is enough in NFL’s one liner to fuel CQN on why he’s no longer the manager for a month or so.
But it’s a bit ironic when some of NFL’s ‘investments’ were rubbish and some rubbisher, to the extent they weren’t even considered for last night.
NFL may have reached a ‘no more money for you’ stage, at Celtic whether Deila gets substantial cash, remains to be seen.
I disagree with NFL because the team he left behind shouldn’t have been rearranged and altered, to the extent of a ver near 8-1 against any Euro side let alone a Polish team with a poorer CL qualification record than Celtic.
lionroars67
10:46 on
31 July, 2014
Should have added Biton to list of players recently acquired
Why didn’t Neil Lennon come out and say this when he was the manager, he knows he would have got our backing, why didn’t he tell us what was going on regarding signing policies if there is one.
Fear of getting sacked? he would have been no worse off than when he resigned, he’s only saying a wee tiny bit of what was probably going on, put up Neil or…..
Ayrshire is Green and White
I felt very sorry for Bergets last night. I don’t think he was done any favours at all being handed a starting berth ahead of Stokes and Griffiths.
Maybe bring him on as a sub, but playing him from the start after one training session? He looked shell-shocked, and you kinda hope this isn’t the kind of blow from which his Celtic career does not recover…
Interesting comments from Neil. I wonder if he’ll be tempted to say more over the next few days. I bet the Record are on the phone to him right now…
The staggering stupidity of believing you can gatecrash the CL, without spending money….and this is the strategy of supposedly top businessmen on our PLC.
If they had brains they would be dangerous.
HH
Green Man
I guess, but who walks the plank ?
The CEO, and I know I’ll take pelters for it, provided a sizeable enough budget last term for the playing staff to go and buy.
We bought many and mediocre. The projects weren’t sufficiently good enough to be another FF or VW.
Who purchased the players ? Who is responsible for improving the players ? Motivating them ? Getting greater performances from them ?
I genuinely believed that our back 5 are among the best I’ve seen at CP during my time. I naively thought that they were incapable of that sort of shambles from last night. Is that endemic ? Is that a bad night at the office ? Should we be firing people when a record breaking back line failed to turn up in a game ?
It’s complex and like you I want the best for the club in recognisably difficult circumstances.
I think the confidentiality clause will have kicked in the minute the Radio5 interview ended.
Its easily the poorest squad we’ve gone into a new season with for years. Last night shouldnt really be too much of a surprise given the lack of investment and the lack of quality on show. Theres a few with an overly high opinion of their own ability, Mulgrew seems to think he’s some kind of Beckenbauer, he was a nightmare. Not alone I admit. I’m absolutely gutted at the attitude at CP just now and totally agree that its no good qualifying for CL only to become fodder for the rest. Surely some kind of gamble should have been taken to give us any kind of chance.? In almost forty years of watching us everywhere Ive always been more interested in winning trophies then keeping the books balanced. How many trophies have they cost us ? We could surely have invested more (or anything at all) without going down the road the other mob took. I’m extremely hacked off
HH
Good article courtesy of On Fields of Green
http://www.onfieldsofgreen.com/expectation-management/
lazydynamite
10:33 on 31 July, 2014
sorry if its been discussed but why did we have ‘tennants’ on the shirt last night?…are they the same company as magners?..or did tony mowbray pick the team last night?
———————————————
Polish advertising restrictions – some drinks arent allowed to be advertised – cider being one of them, but lager is
and yes, they are part of the same company
Could give a feather or a fig for what Lenny has to say.
The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.
It’s Ronny’s show now. His major problem is that his players didn’t do what was asked of them, or worse, they actually did (or tried to).
The overriding impression from last night was of experienced players doing the rabbit in the headlights routine. No one seemed to know either their job, or their team mates’. It was a shambles.
Fella’s got a fair bit of work to do in the coming days to figure it all out.
Big wavy
I think PL and his cronies are getting away with things that would have made the Kelly/White mob blush.
Yet they carry no responsibility for their ineptitude….why?
I don’t understand.
HH
The “demise” of the Huns has got us to where we are at the moment, FACT.
I hope Henderson plays in the second leg. He is a rare thing – a Celtic player who hardly ever loses possession.
The Green Man
10:48 on
31 July, 2014
Quick question. Conservatively how many players do you think we need to sign and of roughly what value would they need to be to guarantee CL football?
Green man Celtic plc have never been healthier financially
Peter lawells salary this year will be his largest ever
Sums it up
Good on you Neil. He can’t say anything about what happened as manager
But he can say what he thinks of the strategy now
He said that none of his no 1 targets had been secured over last few transfer windows
Always hindered by pl policy on wages and transfer money for a player Ok to buy 3 duds at 2 m. But would not sanction 6m on one 1st eleven player
Neil’s point about lack of proper investment is only valid if he was being blocked in going for the targets he wanted and forced to sign those he didn’t.
Derk, Bangura, and Balde hardly featured under him, yet he signed them.
Either Neil takes responsibility for this gargantuan waste of money, or he tells us whether these players were foisted on him. It’s a vital issue, because Ronny will almost certainly be working to the same brief.
BSR – agree to a point but if you are forced to shop in Poundland you ain’t gonna come out with a McCormack let alone a Messi.
Most of these £1m-£2m players are a risk at best and complete duds at worst. If that’s all we can afford then most of them are a waste of money and this offsets against good profits made on Wantama etc. It’s why Deila has been brought in. It’s tantamount to raising the white flag on signings and hoping he can work miracles with the youth team.
It breaks my heart to see Celtic play like that.
We have no divine right to win anything, but I believe we deserve better.
The greatness of Celtic is being diluted by businessmen who know nothing about football.
Its time the PLC took responsibility for their failings.
HH
bournesouprecipe
10:51 on 31 July, 2014
I think the confidentiality clause will have kicked in the minute the Radio5 interview ended.
———————————————————————-
Sorry and not being an @&$( but what’s confidential? He resigned, what can they hold back from him if he speaks out?
Or even sue him, for telling the truth?
Ayrshire is Green and White
We let samaras go and replaced with Berget. What is the difference in wages per week?
ItaliaBhoy
Why is he giving an interview about Celtic?
I think Neil took what he was given rather than nothing.
2 or 3 quality high earning players, suplimented with some journeyman filled up with youth
That’s the way forward for our club.
Having an entire 1st eleven and bench filled with under average journey men, which is a drain on wages is the way we have gone and it’s failed
Green Man
They are not only in positions of responsibility but are clearly accountable too. I don’t think I’d argue with that but I’m just calling for is a sensible step forward in an environment any board would struggle with :
– Piss poor league with no competition
– The world’s richest footballing neighbour
– The spiralling cost of players and wages
– The unfairness of european competition for the small guys
etc etc
All these things don’t go away even if you hang Peter Lawell from Celtic Way and put Madmitch in charge tomorrow.
– Improving bang for buck on the money we create has to be paramount
– there will be duds hired as not every purchase will work out
– better approach to youth and succession planning
– better fan experience
After last night it’s seductive to want to lash out but the core problems may not go away.
Mullet
I don’t believe one was a direct replacement for the other.
Although the deadline for the return leg was yesterday, I’ve just bought two tickets for next week at the £20 ST price. Wonder why they extended it…?!
East 5 and hopefully a half-day awaits!
T4
weeminger
Im not guaranteeing anything….im only a supporter who cannot stand the way we are going….in a downward spiral.
Ive not got all the answers…but I will say this
If I was a board member of the PLC, id man up and resign
Those in charge are responsible….they are quick enough to hoover up the bonuses, but refuse to be held responsible for their failings.
PL should not be rewarded for failure.
HH
BIG WAVY
If I was majority shareholder,you can guarantee at least one of the core problems would go away.
And I suspect he’d take a few more problems with him as a result.
sydneytim
11:02 on 31 July, 2014
2 or 3 quality high earning players
———————————————
So who do you suggest, players who want to play in front of 6,000 at Ross County & Inverness, it’s not going to happen.
Italiabhoy
Spot on. That is a massively important issue regarding purchases.
We should be told.
big wavy
10:50 on 31 July, 2014,
Wouldn’t it have been better to buy one good player for the same money and probably wages as the three amigos we wasted five million on last season?
When hooper left, it was obvious to most we needed a penalty box player. I know the wage bracket is a bone of contention with the board and some on here but fans need entertained.
If it causes disharmony amongst players, so be it, it’s for them to aspire to that players level and the management to deal with as in every other occupation.
Pl, get the finger out and do what is needed or the stands will deplete.
21-5-79
Very good point.
Of course,we used to be able to promise Champions League football,but heyho.
Crazy to suggest we sack the manager – BUT – he was naive last night – and its cost us a potential place in the Champions League
RD was playing experiment football last night and he got caught out simple as that
My gripe with RD – do not experiment in real football matches
last night should have been 4-5-1- defend and get out of there with something to play for at home
RD got it wrong – does not mean we hang him – but lets hope he knows he fu–ed up
Next week – whole different game we need to open up and attack – and we need all the luck in the world and hope we do not concede
its not over – but the fat lady has just walked on stage
67ECW
Bobby
Then off with his head and let’s be done with it.
1 problem solved.
If you play 433 your middle 3 all need to be able to move quickly. They need to have excellent positional sense and awareness of the other 2. They have to be able get a ball quickly under control and move it forward to one of the front 3 to stretch the defence whilst being available to follow the play forward to support. All of this on top of your defensive duties of tackling and blocking off space and runners. In a nutshell you need some exceptional all rounders. Johansen I think can play in there. Brown I think could play in there. Mulgrew? No chance. Ever. Commons? Doesn’t move it quick enough and doesn’t have the defensive discipline or athleticism required to play in the middle 3. He should be in the front 3 where he can do what he does best.
The panic stations in the defence, in my opinion, were greatly contributed to due to their lack of confidence in the pitiful middle 3.
In the front 3 we need players with pace and guile. All 3 have to be comfortable finishers and work tirelessly. Ideally you would want all 3 comfortable in all 3 front positions to allow them to swap positions putting markers out of their comfort zone. Commons can play up there. Forrest too will likely blossom in that role eventually (if he can overcome chronic chocolate legs) I really cannot see Griffiths or Stokes having the required level to play in that system. Sadly a certain Greek adonis would have thrived in that system.
By my reckoning we are about 4 first team regulars away from being able to give Ronny the tools to create something I think will be beautiful to watch. Not 4 wee guys we hope can make it, 4 proven players. They will cost money.
That’s of course assuming nobody else is sold…..
That Legia goalie looks a bit ropey. If we hit them early at Murrayfield then the tie could get interesting but in all reality this tie is over. They look a solid enough outift and although I think we will win on the night we are not playing Karagandy who I predicted we would knock out last year.
Henning Berg will come and contain us and go through.
Lots of mistakes from everyone last night including the gaffer.
I don;t think lack of investment is the biggest issue it’s experienced players who have played together for a few years looking like they just met each other. Why is Griffith’s not starting and playing through the middle?
Ronny’s comments on Tony Watt were interesting. He wants athletes 100% committed 24/7. That would signal the end of the road for Griffith’s and Stokes at Paradise if that is the case.
Looks like big changes ahead. May get worse before it gets better if we are clearing out a lot of players.
LB
I think the transition Ronnie is trying to achieve needs to be done in stages rather than all out change. Last night we looked totally dysfunctional. Some of those players last night, whilst admittedly not at CL standard, are better than that. There was a massive disconnect between system and players.
I would expect we will see major improvements next week, but enough to turn around a 3 goal deficit? Unlikely.
Do not agree with some of the comment that we won’t win the league. We will. Comfortably. Problem is, if the European season is bad, it will impact on crowds, which affects revenue, which sees Peter tighten the purse strings further yey, which takes us to……well …where we are now practically, i.e. a squad who are capable of domestic success but way out of their depth in Europe.