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Brendan Has Found The Right Approach For This Celtic Team. He Mustn’t Change Course.

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The talk from the Celtic camp seems to be about carrying on with what works.

Good. I hope that doesn’t mean a reversion to the way we’d been doing things before the St Mirren game, because for all the frustration that performance generated the result was the right one and the team looked a lot better for the change to the system.

I feel like we’ve seen the first true evolution of the playing style since the manager took over again. Having his big physical striker to fit into the team has freed Kyogo, has roughed up the opposition defence, has given McGregor greater freedom to roam and you can already see that it works better than trying to fit Ange’s players into a standard 4-2-3-1 was.

Brendan Rodgers has been working on this change to the system for a couple of weeks at least. There is no way that he should dump it for the way we were playing before. Two up front works and with three strikers in the squad he can go with that regularly. The word from Lennoxtown, the brief comments the boss has made, all suggest he will.

I cannot stress enough how happy that makes me.

We were crying out for something different, and to see us go with two strikers is so old-school Celtic … there will be games, such as at Ibrox, where it might not be a workable system, but Rodgers probably knows already what those games are going to be and I expect us to be ready for them.

People will worry about the midfield. Eventually opposition teams will try to capitalise by flooding that area of the pitch with players, with the plan that if you can contain McGregor you stop Celtic.

It’s a good theory, but it’s easier to do when McGregor is playing that holding role between the midfield and the defence. The further up the pitch he plays the harder he is to stop, and if you’re packing the centre, you’re risking being over-run on the flanks.

That’s where we have strength in depth and we have players who can do real damage. Look out for us moving the ball a lot more down the flanks. Again, these are things the team will have been working on for a while and the more used to it they get the better will play.

We owe someone a real beating.

Tomorrow might be in and it might not be, but as long as we’re sticking with the new system I think it will come sooner rather than later.

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10 comments

  • Paul says:

    Sorry but Oh is a big powerful striker. Why was this system not tired when he was available during the first half of the season..
    Playing a 4411 I is not some new fancy formation. Its actually very basic and unimaginative. The sort of formation Kilmarnock and livi deploy.
    We don’t have our first choice right or left back available, so why stick with a flat back 4, why not play 3 at the back? Most teams don’t try and attack anyway.
    We have the players to play a fast attacking 3232.
    But I suppose people are happy using living tactics

  • Jason Coyle says:

    How good would it be? If the real beating we owe someone comes the next game against mordors hordes

  • John L says:

    4-4-2 is fine, but if we keep offering as many chances to the opposition, we will get punished one of these days.

    We needed change , so let’s hope for a smother transition this weekend as we don’t want that smug cunt leaving Paradise with anything ,other than a going over.

  • Kevan McKeown says:

    Definitely neede some sort if adjustment. For tomorrow, mcinness will have his hammer throwers in there, can expect the physical approach. Important we get a result, that’s what matters and maybe even start tae squeeze a bit of pressure on them for Sunday.

    • Clachnacuddin and the Hoops says:

      Yip Kevan – McInnes and his hammer throwers and Cheatin Beaton the cheat with the whistle…

      What can possibly go wrong –

      We need to be on this tomorrow from minute one until the ninetieth one…

      Or the 105 that’ll be given to Kilmarnock to try to equalise if it’s only 1-0 to Celtic !

  • Gerry says:

    Yeah I’d tend to agree that Sunday’s performance, was a lot more encouraging, as a team. I also concur that we are overdue a five star performance and one that hands out a heavy defeat to one of our next opponents. I am hoping that it is tomorrow, as McInnes has been a tad smug with some of his past comments and can never hide his disdain or give us credit, after losing to us !With Wednesday’s ludicrous time added on, showing that officials & VAR are using the watches they bought on a Benidorm beach, and that come with a third hand ( the helping hand!)
    We must ensure that in every game, our attitude, energy, formation and shooting boots, are spot on ! Leave nothing to chance, or especially to VAR, and we will be fine !

  • Tom says:

    The last game was interesting development, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, one swallow doesn’t make a summer. 3-5-1-1 (or similar) might also be worth considering. We are seldom pushed at the back. We’d need to have the right wing backs (or wingers) to play that system, and of course one problem about overloading the midfield is that it can become very crowded: good defensively, but closing down a lot of space if you are trying to be creative.

    But the system should change depending on who we are playing, as you say.

  • Pat says:

    The only thing we are certain of throughout the chaos of the last few weeks is that Rodgers is a very good manager. I think it’s more likely he doesn’t have the players to implement his own style, down to the board not backing him and established players such as Kyogo, unable to adapt to a new approach.

  • Michael Clark says:

    Absolutely, we were much more creative with this system and Kyogo Furuhashi is such a smart footballer. He can operate from deep and still score goals as he did against St Mirren but now we also have muscle and height up front as well so ot gives us options. It couldn’t come sooner and if we put together a comfortable run in the league it will put pressure back on Old Firm FC

  • SSMPM says:

    We definitely owe McInnes’s Killie a good defeat. I’d be very happy to see a 3-5-2 or 3-2-3-2 however you want to call that structure it has to be flexible to skirt from one to the other during matches.
    It’s clear to me that Brendan has more confidence in Idah than Oh to play the formation he did last week and I’d be relatively content if he goes with that again tomorrow.
    What I’ve, as many have I’m sure, noticed is the loss of energy, pace and drive from this and end of last season. We stopped taking them on and went sideways and backwards then and now. Not just started under under Rodgers. Fans are blinded by their admiration of Ange to see or accept that. I’d like to see that return tomorrow on the big pitch with grass because we have it in our locker and maybe that’s why we need a fit return of Hatate C’mon a Hoops

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