Its Time for a Tactical Shift
By: JT | January 23rd, 2008The Celtic-Kilmarnock match last Saturday was really nothing to write too much about, hence the delay in the report. Celtic dominated a club that came hoping for a draw, and whose front line rarely ventured beyond the halfway line. Killie keeper Alan Combe was everywhere, saving all shots from all angles in the first half, only to see his efforts go to waste on an own goal.
Two Celts left the match in the first twenty minutes, with the status of new right-back Andreas Hinkel in doubt for upcoming matches. After fighting off a virus during the week, the German picked up what has been described as a mild thigh strain. There hasn’t been much news since that announcement, so his progress will continue to be tracked as the week rolls along.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink cracked heads with a Killie defender, needing a healthy number of stitches to close the wound. WGS couldn’t wait for the suture to be completed, so he sent on Chris Killen. It has to be said that Killen’s performance looked a lot like what we normally see from Big Jan. Some competition up front is needed, and hopefully Killen can provide it.
The performance was drab, but the win was deserved. Killie came to shut the game down and get a point, but ultimately were undone by their own mistake. Celtic had their moments, but they were few and far between.
Without the suspended Aiden McGeady, the Bhoys created a solid number of chances, and when they manage to start converting some of them, some poor club is in for a real shellacking. But until that time, its only fair to ask some questions.
As always, my question is: why 4-4-2 all the time?
Besides having a world class keeper, a neutral would look at Celtic’s squad and immediately highlight the skillful, athletic, and deep midfield as the club’s most potent resource. These players should be allowed to flourish in roles that are best suited to their talents, which I don’t think happens when they line up in a 4-4-2.
Let’s consider the best alternative to WGS’s tried and true, the 4-3-3.
The way I see it, McGeady, Shunsuke Nakamura, Aussie striker Scott McDonald and the soon to be departed Derek Riordan can all be deployed as wingers on either side of Big Jan or Killen up front.
That leaves Scott Brown, Paul Hartley, Evander Sno, Massimo Donati, and Jiri Jarosik to compete for the three central midfield berths, and of course McGeady, Naka and Riordan can play there too.
For me, this formation allows Celtic’s three key playmakers (Naka, Brown, and McGeady) more space to operate, while allowing for an easy transition to a 4-5-1 when required. If there is a real need to play someone in a “Makelele” role rather than in a flat midfield, Sno or Donati are the clear choices, with Donati being my personal choice.
Ideally, the team sheet (at the moment) would look like this:
Boruc
Hinkel-Caldwell-McManus-Naylor
Hartley–S Brown–Naka
McDonald-JVoH-McGeady
This way, you’re literally getting your best XI on the pitch, allowing them the freedom and turf to do what they do best. Your most skilled players are out there, and the ability to change tactically at the drop of a hat always exists.
Anyway, WGS, if you’re reading, give it a shot. It’s worth it, especially against the likes of Kilmarnock at home.
Here’s that wondrous own goal…
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Comments
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That was a fantastic match from Killie’s keeper, but Celtic has no excuse to nearly draw with a team as offensively toothless as Killie. I’m happier than anyone that the Old Firm feels mortal this season, as a supporter of a club that’s taken advantage of it, but I still hope both OF sides can get their wits about them for Europe. It looms.
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I was never really worried about Killie scoring, my concern was whether or not Celtic were going to convert. I honestly felt the floodgates were going to be wide open after the goal, but that never materialized, and that’s kind of what worried me. Introducing Sno for Naka was a bit baffling as well.
The Celts have four away matches on the trot before they play Hearts at home as a final tuneup for Barca. They need to get into a better rhythm and they’ll be ready for the Catalans. It certainly does loom, but there is time. If this is what the Hearts match looks like, I’ll be really nervous.
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Was at the Killie match and even though we created so many chances I have to say firstly Alan Combe was having the game of his life that day save after save including some point blank stuff.
Unfortunately there was no killer instinct and I am afraid to say our strikeforce of McDonald, JVOH and Killen is well average. Before the transfer window is out we need a player of Champions League/European pedigree to help us out otherwise we will go through plenty of other games like this.
We also need to get rid of the duffs and the loose bits in the squad and sadly that includes Riordan - free up all the wages from gravesen, sno, pressley, riordan, zurawski and go out and hunt for - a defender, an attacking/goalscoring midfielder (Jason Koumas has been touted again) and a striker (even if he is on loan we need a striker).
We might have a huge injury hit list but a club the size of Celtic have to fall back on their reserves and when we have to put up with Hartley playing Right Back its an embarassment. Especially when he have guys like Jim O’Brien, Ryan Conroy etc on the bench that can do the job no problem.
Or better still don’t play a flat back four just keep hartley in the midfield and play 3 - 5 - 2. But Strachan is fixated with 4-4-2 and I will not see a time when he will play it otherwise.
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Andy, I agree with the lack of a killer instinct up front. That’s what was disappointing about the match after the goal. They needed to kill the match off and couldn’t do it. I haven’t heard of any available strikers who I’d like at Parkhead though. Maybe something will materialize at the end of the month in the frantic last hours of the window.
The only qualm I would have with a 3-5-2 is that it would limit Hinkel’s movement up the pitch, and I’ve liked what I’ve seen from him thus far. But the talent is in the midfield and WGS needs to find a way to maximize that.
Good point on Conroy and O’Brien. After seeing Teddy leave so quick after signing a new deal, you have to wonder how much faith WGS has in the homegrown guys, or if he’ll ever be willing to play them and see what they can do.
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