If we changed our tactics would we still need a new centre-back?

When the likes of larsson sutton mjallby balde ect we played a 3-5-2 most games and had the best defence in the spl and had an amazing run in europe i think we shuld try that again and see ayone agree?

 

we still have the best defense in the league judging by the stats

 

Which three CBs would you play?

Loovens - Maj - Hooiveld

With Rogne rotating. At least Loovens has a bit of pace.

But a problem with this is then trying to fit in Maloney/ McCourt/ Kapo etc.

 

I like this post - makes sense....

I still think we need a strong Centre Half and Glenda ain't the answer, however i agree 100% that the holding midfielder/sweeper role is critical, Kayal looked ideal, Brown was there when were a little more solid at the start of the season....so simple either one of these two gets fit, or we plug the "Lennon" role with a new player....If we get this right then we can still play the Celtic way with wingbacks moving forward with more freedom.....simple eh....!!!

 

Some good posts in here.

For me a lot of it is to do with discipline as well. I used the example of Lee McCulloch protecting Rangers central defence in my OP. Let's be honest, Lee McCulloch is not much of a football player, I certainly wouldn't want Celtic to sign him anyway. However, what McCulloch does have is positional discipline. I think our team lacks defensive discipline, the sort of defensive discipline our manager had when he was a player.

Our central midfielders don't protect the centre of our defence enough and if the full-backs bomb forward nobody seems to sit back and fill the gap they've left behind. This tactical discipline has to come from the manager and be practised on the training pitch. At the moment you really don't go into any match feeling confident that Celtic will keep a clean sheet. We need to become a bit more compact until we can stop bleeding silly goals like we are.

 

I have been thinking for a long time that the problem is not with our defence. Our midfield is the problem. I would like to se a 4 man midfield, with three holding / defensive midfielders and one winger, and 2 strikers. We could line up something like this


................foster......
....cha...Maj...Rogne......izzy
... ......ki.....brown....ledley
...forrest.........................
.............stokes...hooper...........

 

I don't like the idea suggested that we sacrifice a striker for a holding midfielder, in the domestic games at least. With games where we're having to break down a defence of 10 men behind the ball, one striker would often be insufficient for scoring enough goals to win the match. A less attacking midfield and more restraint to the full backs would definitely help but I don't think that we're in a crisis just now to be wanting major changes to the way the team plays. Kayal looks (so far) a good defensive midfielder, so with him back and hopefully at least one better quality centre back, we should look stronger for the title.

I think both us and Rangers have scored 35 each in the league and we've conceded slightly less. Had we won the games v DU & ICT, we'd be top of the league. It was defensive errors from that caused us to draw those matches (especially v ICT with Majstorovic's bad pass and not having someone on the far post for the equalising corner) so I believe that focusing on the best quality centre back we can get is the priority.

 

We have to change our thinking radically on the players and the formation and tactics we use I feel to bring success and trophies back to the club. Quite simply it is not rocket science. We need defenders who can defend. Forwards who can score ( regularly ). And midfielders who can tackle, create and be able to dictate a midfield.How is that hard to do ?

 

I think McCulloch is a better player than people make out. He started as a striker but then moved to being a winger who could provide assists and chip in with a few goals. The way he's playing just now is from the manager and his versatility is showing that he does have some worth to a team. However, he's still a * *.

 

Because it's much easier said than done. There are a lot of reasons why teams struggle throughout the season; everything from injuries to how confident your most creative player is to how a player is feeling physically.

And on lack of success, last season was the first year since 2003 that we didn't win a single trophy, so like I've already said we're not in a major crisis.

 

we need to ask ourselves why we are so bad at scouting defenders for the last 3 yrs ,surely we cant be that bad that everyone has been dodgey ,,to play the system we adopt i e attacking fb,s ,we cant play 2 wingers and 2 strikers ,i m o you play mccourt off the striker/s as the link / creative mid ,or maloney ,forest ,mcginn, but only one of these players and dependant of opposition rangers /europe use one striker with mccourt or mcginn in the position just of the striker as these players are most likley to score .

 

It's pretty much like this

Scott Brown plays and the defence is more protected. See earlier in the season for proof...

 

if it wer me i would have


------------------------foster------------------------
cha---------------maj---------------emilio-----

-------------------juarez---------------------
--forrest---------------ki--------------ledley--------maloney/paddy

---------hooper------------stokes--------




when the likes of cha n emilio go forward you have juarez to fill that space and that back lne has lots of pace im not saying its a fix but i the teams not performing and i think its time to change tactics and personally i think this looks a good formation you have a strong attacking side aswell as a fast defence but with the likes of brown and kyal coming back thats another formation all together please let the game be on on sat been dying over here to watch my team

 

so to solve our defensive problems you would pick the same defensive line just with one LESS cb? not sure you've thought this through....

 

We need a better Centre Back and to have either Brown or Kayal on the pitch at all times.

 

yes. it was working against caley thistle, its a simpler way of defending, the three centre-halfs dont need to worry about the wing-backs going or being on-side , just basically defend there area, they dont have to worry about left or right backs, they got completley lost when lennon changed to a back four instead of grinding a result out, and my three would be hoiveld,rogne maj, with loovens fighting for a spot.

 

They looked lost when we were at 3-5-2 and even then Caley thistle was down to individual mistakes.

Which better CB's would not have done.

 

agree buddy, but we were 1-0 up a wins a win, four at the back aint doin it, browns the captain and should be able to hold his own corner,like the lamberts,lennons.

 

to be fair ,in that caley game murphy had a pure stinker, every ball that was offered up came hurtling back, that creates pressure on ourselves, that why i hope rassmussen gets a chance to hold the ball up, cos stokes is a finisher just like hooper.