There’s been plenty of reaction on social media among Celtic fans regarding Joe Hart taking such an advanced position on the pitch as Celtic build the play. On at least a couple of occasions during the three match pre-season tour in Austria and Czech Republic, the former English international goalkeeper was lucky not to concede by being lobbed from the centre of the park.
And you can bet your last dollar on the fact that just about every team playing Celtic this season will be aware that with Hart playing so far out of his goals to essentially act as an additional outfield player then there will be an opportunity to grab an easy attempt on an empty net if possession can be won back from Celtic insider their own half.
Ange Postecoglou was less worried about Joe Hart’s positioning and more annoyed about the careless passing that leads to these situations and on Wednesday afternoon against Banik Ostrava the guilty man was in fact Jota.
Ange explained his take on what’s going on and revealed that Joe Hart is acting on specific instructions rather than fancying himself as the new Franz Beckenbauer.
“Joe and the keepers are getting used to our game plan,” Ange said after Wednesday’s 4-2 win over the Czech Republic top-tier side, as reported by Scottish Sun.
“Last year, he came in pretty late and we didn’t have a chance to work on a lot of things. It depends on the context of the game. There were a couple of times against Banik when he almost got caught out, but that was because of our sloppy passing.
“There is no denying, we want to be an aggressive team. To do that, it means everyone needs to be a bit more aggressive, and Joe or whoever our goalie is needs to be a part of that.
“There is no risk when you don’t give the ball away. The risk comes when you give it to the opposition. If we stop it, the risk doesn’t happen.”
Jota et al, take note, sloppy passing costs goals and the blame for any conceded by a player lobbing Joe Hart or any of the other keepers is going to be directed not at the goalie but at the outfield player who was careless in possession.
And anyone remember Ronnie Simpson’s positioning in the European Cup Final against Inter Milan in Lisbon on 25 May 1967 when he was back-heeling the ball against the last man almost at the half way line!
