CELTIC’S first choice full-backs Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney were both far from their best in the disappointing 0-0 draw against the comedy club on 30 December.
At one stage in the first half KT failed to control the ball and allowed it to run out of play on the North stand touchline. In frustration at making such a basic mistake he hammered the ball towards the Sevco Rangers goals.
All afternoon the young Player of the Year seemed to be playing with his usually assured first touch completely missing while on the other side of the Celtic defence the same problem was apparent as Mikael Lustig continually gave the ball away to Govanite players who thankfully didn’t have the composure to take full advantage.
The only member of the back four who had a decent game was the teenager Kristoffer Ajer, who tellingly hasn’t played too much football since the season started for Celtic in JULY.
On Twitter on Hogmanay the excellent @Moravcik67 provided us with an explanation for this that deserves a wider audience among the Celtic support. If you hear complaints about the performance when you go back to work tomorrow or if some Zombie attempts to gloat about them winning one point, here’s the answer to what Celtic weren’t at their best.
And tell them that a refreshed Celtic will be putting the foot on the gas when they come back from Dubai to secure 7 in a Row and hopefully a second successive Treble…
1. Including Internationals, Kieran Tierney has played more minutes (3,607) in 17/18 than any other outfield player in any European top tier league. That equates to 40 full matches in 169 days, or 1 game every ~4 days since July. Only Craig Gordon (3,780) has played more minutes.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) December 31, 2017
2. The 2 outfield players closest to Tierney are Scott Brown (3,220 minutes) and Mikael Lustig (3,137 minutes). Valon Berisha, of Salzburg, is the first non-Celtic player on the list, with 2,984 minutes – 7 games worth less than Tierney has played.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) December 31, 2017
3. Given the role we expect our full backs to perform, and the importance we place on it, Tierney and Lustig have been asked to play a ridiculous amount of football. It’s not surprising that the youngster looks so jaded and the veteran looks to have broken down.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) December 31, 2017
4. I think managing the squad is something we can improve upon. We need to find a balance between exhausting our players and the constant chopping and changing we’ve seen up up front. Tiredness isn’t the only reason we’ve struggled at times lately, but it has been a factor.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) December 31, 2017