Celtic has now played four pre-season matches with two wins and two draws. Saturday’s match with Maribor was probably the toughest of them, although we’d beaten the team who topped their league in the game before it.
They played eleven men behind the ball for the duration; not exactly an attack minded team in an open attacking game.
We struggled to break them down in the first half. I mean we really struggled. It’s hard watching the same midfield three as last year; those guys take the pace down to a crawl. There’s no dynamism. This is the common criticism levelled at Bitton and one that gets increasingly levelled at Brown. I don’t think many believe Johansen should be a regular next year.
The team is just too damned slow with those guys in the middle of the pitch. They’ve perhaps taken too much of the Deila philosophy to heart; there are too many backward passes, there’s too much emphasis on the slow (painfully slow) build-up and that’s never been an effective strategy for breaking down a packed defence and never will be.
Once Rogic and Armstrong came on you could see us move up a gear.
Either our main players learn to play with some verve or those two ought to be the preferred midfield pairing going into the new campaign.
It’s always possible that this was an experimental game for the manager, but I felt strongly he was trying out his preferred line-up for Europe tomorrow, and maybe that’s what it will turn out to be, but I think we need Stuart Armstrong in the middle of the park.
He belongs there, and it’s where he needs to be, especially if we’re going to make him a better footballer.
Up front I have no issues, even with the manager telling Leigh Griffiths he has to play a slightly different role. The explanation he gave to Leigh makes good sense; it’s based on an analysis of the goals the player has scored in the last year, many of which involved cutting inside and using his left foot. Dembele is to be the tip of the spear; that suggests we’ve most definitely seen the last of the one man forward line experiment.
Bravo.
We do need to make some changes.
There are players at Celtic Park who need to be moved on, as swiftly as possible. We’ve spent no money yet; the first Champions League games are here and we’ve bought one first team player this summer. We’ve also finalised a deal for a guy we signed when Deila was still the manager; to say it’s been underwhelming is an understatement and whilst we have enough to get through the first tie the second presents us with a whole new set of problems.
Bottom line; this team, in this form, isn’t to going to cut it even in the short term. There’s too many hangers-on in that squad and whilst I do believe we have an excellent core group of players there are guys on the fringes who are there, frankly, because that’s where they belong. Better players need to be brought in; no-one doubts that.
Earlier today I was looking over the 23 signings Ronny Deila made in two seasons; God forbid we get stuck on that roundabout again. Dembele suggests that we’re after quality this time and the other names who’ve been mentioned hit that mark as well. I am as frustrated as anyone that we’ve not made more signings, and I’ve said so … but when you consider the alternative maybe it’s just as well that we’re taking the time to do it right.
Too many of Ronny’s signings had the reek of panic about them.
I trust that no such stench is going to be detectable when the next deals are closed.