We saw glimpses of it at Celtic Park last night. We saw some Angeball in play for some periods of the game. But what we also saw was a team effectively nullifying a fast flowing type of football that has blown teams away, especially in Scotland.
Celtic don’t quite have the right balance on the European stage yet as the inverted wing back style does tend to leave the back door open for a quick counter attack and this was what the Leverkusen manager Gerardo Seoane drilled into his players.
Speaking German news site, Kicker, Seoane said, “Of course we knew that Celtic operates with a lot of position changes.
“That’s why we prepared our centre to switch quickly when a ball is played in and we conquer it, because the full-back is free in the centre and the wing is free.”
And they stuck to the task so effectively.
Every time the Germans won the ball back they attacked at pace down both wings and Celtic struggled to cope with their pace and it is something that captain, Callum McGregor has admitted that the team are still getting used to, “It’s a very demanding style of football and you need everyone to buy into it and everyone to move and be connected all the time.
“That takes time for the players to understand where to move, when to move and when to make safe-side passes.
“And, in the transition moments, we have to defend better. That’s where the issues have been as a team.
“We’ve had loads of the ball in a lot of our games, but it’s been in the defensive transition where we have struggled.
Time is something that Ange is quickly running out of in the eyes of some Celtic supporters although the vast majority are still behind him but if he wants to buy himself some more, he needs to start off with a victory against Aberdeen on Sunday.