When Robert the Bruce defeated Edward II at Bannockburn he’d laid siege to Stirling Castle for a year prior to the battle. Sir Philip Mowbray eventually surrendered the castle after the defeat of the King to Bruce, and last night Celtic fans got a taste of Mowbray’s stressful existence as it felt close to a year for the final whistle to be blown and at times it certainly felt like defending a siege for everyone watching never mind playing in that game last night.
It wasn’t quite an entirely torturous 90 minutes as Celtic through Kyogo scored an ultimately crucial first goal to reinforce Celtic’s two goal lead from the first leg and after Odsonne Edouard’s introduction Celtic were able to get a foothold in the game in the final throws. However, the period in between was predominately a Dutch attack against a Celtic defence and at times there were certainly fears Celtic’s battlements would be overrun. In the end however Celtic conceded twice, both self-inflicted with E-Tims probably blaming fan media for these conceded goals, but held firm enough to progress 3-2 on aggregate despite a 2-1 loss on the night.
Up to now Ange Postecoglou’s side had been lauded for their high press and fast paced possession football, we’ve been the team cutting through opposition defences at will. But last night a wonderfully talented team and one much further down the line in their footballing education gave the Celts a taste of their own medicine. Yet Celtic progressed and in turn evidenced there is passion, determination and a substantial amount of fight in this team to add to the exhilarating football they’d provided prior to last night’s Europa League play-off win.
That can only bode well and is a turnaround in levels of belief within the squad on a par with the levels of footballing progression made to date. I received a message saying the Celtic of last season would have collapsed last season, and whilst that is probably true, even three weeks ago never mind last season this Celtic side may well have been on the end of a hefty defeat. Instead, they held firm and qualified. Ange Postecoglou and in particular his players should take a great deal of credit for the revolution in attitude as much as the progress in adapting to a new footballing philosophy.
Take Joe Hart and Carl Starfelt. Both players could easily have been this morning’s whipping boys had Celtic’s defence collapsed. Hart inexplicably froze when receiving a badly delivered pass back from Stephen Welsh and conceded a dreadful goal. He then proceeded, having been unable to kick the ball in that particular concession, to aimlessly lump the ball forward and invite pressure on the defence for some time afterwards. Yet after a period of such loss of composure, one that impacted the whole team, Hart regrouped and more than redeemed himself with a commanding control of his area and many an important save to ensure Celtic saw the game out.
Meanwhile Carl Starfelt’s loss of his bearings and his composure led to him attempting to clear a ball in front of goal with an awkward gait and in the end put the ball through his own net. With a little less fog in the brain, he could have allowed the ball to run across to his right foot and he’d have been facing away from the goal making a right footed clearance – a simple one.
At that point the defence was under siege as Hart’s defensive error and subsequent period of panic led to wave after wave of attacks on the Celtic goal, as had Greg Taylor’s substitution for Adam Montgomery unsettled the backline further. Yet Starfelt proved he’s made of the same sort of stern stuff as his goalkeeper and recovered well to have a fine second half, commanding even, alongside Stephen Welsh as Celtic saw out the Alkmaar siege.
Whilst many of the team can take great credit for the minerals they showed last night, Starfelt and Hart deserve particular credit as lesser men could and would have yielded. Both players of course have improvements to make. Hart’s footwork has to develop or Postecoglou will have to make allowances within his system to minimise the risk. There is likely to be little chance of the latter so Hart is going to have to focus on the former.
Meanwhile Starfelt needs to believe in himself a little more and follow his instincts. There is an element of the overthink with Starfelt at present, perhaps aware that some amongst the support have shown little patience with the player, as such a back-to-basics approach in the next few games and focus on his own game rather than trying to impress may result in a return of the composure he’d shown in his career prior to joining Celtic and he evidenced in the second half last night.
Possibly however the most pleasing thing on show last night was the will to hang tough under constant Dutch bombardment, after all the best of footballing sides marry the pleasing on the eye football with a ruthless ability to remain in games when the pressure builds, Celtic showed last night they have that in their armoury. We may wish to avoid games that resemble the siege of Stirling Castle in future but having had their defences tested at least we know this Celtic side has a resistance to match their ruthless attack.
Niall J
