Celtic have named their starting 11 for the game today against Strum Graz, and for the second match on the bounce we’ve gone for a 4-2-3-1, the hated formation of Ronny Deila, the one that so offended and infuriated our supporters.
Now, I’m not complaining. Not overly. There are different ways to play any formation; you can play defensively or offensively for a start. You can play with wing backs or fullbacks. With any system that ends in a three you can use two wide forwards or you can play three strikers in the middle, and even with the 4-2-3-1 there are different ways in which you can set up which gives you an even greater attacking threat than a two man strikeforce.
But sometimes one up front is what it sounds like. Today we’ve got Ciftci as the single striker, which isn’t a bad thing in itself; the manager wants a look at him. But why not pair him with Griffiths, the very forward line I thought we’d see when he signed?
The simple fact is, we’ve just signed Dembele. Dembele and Griffiths into one up front doesn’t go. If it’s an either or choice then that’s just stupid. Play them both and we have something. Dembele doesn’t feature today, of course, even on the bench.
The team has an experimental look to it. This is a manager testing things right now. I get that. I hope that’s what this is anyway. I hope we’ve seen the last of one man up front; it really doesn’t matter how that system is set up. If the opposition decides to pack the penalty area and double mark your sole striker they can make games harder than they need to be.
I want to see a Celtic team that adapts to the opposition. I thought we played really well in the second half of the friendly last week, after giving the opposition two of a start. That means the manager spotted what was wrong and fixed it … hallelujah.
Today’s game is an even stiffer test. It kicks off at 4:00 pm on CelticTV.
I’ll do a wee report after it’s done.
The line-up, an experimental one as I said, is as follows;
CELTIC (4-2-3-1) Bailly; Janko, O’Connell, McCart, Izaguirre; Johansen, Bitton; Christie, Allan, Henderson; Ciftci.
Subs: Gordon, Ralston, Sviatchenko, Ajer, Tierney, McGregor, Roberts, Lindsay, Armstrong, Griffiths, Brown, Fisher, Fasan.