Opinion: An Important Lesson Was Learnt During Today’s Derby Defeat

As the dust begins to settle on Celtic’s derby day defeat, it is worth reflecting on the match and fending off too many feelings of despondency. The reality is that it is still only August and there are over 30 matches left to play in the SPFL, so the title is clearly still up for grabs. However, that optimistic outlook is not to downplay the disappointment of today’s result or to disregard the game as a ‘free hit’. Losing to your rivals and title challengers is never a positive thing, thus it is important that lessons are learnt to reduce the possibility of history repeating itself in the New Year.

Before dissecting this afternoon’s proceedings, I must stipulate that Ange Postecoglou deserves immense credit for the way in which he has turned this Celtic team around so quickly. The Greek-Australian has transformed our style of football, has beaten top quality opposition in the shape of AZ Alkmaar and has reinstated a sense of belief to the support… yet, I felt he got things wrong today.

Team news was released just over an hour before kick off and within minutes it was discussed on social media and in various Celtic group chats. In fairness, most of my friends seemed quite happy with the line-up, but I instantly felt a slight sense of unease about two areas of the pitch. Firstly, I felt it would be much more productive to have Kyogo playing as a central striker, which I believe to be his best position, and secondly I thought that Tom Rogic should have been included in midfield. People were quick to remind me that arguably our best performance of the season was against St Mirren, when Postecoglou went with the same line-up as today (minus Juranovic for the injured Greg Taylor), but I couldn’t help pointing out that we beat AZ Alkmaar, our toughest opponent of the campaign so far, with the set up that I had preferred.

We beat AZ Alkmaar at home with Kyogo in the middle and Rogic in midfield. So I was surprised to see that changed today. Hopefully it doesn’t happen again. We play our best football when attacking without fear

— Liam Kelly (@cfcliamk96) August 29, 2021

I understand that Ange Postecoglou, and many Celtic fans (before kick off), probably wanted to add a bit more solidity to the midfield, but I felt that we should have just gone at our opponents with no fear. Indeed, our most successful football has been when we have taken risks and played without caution. This approach has underpinned Ange’s philosophy. Meanwhile, putting Christie in the centre of midfield at Rogic’s expense disrupts the attack as accommodating that change in personnel meant that Kyogo had to be moved out wide with Edouard, who has been out of form for over a year, slotting into the middle.

Once the game kicked off, the most notable problem was the absence of Kyogo’s movement in the centre of the front line. This meant that the midfield didn’t have the options that they usually do when the Japanese star stretches the defence and creates passing opportunities for the likes of McGregor. Edouard certainly didn’t seem to offer that same type of movement, nor did he occupy the two centre halves. In turn, our play was slowed down and often midfielders had to pass the ball sideways or backwards – a far cry from the fast, swashbuckling and direct stuff we have seen in recent weeks.

The next, most obvious, issue was that Kyogo’s ability was wasted on the wing. He had a steady game on the left hand side, but was nowhere near as effective as usual. Partly, this was because Balogun defended very well, but it was also because everything about Kyogo’s game suggests that he is an out and out striker, whose movement creates so many goalscoring opportunities from central areas of the pitch.

As for Edouard, he didn’t look to be as enthusiastic as one might expect from a Celtic player participating in a Glasgow Derby. It’s no secret that the Frenchman is expected to leave the club, with interest from Bordeaux, Rubin Kazan and Everton being made public this week. Whether that speculation had an effect is anyone’s guess, but his poor movement and perceived scarcity of enthusiasm combined with a lack of confidence when he squandered an absolute sitter mid-way through the first half; an opportunity which could have had me eating my pre-match words! I dare say that an in form, confident striker would have slotted that one away.

Celtic probably had slightly the better of the play, but fell behind in the 66th minute and Postecoglou quickly made changes. Tom Rogic was introduced to the team, but most importantly Kyogo went into the striker’s position with Edouard being removed. The impact was instantaneous as Kyogo almost scored after making a run in behind, which the keeper did well to save in the 70th minute. In addition, he immediately occupied both central defenders, which created space out wide that could have enabled the wingers to isolate their opposing full backs, albeit Christie (who moved to the left wing) and Abada didn’t have their best games.

Having created few clear cut chances throughout the match, Celtic had two golden opportunities in the closing minutes. It was no surprise to see Kyogo at centre stage in both prosperous moments. With the first, he should have squared the ball to Ryan Christie, who was waiting for a tap in. Then, seconds later, he was clean through and should have shot but elected to square the ball – his decision perhaps being effected by his previous error.

Whilst Kyogo didn’t make the most of those late opportunities, his presence as the main striker clearly made things happen. In that sense, he confirmed beyond doubt that the Hoops look a much better side with him as the focal point of the attack.

Before concluding this article, I must again stress that I am not complaining about Ange Postecoglou in my analysis. I, like all Celtic fans, continue to back him to the hilt and really enjoy having him as our manager. That said, we all make mistakes at times and I personally think the boss made one with the line-up today. What’s important is that in this very early stage of the rebuild at Celtic, he will have learnt a very important lesson (in my opinion): Kyogo, our star player, is most effective as a striker and must be utilised there when possible in the future.

There is plenty of time to push for top spot and I remain confident that Ange is the man to take us there.