High Pressing...Dire Finishing

High Pressing...Dire Finishing


Stokes secures Celtic's 7th straight victory​

Celtic were looking for their 7th straight SPL victory against Motherwell. The Steelmen have had nothing short of a disastrous season. Sitting rock bottom slightly adrift of Ross County and St. Mirren is not where we expect them to be. Granted Motherwell have been punching above their weight for some time it still comes as a surprise, for the squad they have, for them to be languishing in the relegation zone.

Motherwell have performed fairly well against the Hoops at Fir Park over the years. It is a difficult place to go for Celtic, partly due to the pitch being more equivalent to a field in Perth after T in the Park. In addition though they always rise to the occasion when the big Bhoys come to town.

Deila has been pressing to the players and the fans he wants to implement the kind of system we have seen Salzburg play and the Barcelona of old. Hunting in packs, closing down the opposition deep in their own territory. It takes an extremely fit and professional group of players to perfect this.

Certainly in the beginning the players were not fit enough and they were not drilled correctly in precisely what they were supposed to do. However against Motherwell we are seeing all of that work finally coming to fruition. The intensity and pace at which Celtic played for the first 30 minutes was breathtaking, the Motherwell players were camped in their own half as they were rushed into mistakes. It was this high pressing that presented Celtic with their only goal of the afternoon.


Johansen's performance was outstanding

It is fantastic to watch when it is done right and with the right intensity. The movement and link up play was a joy to watch as the Bhoys created umpteen chances during the game. A simple flaw to the game was their profligacy. It has become somewhat of a recurring theme recently with Celtic also dominating against Partick Thistle on Wednesday but only scoring one goal.

Once Celtic combine their high pressing with some clinical finishing then i would not be surprised to see numerous 4/5-0 scorelines during the rest of the season. Most SPL sides simply cannot handle it. Whether the players have the confidence to carry this style of play into Europe is another matter. Will this work against higher level opposition when, currently, we can only keep it up for around 45 minutes? There are significant gaps that are created through this style but it is a risk you have to take.

A pacy back line will help along with having a top quality goalkeeper, which is what Celtic possess. Certainly if this kind of progression in the style and tempo continue then the Bhoys will become a joy to watch, all that must be added is that crucial final touch, final finish to round it off.