With Celtic entering the Champions League at the Group stage next season Ange Postecoglou’s tactical approach will undoubtedly be under scrutiny. After all, as the Hoops go into the tournament amongst the teams in Pot 4, the chances are Celtic will be welcoming some pretty talented outfits to Celtic Park, as well as facing up to them on their home turf.
At home the Celtic support will rightly demand we take the game to our opponents, yet on the road some pragmatism may be something some would expect. Yet for Ange Postecoglou speaking to Australian broadcaster Stan Sport any deviating from his playing philosophy appears far from likely, but just because a manager doesn’t put 10 men behind the ball, doesn’t mean a level of common sense isn’t adopted when it’s required.
Also on Stan Sport FC this evening from 8pm AEST, we speak to Ange Postecoglou and his Celtic players on what it means to be back in the #UCL next season 🗣#StanSportAU pic.twitter.com/w1QKkZlEhx
— Stan Sport Football (@StanSportFC) May 23, 2022
“I’ve never owned a bus, mate.
“I’m sure there’ll be – as there has in my whole career – people telling me I need to adjust my approach and temper my aggression.
“I’ve done pretty well just sticking to it, to be fair, so I’ll just keep going.”
I’m sure none of us expect a Jose Mourinho style parking of the bus from Ange Postecoglou, yet perhaps the idea we’ll press, rush and harry our opponents is missing the point.
Yes, we’ll be trying to win the ball quickly when we lose possession, but there have been enough games where you can see where a more pragmatic approach – or at least Ange’s version of it – comes into play.
Rest in possession is a phrase intermittently shouted from the touchline by many coaches at all levels of football, and it’s something Celtic do on occasion take part in too. The tempo is often slowed down to allow players to get back into shape, and recycling the ball between backline and the holding midfield is just the way to do it.
Both at Ibrox this season and against Leverkusen away Celtic did try and do just that, as it allowed the team to regain control of the tempo of the play before building it up again and moving back onto the front foot.
It may not be to the levels where Celtic will sit off opponents directly or allow them to have the ball for the majority of a game, and only challenge when it’s in dangerous areas, but it is as close as Postecoglou will get to having a more pragmatic outlook on how his team should play.
We’ve even been known, when defending a lead, to draw teams in, defend our box from crosses and simply allow teams to have more possession in the wide areas but look to win the ball back and counter when it reached central areas of the pitch, the second half in Celtic’s 2-1 win at Ibrox being such an example.
There is a middle ground to gung-ho football and putting ten players behind the ball, and in truth Ange Postecoglou does neither of those things exclusively, but the idea we are all about attacking at all times isn’t always the case.
There is a level of pragmatism attached to the Postecoglou philosophy, it’s just in Scottish football there is little need to adopt it. In the Champions League however that may well be different.
Niall J
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