Last night’s performance was a vast improvement on the horrible displays against Legia and gave us our second insight (after United) into how Ronny Deila is changing the way Celtic play football.
Key to the performance was the movement of his two Norwegians, Stefan Johansen and Jo Inge Berget, Callum McGregor and Beram Kayal. Johansen, who closed down space high up the field, pressurising defenders, played his best game for Celtic. Less said about his clearance of a Virgil van Dijk header the better.
Watching Kayal was like meeting an old friend again. The player, who in 2011 kept Victor Wanyama out of the team, has been a shadow of his former self since returning from injury two years ago. He is another player who enjoys closing space.
I’m an acknowledged cynic when it comes to even remotely hyped young players breaking through the ranks, but Callum McGregor has now delivered repeatedly. There is a long hard season ahead of him, and let’s remember, form fluctuates, but he has looked like one of the best players in the team so far. I doubt any Celtic player has opened the scoring in three consecutive European away games.
The first 35 minutes saw Maribor sit deep, which allowed Celtic to build patiently. Movement was good during this period, players in possession always had options, so we were able to switch play, force opponents to chase the ball, and penetrate with purpose.
Play was bound to change when Maribor started to close down higher up field, but Celtic reacted by playing low-percentage balls forward, which invariably resulted in possession being lost. I would like to see us look for less-ambitious passes more often.
There were several concerns, not least of all at the back. A defence which was impregnable for much of last season is now being cut open with regularity. I don’t subscribe to the view that players suddenly lose instinct and awareness over the summer, so it’s likely that a change in the midfield shape is exposing frailties in defence.
Maribor players found themselves clean through on a couple of occasions last night, echoing what happened in Warsaw and at Murrayfield. Ronny needs to find a fix.
Despite clearly being the better team, there is still a big job ahead for Celtic next week, better teams don’t always win, but a disciplined performance, no red cards, no mistakes at the back, should see us through.
Take no chances at Inverness on Saturday, make sure players are rested and fit.
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It’s a bad day when honest,constructive criticism is compared to “a hunnish trait”….
Dear oh dear oh dear.
TD67
Maribor in the CL = Group whipping boys.
My view is that they would close on the most uncompetitive side in this season’s CL.
Us in the CL — with a couple of new quality faces and more coaching / fitness = Dangerous.
We might finish fourth but we would have left our mark.
We are gradually digging ourselves out of a hole of our own — sorry PL’s — making.
All 12 months of it — wasteful transfer activity and an after you Claude manager search.
As for my first point — I think we would beat Maribor 8 times out of 10.
We have to make sure next Tuesday is not in that minority.
What do the Euro rankings show?
THey show that Bert Kassie is not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.
Well he isn’t elaborating so who knows what it means.
31003
Would you agree that if I said something you agreed with then you would disagree anyway.
Oh and I dont agree that Izzy wiz sh*t, he just didnae have one of his better games.
SFTB @ 14.58
1) Thanks for that.
2) You overplay the TFOD result.
They had the away goal and the match stats suggested they had proved history wrong — the Alamo was defendable.
3) Not sure what Seville side turned up that day.
All I know is that this is their fourth consecutive attempt at the CL.
The three earlier efforts were all close but no cigar.
Celts must Keep that Same Line-Up.. Fur Tues.
N..
That means..
No Commons.. No Efe..
in Fact.. Ah widnae play Efe in a C.L. ConFronto .. Again.
EVEN AS A SUB.
Na.. Efe, has Convinced me.. that He is a Guy Whom We canny afford the Dubious Luxury,o’ hivin him in oor team sheet,
whenever, we play in a KEY n Important… game..
He is Too…Nervy..
N..Kojo.. Hates Nervy!
Commons, wiz no Missed .. as Ah Hiv Predicted..fur weeks, whenever we are in a C.L. Game.
He is Jist no Cut oot tae Play In these Top Class Confronto’s
Ronny, Must stick with the Same Successful Line-Up. that He Started..in the Away game at Maribor.
If He diz…
We wull Beat the Blighters at Parkheid.. Ah Wull Guarantee That.
If He Dizn’t .. then Ah wull Withdraw That Guarantee~
Kojo
Still,Laughin’
Scott Brown runs like a hare but lacks technical ability in control passing and shooting.
Enigmatically he is usually superb for Scotland.
However over the piece for Celtic. ( with valid reason) he has been very average.
However the teams decline and standard now makes him a ‘must pick’ when fit….
Mike bhoyle,
Yeah I’m sure it was the honest constructive criticism that Bada was referring to.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, there yi go, hahahahahahaha, I knew there was a wee PL swipe in there, that was my point, I get it, .
setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox but saying no to CQN racists
15:05 on
21 August, 2014
Magnificent Seven
Do you think there is any money in this lark of interpreting on behalf of the cryptic and the acronymic?
Unlikely, unless TD gives us half his fee for appearing in the DR, or his spare fag money :-)
LiviBhoy,
Efe has one ability which, unfortunately, neither Commons nor Mulgrew possess: pace. I think our manager sees that as intrinsic to how he wants our team to play in Europe, particularly away from home. Efe, imo, is a football player but he takes too many chances which are punished at the European level. If our manager can rid him of that trait, we certainly have a player. I can’t see Izzy lasting too long at LB, as, even in Scotland, teams are exploiting him to the detriment of the team.
Boom take this Acronymic variation P.S./H.P. SHORT SQUEEZE 8/1
Thanks to Seandaleer .great tip mate.
H.H.
I disagree with Tiny Tim. Shocking I know, but there you go.
Kris Commons is a very good footballer, and had a marvellous season last year. He is now in the final year of his contract. He celebrates his 31st birthday next week, and can be considered to be at the peak of his career.
Nothing much to disagree about there.
The idea though that we should give him a new contract in order that he can play out his remaining career at Celtic is a little more contentious.
Key I suppose is… how many seasons remain of his career? Is he a Gordon Strachan or Ryan Giggs who will continue to compete at a very high level until age 40?
Or will his effectiveness on the pitch diminish quickly once past 32 years old, as has happened to many players before him?
If we are to offer him a contract to allow him to play out the remainder of his career at Celtic, how many years is that on the deal?
Is it a one year extension taking him through to 33 years old? Is it 2 years? 3 years? If we overestimate the length of time that he will continue to play at the top level, we simply pay him very well him to watch the games from the stand, or collect his coaching badges, cf Paul Lambert. It would be smarter to give him more money for a shorter term than commit to multiple years of predictably decreasing impact on the pitch.
And what are the alternatives for Kris? He has a market just now that will likely offer him better money than we are likely to pony up, and over a longer period.
Nah. Kris has done some great things here, and given us all some memories to keep, but on balance, I’ll wish him very well, thank him for his contribution and advise he heads off.
17s play The Jags in the cup at Loch Inch at Pollock park 2 nite . 7pm ko.
Geordie Munro…acting as Bada’s ghost writer….
And your point is…??
Parkheadcumsalford
I have long said Izzy is a bit of a problem at left back due to his lack of height. Full backs usually need a bit of height for those back post balls.
I like Izzy very good footballer. Not sure if he is a left back though. Might be better in the midfield.
I hate saying that about the Bhoy but that injury has lost him a yard of pace that he used to be able to make up.
LB
TheOriginalSadiesBhoy
A strange aspect of the Malky Mackay story is that these messages have been uncovered after Tan hired the law firm Mishcon de Reya to trawl through his materials. Presumably legally as Tan was maybe paying for the bill or it was company phones or computers (I guess???).
This is the same Mishcon de Reya who represented many mobile phone-hacking victims and celebrities, and fought a long running feud with tabloid newspapers inc The Sun and Mail. It’s curious then that these messages have now been leaked to the Mail – maybe by Tan rather than Mishcon.. but odd all the same.
I never got a penny for that article, it was to help smokers quit ;)
If it was offered I would have took it mind you ;)
Way over your head by the the looks of it Mike.
MadMitch
We are close to being in agreement.
If they came close on 3 previous occasions, then they could come close this time too and, perhaps, cause an upset. That is why I wanted them treated with due respect and not dismissed as a pub team. I did not rate them as favourites to win the tie but felt the home tie would have been trickier than it turned out to be and that, if we played anywhere near the Legia level, we would go out.
Maribor, if drawn against Scotland’s second best team (objectively), Motherwell would win by a very large margin.
It is hard for most pot 4 teams to trouble the placings and the handicap format at CL Group stage. That is why I rate our 3 last 16 CL achievements as vastly superior, in football terms, not in terms of enjoyment, to the Seville season.
SFTB I should have put quotation marks around the previous sentence. It seems we rear good players simply for the fee we get for them when we sell em…..
Out of the frying pan and into the fire springs to mind?
http://www.footballscores.com/news/liverpool-fc-set-to-sign-mario-balotelli-on-one-year-deal/
Don’t think I am agreeing with the sentiments of Paul’s post regarding the tightness of the defensive part of the team or the lack thereof. It is true that Maribor players were clean through on a couple of occasions. However one of these was the goal and the other was a blooter over the bar in the first half. The question is should our midfield have stopped it before it came in and could our defence have done more to prevent a striker running into space behind them. The answer to both is yes. The goal came from a ball straight through the middle of our defence. I’d need to watch the lead up to it again but we shouldn’t be in a position where an opposition player can play a pass like that right down the middle. A midfielder should have been between the ball and our centre halfs.denayer should also have stood 2 yards further back. We need to make sure that the holding player can cover that area of the pitch. We also need to look at the number of players that press at any time.
Last night we also seemed to switch to longer passes which although an improvement on Legia (where we hit low passes through a ruck) still wasn’t really a pass. I’d disagree slightly with Paul on the percentages if a long pass. If the long pass is hit to wider areas and aimed to go past their last defender we should at least force them to turn and chase before they get possession we also have the benefit of having most of our men behind the ball if we lose it and can then press to get it back. The larger percentage success rate of a pass comes from short passes into space but the root if that is retention rather than creating opportunities. We also put pressure on ourselves with those short passes as they go in ever decreasing circles.
Pass from Izzy to them in the second half. Ambrose standing over the ball are examples of us losing possession too close to our goal. I’d rather lose it higher up the pitch as long as we don’t have 3 players hunting it and leaving big gaps.
Commons is in the last year of his contract is on wages above our ceiling and I agree won’t contribute in Europe. The SPL is fine but there are faster fitter cheaper players and formations that can be played that mean we will still entertain and win the league. Commons will be sold if we can convince him to move. Don’t completely agree with that but that is reality.
Also still think there is a real possibility of VVD going despite the possibility of Champions League football.
We should play the fringe players v Ict. Give the pukkis, baldes and Griffiths a run out.
MadMitch
“Maribor, if drawn against Scotland’s second best team (objectively), Motherwell would win by a very large margin.”
I missed a comma after Motherwell and that might change how it read. I am predicting that Maribor would hump Motherwell 9 times out of 10.
Wow Geordie…..that’s what I call a well constructed, thought out response…Well done you.
And you’ve reminded me why I don’t post on here very often….
Have a nice day…
I’m out of here.
Time for my we efternin nap, ohhhh what a life ;)
Neg Anon
“It seems we rear good players simply for the fee we get for them when we sell em”
Sorry, I am going to be thrawn (or picky) again with this.
Simply??
We have to train them. We have to play them. And, if the bid is big enough, we have to sell em. During the period we have them, we can enjoy them. But many of those who have stayed with us are merely those who have not gone yet.
You cannot buck the market. All players are for sale. All players will be sold if the price is right. It is not a problem unique to Celtic or Peter Lawwell.
So, if Fraser is our only (major, first team) departure this window which remains to be seems), how much do people think our squad has improved / disimproved this transfer window?
In the plus column we have Denayer, McGregor, Berget, Tonev and Wakaso.
I would say, on balance, and subject to further ins and outs, that we have strengthen pretty well. And that doesn’t count Kayal 2.0 – Mark Hately would say that he is also “like a new signing”….
Anyone disagree?
My friends in Celtic,
SFTB posted at 12.27hrs an articulate piece about the Malky McKay situation. He concluded by asking “Any Views”.
Well yes; for what it is worth I have.
From a Celtic perspective I think we have had a lucky “escape”. Can you imagine the fall out if he was our manager ?
I will conclude by stating that possibly, just possibly PL has just demonstrated again that he is worth his competitive salary.
It seems on such a fine day it is becoming very obvious that PL has served us well with his masterstroke regarding Craig Gordon and his astute choice of picking a manager.
Can his salary now be considered a bargain ?
Before all the PL haters resume sticking their pins into his effigy let us ponder the “done deal” as stated on CQN regarding Roy Kean.
Sometimes we think we know more than we actually do. :-)
HH and justice for pygmy’s ( What have they ever done to you CSC )
Jeg er Delia Smith. Our best summer signing and could well end up being our biggest improvement could be Rony. H.H.
Jeg er Delia
We lost Sammi in this window too.
And it is not shut yet.
tonydonnelly
enjoy your nap, and dont be dreaming about pygmies, or huns !
and wake up in a good mood !
HH
SFTB @ 15.29
Any numpty can sell something of value.
The talent is replacing them and here we still have a VW sized hole in the team.
Greenpinata
Unless you are sure that a) Malky was a candidate that PL was considering for Celtic or b) PL was aware of his racist history (it has come as a shock to most of us), then I don’t think credit can be claimed.
We have had another stroke of fortune in not having picked Malky but it is not, necessarily, a point of credit.
Malky mac not so bright after all??? Pity!!
SFTB, yes, I did say “and subject to further ins and outs”…. Good point re Sammi, although I am not sure he was a major first team player last year
JFH, that’s a boldly positive statement there my friend!
setting free the bears for Res. 12 & Oscar Knox but saying no to CQN racists
We also lost Tony Watt.
LB