DON’T care what anyone says that was a really good result for us, aye our play was erratic and we were our own worst enemy at times but Cluj are nobody’s mugs, they’re a very capable side.
Their movement and positioning on and off the ball meant they always had someone available to take a pass to either break forward or get themselves out of bother and they can switch the play from one side to the other in a heartbeat. A good result against a good team but they are most definitely beatable and I fancy us to see this one through.
As for the performance well…erratic! We played some good stuff in patches but anytime we play a team who enjoy a decent amount of possession we seem to get the fear and lose our focus and shape.
It’s become both a tactical and psychological barrier for us now and we seriously need to work on this as it’s happened under Strachan, Deila, Rodgers and in both of Lenny’s stints as manager. Problem seems to stem from the fact that domestically we’re so used to having the bulk of possession that when faced with an opposition who see more of the ball we don’t know how to react, we don’t know where to position ourselves, we don’t seem to have the ability to read and anticipate the play and this then leads to loss of shape then all out panic. They gave us a lesson on positioning and movement last night.
Player wise……well I’ve defended Boli since he came in because I think some of the initial criticism was out of order for a guy who was just in the door, he’d had a bit of a mixed bag with a couple of dodgy moments as well as wee flashes that gave me hope that he just needed to settle in and get used to playing for a new team in a new set-up and I still hold out hope that’s the case but he had an absolute nightmare last night.
He just looked lost and out of his depth to the point Lenny really should have taken him off for his own sake and Morgan’s poor performance didn’t exactly help in that regard. That bhoy, who’s looked half decent up until tonight, needs to learn how to go round a player instead of just running into them all the time and hoping for a free kick.
Again we got caught cold at the back far too often. Ajer and Simonuvic got turned too easily and seemed to get caught in no man’s land a couple of times because they didn’t get back quick enough after corners/set pieces (which along with Boli getting caught on the wrong side of their attacker and Bain not getting out quick enough to shut him down lead to their goal) but to be fair to big Ajer he recovered well and went on to have a good game along with Elhamed who looks a player. Calm on the ball doesn’t get flustered when under pressure, neat passer and knows when to get forward and when to hang back (everything Boli wasn’t tonight).
The rest of the bhoys done really well especially wee Forrest. They worked hard, played some nice stuff in patches and caused them enough problems that will have them rattled for the return leg.
Mixed bag performance wise but make no mistake this was a good result against a good team and I think we’ll see a different Celtic in the return leg. Early days people but I think we’ll be ok.
Andybhoy88, a Well-known member on Celtic Noise.
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