Here we have it. Part 3 of Justshatered review of the squad.
Today, he looks at our midfield and mainly it’s failings. This was written before our trip to The Marnocks but it rings louder now than a bell ringer out his face on Sunny D.
This is quality stuff. Deserving of credibility.
I will attempt to make my second rant about the midfield a lot shorter than the first about the defence. To me there is less wrong, footballing wise, with the midfield than with the defence although the midfield seems to epitomise some individual player’s belief that they should be playing at a higher level than Celtic.
As I write this we are in the middle of an international break during which Kayal has declared himself unfit to play against Hearts and yet has jetted off to play for Israel amid rumours that he is not happy with his wages or current contract negotiations.
Ki meanwhile has travelled half way around the world and declared that he wishes to move, either in January, or next summer. Apparently the Scottish co-efficient is poor and he wants to only go to a team playing Champions League football, preferably England.
Well excuse me guys but if you want the big move why don’t you knuckle down, work with the rest of the team, win the league, and help improve our co-efficient by perhaps ……. well how about winning an away game in Europe. What gives either of these players the belief that they should be plying their trade playing for Man United, Chelsea, Man City, or Arsenal is completely and utterly beyond me.
Remember Ki and Kayal barely kicked a ball for us last season until December. Granted after that the two of then were excellent but, based on half a season, they both now want a big move! Guess what guys when you signed for us WE WERE YOUR BIG MOVE! 
Now I’m not so naive that I don’t understand that in modern football there is a hierarchy where good players go to the better clubs and chase the bigger pay cheque however this is based on either incredible class, massive work rate or more likely both.
I don’t believe that Ki or Kayal currently fit the above bill but perhaps if they concentrate on their game maybe the big move will come. If I was another manager, looking to add to my squad, I would be analysing character as much as ability and currently I don’t think either of these guys are covering themselves in glory.
Now on to the football aspect of the midfield; Ki’s perpetual motion and off the ball movement is great. He is now chipping in with goals as well as having a good positional sense. Kayal to me has not started this season and I think this is down to his “off field” issues. Joe Ledley to me is a bit of an unsung hero; he does the simple things well, can and does play in a variety of positions but why is he always the first to get the hook? This can’t be doing a lot for his confidence.
Commons looks a stone overweight and disinterested – he needs a rocket. Forrest is an exciting talent with quick feet but needs to improve his vision. Scott Brown to me, again epitomises, things that are wrong with our club.
He looked an exciting young talent when playing with Hibs. When he came to Celtic we tried, and failed, to build a partnership with him and various players in the middle of the park. If it had not been for his suspension that forced the Robson / Hartley partnership together in the closing games of his first season I believe we would not have won the title on that emotional night at Tannadice.
Does anyone reading this article believe that Scott Brown, as a player, has improved since he arrived at Celtic? This is an issue that must be addressed within the club; players do not seem to develop technically when they come to Celtic.
Whether it is because they think they’ve made it and begin to coast or they think that they are better than Celtic after a season (see above) I don’t know. Players, if they are not, should be working on technique in the afternoons instead of going home. They certainly used to only come in at 9am and leave about noon.
This is no longer acceptable in modern football. It would also set a good example for the youth players. My major criticism of the midfield, and in turn the club, is that we do not have a player who regularly gets beyond the forwards. The last player who did this for us was Robson.
The great thing about this type of player is that he gets his marker going in the wrong direction and taking him into areas he does not wish to go. His marker doesn’t know when, or if, to pass him on to his defence this leads to confusion and, as we all know looking at our own defence, confusion ends up with the ball in the net.
I thought we did have this type of player in Juarez. I liked the way he got up to support the forwards while making intelligent runs off the ball but something went wrong there and …. well it looks as if we’ve lost money that should have been spent elsewhere.
Defensively the midfield works hard, closes down well, doesn’t leave a big gap between itself and the defensive line but it does allow crosses into the box far too easily. The opposition wide men should be closed down quicker as we don’t want crosses raining in on top of our central defenders.
They are also far to slow when breaking up the park. We have pace in the team and we should use it. For example when the goalkeeper catches a corner, Forrest should sprint to where the half way line meets the touch line while at the same time the forward on the half way line drags the defenders in the opposite direction and the midfielder on the edge of the box sprints straight up the middle of the park.
Man United used this very tactic in the early days of Giggs, Scholes and Beckham. This ploy immediately gets you on the front foot, giving the keeper multiple options to deliver to, and casts doubt on the opposition when they have their next set piece. You don’t need to use this ploy all the time but twice or three times in a game. But players need to be coached and told what is expected of them and to be honest I’m not so sure that this is happening.
In my opinion a team is like a jigsaw; each piece making up an overall picture. As a manager remember the picture you are trying to make, find the specific pieces that fit and do not attempt to put pieces into areas where they will not go. When you go to buy a player know exactly what you want that guy to do. Don’t buy him and then ask him to do something completely alien to him.
I sometimes get the impression that we go and buy a player and then think how are we going to accommodate him in the team? Anyway that’s my view of the midfield and some of the characters in it but its not all doom and gloom remember as I said at the start of my second article I just love to watch good football.
While I accept that, due to the way the game has changed financially, we will never again scale the heights that we did in the late 60’s and early 70’s that does not mean as a club we should lower our gaze because if you continually lower your gaze eventually you will end up looking at your own feet with a bowed head. We should always look to the horizon and be the best we can.
Hail Hail.
With Scott Brown in the team..The others around him play better…Roy Aitken was no footballing genius but his mere presence inspired those around them and knew that someone had their backs..
We miss Scott Brown in that team…end off
Do you think Broonie is a CM? I certaintly don’t he is a right handsided midfielder in my eyes and his Feed The Bear moments are very rare.
defo right sided..but when he started to raom about recently at Ibrox, he single handedly lifted us to raise our game and dragged those around him out of their slumber..you saw the effects when he was subsequently injured and started to struggle..as did we…by not great shakes is he a superstar, far from it but hs influence on that team is immeasurable…Kayal looks lost without him there
He looked like that player we signe from Hibs during that spell.
Chris Sutton was interviewed after a Rangers match and said that it didn’t matter if they held the ball because they could only mve across the pitch and when they did that 30 meters out they could keep the ball all day. Our current mid-field are timid – they don’t penetrate and very often send it out to the wings. How many times have we seen a quick break out snuffed by our own players (Sami and the major culprate Brown) pass it back or run with it across the field. Being timid doesn’t only mean shirking in tackles it also means not having the imagination or forethought to bring audacity into the game. Ki and even Kayal require another player to do these things for them. The Roy Keane, the Robson, the Lennon is what is needed – push them, goad them, demand something from them all the while keeping their backs and allowing for the odd mistake in the knowledge that he and the others will cover them (the midfield)when they move up.
The other SPL teams (in fact any team we play) knows that if they go right down the middle we are so disorganized, slow and shy that they have a decent chance (perhaps the best chance in history)of scoring a few on us. If they go out wide our defence is incapable of winning the 50/50 balls in the air and invariably the ball will come back to them.
The current Celtic team has many problems – the selection of players is dire and the talent is questionable but Celtic should be able to get by Killie with neither of these. the truth is that from the training pitch to the dressing room to the field of play the team is poorly drilled, OVER motivated with platitudes and attitudes and very poorly blended.
Great post.
I feel that Wanyamas selection has helped soft centre recently. Well, sort off.
I agree about Ledley being an unsung hero. He does everything asked of him and doesn’t let us down. He is good going forward and has chipped in with 3 goals this season, but for me he is a defensive midfielder and played his best football in the middle of the park when he was doing the simple things well and breaking the opposition play up. Likewise, Ki and Kayal for me do not work hard enough at these things and do not work as well as either would with Ledley. Furthermore, when Brown was on one wing and Commons was on the other, we had a balance that I don’t see when Ledley plays down the left as he reverts to his natural defensive style of play.
Just another opinion though isn’t it haha
If I was going for a middle 3 it would be Kayal, Ki and Ledley.
car crash TBH.
Our most effective midfield when fit and on form is Brown,Kayal,Ledley,Commons
Here’s a thing, continuity, when was the last time Lennon had the option to play the same team 2 games in a row?
For me that is a major reason for our poor form. That and bringing guys back half fit meaning they get injured again.
Your midfield is one that I wouldn’t be disappointed in seeing if ALL fully fit.
But why when Commons is dropped, is Ledley moved out of position to play Ki when we have McCourt, Forrest, Samaras (I said it haha) or any of the youths. Mulgrew should be the first choice centre back as well, but is moved out left when Izaguirre is out or even left midfield. The spine of the team is too quickly disrupted to keep the too large squad happy or worse when the tactics are tinkered with against teams we should beat if we play to our strengths.
I do now wonder if Mr Kayal’s performances will now improve that he has received his improved contract. No more distractions for him. Will we see Ki adopt the same tactic?
Anyway, it annoys the bejesus out of me that people still question what Ledley brings to the team and I completely agree Lennon’s treatment of him is baffling.
Brown, right handsided midfielder as he hasn’t got the technique to play in the middle all the time. I still stand by that if he wasn’t British then he wouldn’t be anywhere near a football team.
Your buying a player then wondering how he is going to fit is an interesting observation. Do you think Ki was signed because we needed another tippy tappy midfielder (we had Crosas) or because it opened up a brand new market?
Murphy, McCourt and McGinn? (Keeping existing markets happy?)
It annoys the bejesus out of me that I keep missing what Ledley is doing and everyone else see’s. For every good game he has two like Saturday (when playing left midfield).
He does a job left mid but is much more effective in the middle. He does the jobs that you don’t see but you require doing. Much likeLennon himself.
Ki I think ticked a few boxes. New market and he was the up and coming star in the far east. He does need to work harder at the nasty side of the game….. working back and filling space.
Juarez, I think was a market signing as well. Though his taste in women, beer and powder may have something to do with his disappearance.
Without Brown Celtic are leaderless and only a poor imitation of the real team.
I hope Kayal now returns to last season’s form.
Ki has to be forced to play for the team, too much of an individualist now.
Big Big concern with Hooper, smile gone, form gone.
If we can hang in until we get Brown back I think our midfield will then cover up for defence.
nail on head mate
Midfiled is too lightweight and not enough getting in amongst them. Kayal can do it, but unless he buckles down and works for the pay cheque he now gets, we have a Van Hoojdonk prima donna. Wanyama needs a run as he has done little wrong and I am all for doing it at the expense of Kayal until he rediscovers his form as he has been given ample opportunity to do so.
Commons needs a run as the guy is brilliant on his day and we need to encourage and support rather than just drop him the way Lennon has.
Midfield needs Broonies urgency. He gets flack, but equally he does inspire those around him and kicks arses when needed and boy do arses need kicked at the moment.
My four would be Broonie, Ledley, Kayal and Commons. If Kayal continues to sulk swap with Wanyama.
I think we do miss Commons. Actually, I miss him but wee Jamesy is doing a turn.
It’s amazing that the majority on here are saying we re missing Broonie while previous blog responses have said he is the problem. I’m sure the anti-broonie camp will be along shortly.
Or is it another case of O’Deaitis where an unavailable player all of a sudden becomes a world-beater?
I understand what people say about Brown’s urgency, tenacity and commitment. The problem I have with him is that he is unable to control all of this enthusiasm to play a simple pass. That allied to the fact that he has not improved technically, in my opinion, since he arrived at the club.
The point about not having a midfielder who gets beyond the forwards is spot on. All of our current midfielders can do a job, on their day, but we lack a Stan Petrov type busting a gut to get in the box. We always tend to go for what is essentially 2 holding midfielders in the middle and this makes it easier for opponents to deal with us.
We lack flair, drive and pace in the middle. Ki was with already with us but Lenny has brought in Kayal, Ledley, Commons and Wanyama. Ki, Kayal, ledley, Wanyama all seem set up to do the same job. Commons can get goals but he may struggle to get in the team for other reasons.
It’ll take a change in footballing philosophy and a kick to some egos before anything changes.
We did have two offensive midfielders a few years ago in Hartley and Robson. I believe the decision to let these two guys go within a matter of months has cost our club dear. Their experience and grit was lost in a matter of months and has never adequately been replaced.