Helsinki vs. Celtic 08/08 18:00 CL Live Premier Sports

I it was definitely in the 50k region

 

Can some people please attempt to justify selecting Lustig ahead of Rogne as a Centre Back because of 1 solid performance in a home draw in a pre-season friendly?

 

is rogne fit

 

The crowd looked more like 55k+ last night. Not confident going into next weeks game but hopefully a miracle can happen.

 

The attendance was 52,849.

 

Izzy had a shocker. If he continues this form tomorrow then I'd definitely not play him on Wednesday. Ledley is more than capable to fit in.

 

I think Izzy's still lacking severely in match fitness, he started off well the other night but was blowing out his * after half an hour, game time will help him but he might not be fully up to speed by Wednesday, it's a big risk to start him if he isn't, we need 11 players running for 90 minutes.

 

Emilio had a few good crosses but still seems reluctant to drive on up the left side of the pitch. I wouldn't mind so much if it meant he focused more and improved on the defensive side of his game but he hasn't so that's a concern. He just needs to learn to tackle and add a big of aggrestion to the excellent technical quality he possesses.

 

p.s the letter 's' appeared 5 times in that 9 letter word. What a magnificent world we live in.

 

IMO he caused the goal. Very harsh to blame Emilio, but he was way out of position - leaving the HJK winger to run into a big, empty space. His confidence seems low, too.

 

sammy could have helped him out imo too many times izzy was waiting for sammy to over lap and instead he would cut inside and bring the defenders closer to izzy instead of trying to make space for him

 

I hope he doesnt have Lee-Naylor-Syndrome.

 

Think his fitness has a lot to do with his unwillingness to go forward like he used to, I don't know if he has lost a bit of confidence since his injury but I think he is still worth playing because I wouldn't pull Mulgrew out of CB and there is no real LB cover apart from that, can't see Ledley going back there either. He's still good defensively but he just seems to be caught in no mans land sometimes, i.e. he's not joining in with the attack and he's not in line with the back 4 which means there is space behind. If he plays he's got to fully commit to being defensively disciplined imo.

 

------------------------Forster-----------------
Matthews---Wanyama---Rogne---Mulgrew---Izzy
-----------Brown-------Kayal------Ledley-------
-----------------------Commons----------------
-------------------Stokes/Hooper---------------

2-1

 

I'm sure Lenny will have some words with him at Lennoxtown, altho due to a loss in translation, Emilio may start whapping out his * during games because "Show me more tackle" isn't fully grasped...

 

For whatever reason, Emilio Izaguirre has looked a shadow of his former self ever since he came back from his broken leg. These things do take time but I expected to see a bit more from him than I've seen so far. The next few months are going to be important for him if he's going to get his Celtic career back on track.

 

I'm no Spanish speaker but I think it would be very strange indeed for Izzy to understand one meaning of tackle, and not the other more common interpretation.

I hope to * Lenny does something to him though because imo he's been very poor ever since he came back from injury last Jan or whenever it was
Saddens me so much to say that because even though it's only the * SPL, he looked near world-class in his 1st season here.

That run and assist he provided for Hooper's goal versus the scum back in February 2011 will live with me forever, the best goal i've ever seen scored in real life.

I don't get the pessismism around so many Celtic fans because I honestly think if Hooper, Forrest, Sammy, Matthews, Kayal and Izzy play to their utmost potential they are top top class players and we could give anyone in Europe a test.

I have no fears about this second leg, we WILL do the job!

 

Very poor? That's ridiculous. He's not been quite himself but he's still had some good games such as in the last ever derby.

 

If it was me i would go
forster
Matthews Mulgrew izzaguire


Kayal Wanyama



Samaras Brown Ledley Forrest
Hooper

 

Not a fan of playing central midfielders out wide but with our position in the tie it is probably necessary and means I'd go with Brown or Ledley wide. Play 2 out of Forrest, Samaras and Hooper - with Kayal and Wanyama with the other CM in the middle.

Forrest Brown Wanyama Kayal Ledley

Hooper

------------

Forrest Brown Wanyama Kayal Ledley

Samaras

------------

Brown Kayal Wanyama Ledley Samaras

Hooper

I'd be happy with either of the 3 I think.
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