Tam McManus has said that the ‘danger’ with Celtic’s style of play is that it leads to them conceding a lot of goals.
Speaking to Football Insider, McManus stated that the ‘big issue’ with the club is that top-quality sides are able to unpick their press.
Just under a week ago, the Hoops played French side, Rennes. The result ended 4-3 to the Ligue 1 side, after going 4-1 down, Celtic pulled back two goals back just before the end of the first-half.
During the mid-season break, they also played Sydney FC and Everton out in Australia, losing to the A-League side and getting a 0-0 draw with the Toffees.
McManus said, “If you watch the way Celtic play, there is always a danger of that [conceding multiple goals],
“Rennes are a good side, I think Celtic played them not that long ago in the Europa League actually. These games are all about getting minutes into the players.
“That being said, I don’t think Ange will be happy with that. They were 4-1 down at one point and that was a pretty strong Celtic side.
“They fought back and got it to 4-3 at half-time. That’s what a high press will give you, lots of goals. The big issue was when they come up against quality sides who know how to unpick a press, they will concede a lot of chances.
“They are going to get exposed. The only team up here who might be able to do that is possibly Rangers, so it doesn’t happen too often.
“As we have seen in the Champions League this season when teams like Real Madrid and Leipzig get through that press, they can hurt Celtic.
“Luckily for Celtic they don’t come up against that quality very often.”
TIF’s view on McManus’ comments…
We believe that Celtic are in a strange position when it comes to the quality of their side.
There’s no doubt that they’re the best side in Scotland at the moment. The Hoops are top of the Scottish Premiership, ahead of rivals, Rangers by six points, with a game in hand.
It’s clear that they’re not at the level to compete against the top sides in Europe. The loss to Rennes isn’t a fair assessment of Celtic’s ability, as it was a mid-season friendly.
However, the club’s run in the Champions League this season is a much better indicator, as it’s a major European competition. The Hoops were eliminated in the group stage, failing to win any games and losing four times. In addition, they only scored a total of four goals and conceded 15.
If they’re too fair any better in the competition next season, Ange Postecoglou may have to consider changing his approach when coming up against the better-equipped sides in Europe.