Charlie Nicholas reckons that Celtic is currently ‘stuttering’ heading into their next Champions League clash tomorrow. evening. With the probable absence of Cameron Carter Vickers due to injury, Nicholas believes Celtic are looking unusually vulnerable at the back, which will be the main concern for Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.
Writing in his weekly column in Scottish Daily Express, the former Celtic star outlined his concerns about the Celtic defence against RB Leipzig.
“When Celtic are going forward, I feel more comfortable. They played well in the 1-1 draw with Shakhtar in Warsaw. However, I have watched Celtic enough to know there is a stuttering element to them at the moment. There is not the same fluency and rhythm. Postecoglou is not getting what he wants from his team right now.
“For the first time since the early weeks of his Parkhead reign, he is having to question whether he’s getting the balance right. The centre-back pairing of Stephen Welsh and Moritz Jenz has looked vulnerable in their last two league games, while Josip Juranovic and Joe Hart have made bad mistakes.”
“Defensively, I am concerned about the Leipzig game. That’s why I’d take a draw without hesitation. The German side’s movement up front could be too much for Celtic. Attacker Christopher Nkunku is unpredictable and a major danger,” Nicholas added.
“I remember his performance against (the)Rangers in last season’s Europa League semi-final when he missed a few chances, but his pace is brutally quick. Striker Timo Werner is a fabulous player too. Depending on which centre-halves are fit, Celtic may have to play five or 10 yards deeper.”
“There are already major concerns about how much Cameron Carter Vickers is missed when he’s not in the team, and if he doesn’t shake off his knock by tomorrow they could be exposed.”
There’s no doubt that this is a view that will be shared by many Celtic supporters who have been unconvinced by the stand-in partnership at the centre of the Celtic defence. Jenz and Welsh may be fine to play beside CCV but when they have paired up against St Mirren and Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership there has been serious questions asked and indeed points dropped.
What all this does in tell us just how important a player Cameron Carter Vickers is to this Celtic side with honourable mention too to Carl Starfelt, whose true worth to this Celtic team is only really becoming apparent when he’s out the team with an injury, haste ye back Carl and CCV.
Meanwhile talking about Charlie Nicholas did you read this on The Celtic Star last night?
