Chris Sutton has weighed into the discussion in the aftermath of Celtic’s newest UEFA Champions League campaign, stating that he believes the Bhoys have made progress despite the lack of points in the end up.
It was always going to be difficult being away for so long and it proved it as our first time in 5 years proved too big a step at this current juncture of Angeball.
Ange admitted as much himself when he was quizzed about Belgian side Club Brugge’s major success this year on the continent. The Greek-Aussie pointed out there consistency at playing group stage football in the upper echelons of European tournament football. A cycle that has been happening for years as they buy and sell within the marketplace, whilst growing as a club and squad.
In light of our recent performances, the Celtic support hasn’t been disheartened and can feel we are building something that is slowly, if not surely moving in the right direction. Former striker Sutton acknowledged this when picking over the bones of our UCL experience of 2022, on BT Sport’s Scottish Football Extra programme on Friday night with Ally McCoist.
The big Englishman pointed out that the fans are all in with Ange Postecoglou and his vision and style of playing the game, even at that level, saying, “Celtic fans can see progress, Celtic have shown they can compete at this level.” And I think that pretty much encapsulates the feeling amongst the majority of the supporters. We didn’t do great on paper, but there was enough there to suggest we could cause some damage further down the line at some point in time.
For now, we learn, we grow, and we build…
Watch Sutton discuss all this below…
“Celtic fans can see progress”
“Celtic have shown they can compete at this level”@chris_sutton73 analyses Celtic’s Champions League Campaign…💬 pic.twitter.com/0oNpa3FHfT
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) November 4, 2022
Paul Gillespie
Missed chances at one end, amateur defending at the other, with a midfield that was neither here nor there!
If Ange/Celtic want to compete at Champions League level, they’re going to have to start with maintaining a team structure at all times throughout a match.
Now that doesn’t mean backs to the wall football, something i know most of our fans have a real fear and hatred of, it just means being sensible & strategic in all aspects of your game; basically don’t bomb too many bodies forward at any one time, maintaining a midfield in the process and less easy to counter.
Got to learn to walk before you can run, and while attack is a great form of defence, you really need to have a defence & midfield in place for that to work; a structured team