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Style of Play

Discussion in 'Celtic Chat' started by The Prof, Jun 8, 2023.

Discuss Style of Play in the Celtic Chat area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. richie87 Gold Member Gold Member

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    I think we need to have a better compacted approach, yes in the domestic competitions we can play almost abandoning the defences but in Europe we can still play on the front but be more compact as a unit, when one presses they all press not just 2 or 3 then the opposition just moves around and they are away.

    Also in defence they need to be more aware covering each other some of the goals we conceded was because they didn’t even see the players coming in behind 2 goals in the RM game came like that

    I think a lot is about unity, understanding the players around you and fitness the ability to keep a high work rate for 90 min which we can’t do, so a more pragmatic approach would be in counter attacking football away from home in Europe I think we should be more mindful

    we can’t do much worse than we did last year
     
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  2. CookieMonster Geez yer cookies Gold Member

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    Can’t go wrong with having a plan B, even changing formation to a 352 having Kyogo up top with Oh to be more direct and get in behind teams.

    We saw that we constantly got caught out with short diagonals and balls over the top in the CL last season, especially vs Madrid.

    You even see it with Man City now with Halaand, having that ability to get into the final 3rd with 1 long ball is something we need to add to our game.
     
  3. Leone Naka Fan

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    Absolutely. I fail to see why Moyes would be so horrible. Okay, he's not coming, but a tactical "dinosaur" is necessary when you're an underdog.
     
  4. NakamuraTastic

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    This. And Knutsen was great at playing counter attacking football. I'd also love some meatier defenders to be honest
     
  5. Mr Shelby Moderator Moderator Gold Member

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    As has been said it's not an either or situation for me. We don't need to sign a Moyes or a Clarke and sacrifice the flair side of things.

    We just need to be smarter. Ange was amazing for us but tactically in Europe our shape and press left a lot to be desired. Particularly in the centre of the park.

    Plenty of sides have proved its possible in recent times to be both compact and a threat going forward. The Huns being one.

    Bodo were pretty much rock solid against us and their press shat all over ours at the time. Its possible.

    Another example would be someone linked with us. Iraola. Undefeated with Rayo against Barca last year and a win vs Real, also led CD Mirandes to their first Spanish cup semi final in over 50 years. Not by playing park the bus football either I don't think.

    The one thing I won't miss about Ange is his dependency on his style. If we can find someone who has more of a mix I'd be delighted
     
  6. Dublin Celt

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    No, domestic football has to be the priority. Yea I feel we need to show more pragmatism in Europe but not at the detriment of domestic dominance.. I'd rather win the league over get knocked out in the last 16 every day of the week

    Sent from my GM1903 using Tapatalk
     
  7. G_portillo

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    More pragmatic in europe to finally make some progress on that stage. We have tried the expansive route and it hasnt worked for us so far. Playing a little more conservative doesnt mean it cant be entertaining.

    Those who remember MON remember how well we defended but also how entertaining we were.
     
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  8. PaulM1888 Moderator Moderator

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    Stick to your principles, always. The smaller teams that make a proper impact against the big boys once in a while are teams with a distinct style forged over a number of years.

    Being a high intensity attacking team 9/10 of a season and ditching that philosophy for the Champions League isn’t sustainable. It will get you the odd result and that’s it.

    That being said, there’s no reason why your principles can’t include the ability to adapt shape and tactics for or during a game. That started to happen more and more under Ange and he even mentioned it publicly that the team were basically given free licence at the tail end of this season to choose to start going longer or looking for runners in the channels etc…
     
  9. McChiellini..

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    Aye if we're nil nil against Madrid and gassing like *, don't be sprinting 30 yards to take a quick throw.....or under the cosh and Hart quickly running for the ball and taking a goal kick..

    I hated that in Europe. It wasn't sustainable for 90 minutes..

    Was suicidal to be honest..
     
  10. RalstonFanClubPresident

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    Agree completely about sticking to your principles and not changing drastically for Europe. Ange's approach I think was right: qualify every year and chip away at it. As you pointed out, unfancied teams who make an impact have been playing the same style/system for several years.

    Ange was never going to waver from his aggressive approach, but I think he was looking to tweak things and address some of the shortcomings we saw in Europe with signings like Iwata, Johnson and Oh. Levi Garcia if reports were true would have been another one. All players with a bit more physicality and athleticism.

    Will be interesting to see how we line up now that Ange is gone, and whether some more athleticism and perhaps height is brought in by the new guy.
     
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  11. PaddyJamieson

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    This.
     
  12. Lewis Kerr

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    This was my main gripe with Ange. It was * ludicrous that we'd be winning or drawing in a game and instead of calming it down we'd be going full pelt sprinting to take every set piece as fast as possible regardless of where it was.

    In some instances it worked, but there seemed to be no order about it. It was too chaotic, too rushed and too naive. Utter madness to be honest. I remember we'd be under pressure in a game, get a free kick in the middle of the park and instead of putting our foot on the ball we'd try a stupid quick pass, lose it, and the pressure was back on us. Same with Hart's goal kicks.

    The best teams in the world don't play like that, not sure why Ange thought it would be a good idea. Next manager definitely needs to bring more balance. I loved Ange's philosophy and I don't want a defensive cowardly shitebag but an element of pragmatism has to be considered.
     
  13. World Champion

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    Let's be honest Ange was * * in Europe.
     
  14. Couscous

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    Lot of the comments here suggest widespread amnesia. Injuries savaged the Celtic squad throughout last year's European campaign. Ange had second and even third-string sides playing.
     
  15. Kiro Kompiro

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    Interesting. Why?
     
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  16. King of Kings

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    Why not both? Sometimes feel as though football has regressed tactically, where managers abide by a particular philosophy at all costs, as opposed to adapt.

    We should be capable of having at least a couple of setups tactically. Expansive domestically because that’s what’s needed, and more compact in Europe because that’s what’s needed. Was the biggest blind spot under Ange imo.
     
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  17. Patrick Bateman

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    Man City will very likely play with 2 defensive minded players shielding their backline in the CL final - as they have done for most of the season in Rodri and stones. Stones being an actual converted CB.

    And yet they’re regarded as a very attack oriented team. Yes, granted the level city are operating at, even their defensive players have technical quality on the ball. But still this speaks volumes about the necessity of having defensive balance and protecting your defence even if you’re an attack minded team.

    Liverpool are known for being a very attacking team, yet klopp is always packing his midfield area with hard working grafters that can play a bit too.

    Yet big brave Celtic, coming from a smaller league, we pack our midfield full of flair players with very few quality defensive attributes and expect to get results against high calibre opponents… it’s ridiculously naive. European teams see us coming a mile off… we’re easy fodder for any team with decent tactical awareness and reasonable balance in their team.

    The biggest challenge you’re always going face when going into Europe from a smaller league, is that lack of experience defending against quality players every week. So it’s a shock to the system. And you need to have a game plan to deal with this.

    The only manager we’ve had in my time watching Celtic in Europe, that seemed to really grasp this reality was Strachan. After a very bad start with that artmedia Bratislava disaster, he eventually found his feet at that level and had a solid system for those big euro games.

    MON and Lenny were somewhat capable of being pragmatic too, but it could be a bit erratic at times. Particularly Lenny, who could pull off a tactical masterclass but he was a tinker man who struggled to settle on any shape or coherent system for very long.

    The idea that you can’t be an attacking team, while also having a pragmatic side to your game is nonsense. It’s one dimensional thinking. European football is a chess game… if you go into that level of competition with a naive tactical setup, you will get murdered every time. Our approach these past two campaigns was exactly that, dumb and naive… and we got exactly what we deserved.
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2023
  18. Dublin Celt

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    Without domestic success there is no europe. We should be flexible enough to be a bit more pragmatic at times in Europe while also have a fast flowing attacking game plan we mostly rely on domestically. Wouldn't be altering our fundamental approach over 50+ games a year for potentially 4/6 games where we could be on expected to lose anyway (i.e Real Madrid)

    Sent from my GM1903 using Tapatalk
     
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  19. JamesM09

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    You have to be able to adapt tactically in my opinion. It’s not about ditching your philosophy, but making adjustments were appropriate.

    Moving away from Europe, if you look at someone like Beale, he’s Celtic obsessed.

    Same as under Gerrard, he spends all his time thinking about how to beat Celtic. His teams get beat off Aberdeen because they’re playing Celtic in 4 weeks and he’s non-stop drilling them into how to play against us.

    When we have a predictable and rigid style, this works for him. As soon as you turn up and do something a bit different, their * collapses because they don’t know what to do.

    My point is, you have to show some tactical flexibility in your core play if only because it will prevent other teams from nullifying you. They won’t setup to nullify you if they know it’s easy for you to counter it.
     
  20. richie87 Gold Member Gold Member

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    The allowance for flexibility in play is a must, any team who drolls out the same tactics every game will eventually be closed out. In some of the games we won it was just the individual skill of a player or a lucky break that got us over the line, and in mean in the League the one that comes to mind is Cal Mac against the sheep.

    whoever we get I hope has a few game plans to suit different situations but a lot comes down to finding the right tactics for the calibre of player we have at the club. It’s a bit do you have a system and find the players that suit it and can we afford those players or assess the players you have and then find a system that suits them, I think for us it’s the latter but with a young manager who could lead a project to a achieve a better quality of play and improve the players and find players we can buy in due process that we can afford
     
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