There is one aspect of last season that Celtic have been unable to shake off under Ange Postecoglou.
Under Neil Lennon Sparta Prague and AC Milan were scoring goals for fun, this season it has continued with Bodo Glint joining Bayer Leverkusen and Real Betis in scoring goals for fun.
Celtic have an entirely new look defence this year, there is no sign of Diego Laxalt, Shane Duffy or Jeremie Frimpong, Joe Hart is now between the sticks but still the easy loss of goals continues.
13 european games in the group stage & knockout round this season and last, and we’ve conceded 37 goals.
I appreciate that we’ve crossed paths with some very good teams in those games, but you can’t concede ~3 per game in Europe and expect to go anywhere.
— Moravcik67 (@Moravcik67_) February 17, 2022
Until last weeks visit to Aberdeen the only SPFL goal that Celtic had lost in 2022 was a suspiciously offside effort from Liam Boyce at Tynecastle.
From the early minutes last night none of the defenders looked comfortable, Bodo pushed up high, the Celtic midfield didn’t offer much protection with poor decision making in forward areas preventing Ange’s attackers from taking advantage of the space created.
It was another humbling experience for the supporters, hopefully more than a learning experience for the players and management.
Let me state off the bat, I genuinely have zero interest in this tournament and hope big Ange plays fringe players next week as we have a massive game 3 day’s later.
However if we continue with Taylor at left back and (the best midfielder in the country) McGregor as a defensive midfielder we will ALWAYS struggle at that level.
HH
There can’t be any team with a worse record in European competition.
This should be a huge embarrassment to the board and shows how poorly the club has been run.
Will we learn from the many Euro mistakes we have made….doesn’t look like it to me.
Only Juranovic or the defence + Hart look capable of this level. Glarlingly obvious that Starfelt & Taylor are out of their depth, lack pace, composure on the ball
Rogic is a passenger in Europe, offers nothing when we don’t have the ball
We cannot carry passengers
Scales at left back. Hart needs to come out of his six yard box at times. That mob showed us how to play quickly out from the back.
Bodo worked had to ensure they had greater numbers in every area. Eleven defenders, ten attackers. It isn’t just an illusion of greater numbers, it’s sheer hard work to make it practical.