This World Cup has thrown up a number of upsets in both individual games and within the group stages. The departure of big name teams in Germany, Belgium and Uruguay at the hands of Morocco, South Korea and Japan have shown that the world game is changing and there are avenues for smaller or lesser known countries to really make an impact.
What can this show us at Glasgow Celtic? Well it shows that despite the big names, big clubs can fall, look at the rapid decline of Juventus as a prime example. So while we may never be able to compete financially with the big teams, we can compete on the park.
What the 3 underdog teams named above showed Celtic is that with a level of organisation, heart and commitment and most importantly bravery against the big boys and you can compete. In this season’s Champions League we showed that we have that heart, bravery and work ethic required, what we are perhaps missing was the obvious finishing, but some organisation, particularly at the back.
There is no doubt that the way our gaffer wants to play puts huge pressure on the two centre backs to cover the whole defensive line at times. While this style of play is exciting and free flowing, in Europe we do still require a certain amount of stability. Reigning in slightly to enhance the organisation at the back could lead to results for us in the Champions League like we are seeing from these underdog countries in this World Cup.