We Have No Midfield Generals Despite What They Think
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! 
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.
