Originally published at: Celtic defending needs to improve exponentially for Ange-ball to work
Another European night for Celtic, and another in which the Bhoys were the catalyst to their own failures. It’s been a frustrating story for a long time now, going back several managers and mini-eras at the club. We are the architects of our own downfall so much of the time when we face stronger opposition…
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We are at the bare bones for a squad at the minute based on us shipping the ones who weren’t interested in playing for us.
The result is a lot more football and new tactics on guys who are not ready for it. Poor we know for a club like us but we need to go with it for now and hope we click at some point.
Think Starfelt has been held to ransom so far though. The guy is a good defender, just left to clean up a lot of mess and try to play his position too.
Not the best times for the team at the minute but us as fans have to be truly “faithful through and through” 
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“The best place to defend is in the opposition penalty box.” Jock Stein.
Well it is if your finishing is up to par.
Turnbull showed his naivety again at this level and I’m not so sure he’s ready for teams like Leverkusen yet at this stage because that’s a simple decision to make under pressure in your own box against the second best side in Germany at the moment.
Boot it out the pitch and the defence time to reset.
We have been fielding a patchwork back 4 for most of the Season with a mixture of new signings in Starfelt and CCV coupled with inexperienced youth in Welsh and Montgomery and what was the 3rd choice Right Back in Ralston who with all the will in the world is never going to be the new Danny McGrain.
He works hard,he tackles hard and he can deliver a mean ball into the box on occasion but the reality is he’s limited in other areas such as positioning and awareness of what is going on around him.
Juranovic will be the first choice RB this Season and beyond - He has just got here and is unfortunately injured.
Jullien will be the first choice CB and mainstay when fit. unfortunately he’s been out for Ange the entire Season so far.
Taylor is the first choice Left Back but as has been pointed out he’s struggling to become a genuine Wingback which as most of us are aware is an entirely different ask of a player like him- He’s out injured.
Scales would be his obvious replacement but he’s just got here and needs time to both get up to speed and bed in - That takes time.
In Midfield we have had our key man and Captain McGregor out for several games and like he has stated is adapting to new demands from his pivotal position as the deep lying playmaker.- He is going to be key to Postecoglou’s wishes of fast attacking football because without him that deep things will slow up dramatically as more defensive minded midfielders cannot move it forward as quickly.- There seems to be some commenting on McGregors role without fully understanding how pivotal him being that deep is.I’ve supplied some videos of the role of the Regista on another thread it’s worth a watch folks it’s very informative.
The issue is who do you deploy in front of him and in what shape?
You could go with Rogic and Turnbull but I think Turnbull is the weak link because when Rogic and Christie were posted in front of McGregor under Rodgers for a short period (Brown was Suspended and Ntcham injured) we went from a slow ,possession based game to a quicker,more dynamic and effective attacking side during this brief spell.
McGregor
Rogic-Christie
We were blowing teams away in this period they couldn’t live with the pace and movement.
When Brown returned so did the patient build up as a result and when Ntcham got the nod it was slower still.
Turnbull is still on a learning curve as a player, Christie was well in advance technically and it is showing at the European level.
The answer could be to drop Furuhashi in behind Giakoumakis and deploy him in the alongside Rogic because he didn’t arrive a Striker from Japan he was more or less playing as a 10 with Inniesta now deployed in the deeper Regista role ala McGregor ( due to his age I think) supplying the ball.
We could set up like this :
McGregor
Rogic-Furuhashi
Abada Giakoumakis Jota
Or alternatively you could deploy a screening CMF in front of McGregor in McCarthy and or Soro who are more defensive minded but can also play a forward ball with accuracy ( which would mean deploying wingbacks for width rather than wingers) then deploy Furhashi at the point of the Diamond ala Commons with both Giakoumakis and Ajeti in a pairing effectively giving us a front 3 :
McGregor
McCarthy - Soro
Furuhashi
Giakoumakis Ajeti
The key however is getting the first pick players fit and playing which as we know up to this point has been a major issue for Ange but especially moreso whilst attempting to instal a new approach.
You cannot hope to have a simple transition when so many key men have dropped out or are unavailable to to do it because at the moment there are too many square pegs being forced into round holes.
But despite all these issues we still created 4/5 clear cut chances in front of their goal and should really have buried at least 3 of them.
A genuine number 9 would have I believe.
Furuhashi hasn’t developed into one yet.
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