Inverness 3 - Celtic 2
"If there's a shop where I can buy something that stops bad defending then I'll go there."
Yes, they are called defenders.
I suppose the first place to assess this quote is by looking at the players who could be filling the defensive slots within the current squad. It would be folly to suggest Celtic shouldn’t invest on their defence in the January window, however in the couple of weeks before then, for Celtic to keep their title charge realistic, it is imperative that the defence in its current guise cannot continue without some sort of reshuffle. Let’s play one who has proven experience and quality. At times against Inverness it seemed like Pressely and McManus were attempting to gift the highland side points for Christmas, with all three goals conceded by Celtic after scoring twice, surely avoidable by more competent defending.
Whether loved or hated, it must be conceded that Balde has been part of some very effective units in the past, and indeed even in his fleeting appearances in the past two seasons, statistically Celtic are more defensively resolute with Balde in the starting line up. Persisting with the defensive personnel who have been playing of late, is plain embarrassing. Gordon has to bring at least one of Balde or O'Dea in before the transfer window. If he does not, he is all but accepting the standard that the defence has been playing at.
In the past 5 games, what has Stephen McManus done to justify his inclusion ahead of O’Dea’s? I could accept O'Dea starting the next couple of games at centre half, as that is at least dealing with the problem in some way. Although I had thought he would be good enough cover at left back, O'Dea has looked poor at in that position. I thought he was below par in san siro. He has never looked anything close to poor at centre half though. Celtic at times over the past year have fluttered on the cusp of something great, and for that the manger deserves credit.
However, he has to be more proactive with his defence unless he risks undoing the good work.
Sadly due to the stubborn inflexibility of the manager, Balde playing under Gordon Strachan (bar an outbreak of bubonic plague) is as unlikely as Celtic opting for a back three. Given the personnel available recently, Strachan should surely have been playing a back three for months now. There will be reasons why the manager will not change his desired formation; however the benefits of doing so must surely be weighing up against it given the generosity of goals from his back four.
Through his captaincy McManus has achieved first pick status that his ability hasn’t always merited. To digress slightly, I would imagine had Celtic not appointed a Captain following Lennon's departure, and looked at the squad on current form and ability, Paul Hartley would have been head and shoulders ahead of McManus in the vote. The young centre half could then have been not only led by a more experienced and able footballer, but been allowed to be taken out of the team when form suggests so, and indeed learn from his mistakes rather than continue the pretence that things will improve without change, which he is suffering currently.
Gordon's post match interview again yesterday took the embarrassment further than the football pitch. His claims of a great performance were clearly not true so spare us the nonsense. If he is not prepared to give a truthful interview, I don’t see a problem with him not conducting an interview at all. For a fifteen minute spell in the first half, Celtic hit great form, out with that, McGeady again seemed alone in his quest to produce quality befitting a Celtic team. From that, I am not sure what Gordon can make a great performance.
The main positive I did note however, that Hesselink was back amongst the goals, and showed he is able to, like his strike partner McDonald has of late, to benefit from McGeady excellent set up play, with the Dutchman looking particularly sharp for his second.
For all the talent and potential Derek Riordan has, the player couldn’t say whole heartedly say he has shown enough to deserve a starting berth from his Celtic performances. However, currently there aren’t enough players playing at a level to merit keeping him out the team, and again yesterday, his entrance to the game seemed to bring a slight breath of hope to both supporters and players of Celtic alike. However Killen could not capitalise when Riordan played him in literally two yards from goal. Surely Killen cannot continue to be brought on with the expectation he will do anything other than play a similar style to Hesselink but with less mobility, ability, and certainly goal threat. Zurawski and Riordan offer a different type of approach, and if Hesselink's approach isn’t giving goals or a threat, then surely the Polish striker, or Riordan are a more positive proposition.
Yes, they are called defenders.
I suppose the first place to assess this quote is by looking at the players who could be filling the defensive slots within the current squad. It would be folly to suggest Celtic shouldn’t invest on their defence in the January window, however in the couple of weeks before then, for Celtic to keep their title charge realistic, it is imperative that the defence in its current guise cannot continue without some sort of reshuffle. Let’s play one who has proven experience and quality. At times against Inverness it seemed like Pressely and McManus were attempting to gift the highland side points for Christmas, with all three goals conceded by Celtic after scoring twice, surely avoidable by more competent defending.
Whether loved or hated, it must be conceded that Balde has been part of some very effective units in the past, and indeed even in his fleeting appearances in the past two seasons, statistically Celtic are more defensively resolute with Balde in the starting line up. Persisting with the defensive personnel who have been playing of late, is plain embarrassing. Gordon has to bring at least one of Balde or O'Dea in before the transfer window. If he does not, he is all but accepting the standard that the defence has been playing at.
In the past 5 games, what has Stephen McManus done to justify his inclusion ahead of O’Dea’s? I could accept O'Dea starting the next couple of games at centre half, as that is at least dealing with the problem in some way. Although I had thought he would be good enough cover at left back, O'Dea has looked poor at in that position. I thought he was below par in san siro. He has never looked anything close to poor at centre half though. Celtic at times over the past year have fluttered on the cusp of something great, and for that the manger deserves credit.
However, he has to be more proactive with his defence unless he risks undoing the good work.
Sadly due to the stubborn inflexibility of the manager, Balde playing under Gordon Strachan (bar an outbreak of bubonic plague) is as unlikely as Celtic opting for a back three. Given the personnel available recently, Strachan should surely have been playing a back three for months now. There will be reasons why the manager will not change his desired formation; however the benefits of doing so must surely be weighing up against it given the generosity of goals from his back four.
Through his captaincy McManus has achieved first pick status that his ability hasn’t always merited. To digress slightly, I would imagine had Celtic not appointed a Captain following Lennon's departure, and looked at the squad on current form and ability, Paul Hartley would have been head and shoulders ahead of McManus in the vote. The young centre half could then have been not only led by a more experienced and able footballer, but been allowed to be taken out of the team when form suggests so, and indeed learn from his mistakes rather than continue the pretence that things will improve without change, which he is suffering currently.
Gordon's post match interview again yesterday took the embarrassment further than the football pitch. His claims of a great performance were clearly not true so spare us the nonsense. If he is not prepared to give a truthful interview, I don’t see a problem with him not conducting an interview at all. For a fifteen minute spell in the first half, Celtic hit great form, out with that, McGeady again seemed alone in his quest to produce quality befitting a Celtic team. From that, I am not sure what Gordon can make a great performance.
The main positive I did note however, that Hesselink was back amongst the goals, and showed he is able to, like his strike partner McDonald has of late, to benefit from McGeady excellent set up play, with the Dutchman looking particularly sharp for his second.
For all the talent and potential Derek Riordan has, the player couldn’t say whole heartedly say he has shown enough to deserve a starting berth from his Celtic performances. However, currently there aren’t enough players playing at a level to merit keeping him out the team, and again yesterday, his entrance to the game seemed to bring a slight breath of hope to both supporters and players of Celtic alike. However Killen could not capitalise when Riordan played him in literally two yards from goal. Surely Killen cannot continue to be brought on with the expectation he will do anything other than play a similar style to Hesselink but with less mobility, ability, and certainly goal threat. Zurawski and Riordan offer a different type of approach, and if Hesselink's approach isn’t giving goals or a threat, then surely the Polish striker, or Riordan are a more positive proposition.
posted by Michael__67 at 7:24 AM
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