CELTIC SCOTTISH CUP FINAL DEFEAT: THE ACSOM VERDICT

Our new Writer Liam McBride provides his analysis of yesterday's match.

Everyone, I would like to welcome the newest member of the ACSOM Team, Liam McBride.

Liam will be working along with me, (the other Liam), and contributing to the ACSOM Blog.

See Alan Stubbs and Tosh McKinlay live with ACSOM

Today, Liam sat down and studied yesterday's Cup Final calamity in great detail, (so, thankfully, I didn't have to) and here's what he had to say:

Celtic Lose Out On Penalties After Turgid Final

Watch the Latest ACSOM Bulletin.

After 90 minutes, the teams couldn’t be split. After a further 30, it still remained level. Just minutes later, Celtic were victims of a penalty shootout lottery. Ultimately, they were the creators of their downfall. 

On the ball, the Champions failed to show enough creativity and speed to threaten an Aberdeen side content on drawing the 120 minutes. Thelin’s men deserve credit, their purpose was to stifle, to frustrate, to make the Cup Final as ugly a spectacle as possible. Can you blame them? They succeeded in that, and will rightly celebrate an historic day in their club's history.

That of course is not to take responsibility away from another poor cup final performance by Celtic. It’s time to look more in-depth at the individual showings:

Kasper Schmeichel (5) It feels so harsh. The Dane had very little to do all afternoon, but his judgment for Aberdeen’s equalizer was uncharacteristically amateur. You cannot hold him accountable for any of the Dons’ penalties, they were magnificent strikes. However, as harsh as it is, the excellently performing man between the sticks for the whole season threw in a massive blunder at the wrong time.

Alistair Johnston (6) The Canadian failed to have the usual attacking influence on the game that we have become so accustomed to seeing this season. In defense, very little was asked of him through the final. Overall, a very quiet game for the 26 year old.

Cameron Carter-Vickers (7) He was Celtic’s best defender on the afternoon. While the opening goal was rather fortuitous, he still had an important role to play in Celtic’s opener by winning the first contact.. Moreover, he was incredibly unlucky to be booked after a perfectly clean tackle on Graeme Shinnie. While he did stop the free kick, time wasting was at a premium the whole afternoon, with seemingly selective discipline procedures from Don Robertson. 

Liam Scales (6) He defended excellently in the first half, with composed moments under pressure. As the game wore on though, it became a little more erratic. His in-possession play slowed down, while an unorthodox defensive clearance nearly ended in his own net. Moreover, he also got mixed up with Jeffrey Schlupp late on with both going for the same header leaving a gap of space on the Aberdeen right hand side.

Greg Taylor (7.5) In his last Celtic game ever, he can leave with his head held high. While an inverted fullback didn’t seem to be what was ordered against Aberdeen’s defensive structure, on a personal level Taylor did everything you could ask of him. He was clean in possession, even if times a little passive. Importantly, he was solid defensively, with a series of successful tackles before being moved into midfield in the latter stages.

Visit the ACSOM Shop

Callum McGregor (6.5) He left the pitch in tears after missing the opening penalty of the shootout, but having captained the club to so much silverware, he has nothing to be ashamed of. In the early stages, he was visibly frustrated at the defense for failing to be more aggressive in possession, often pointing to them to step up. Having said that, there were times when he could have been more forward thinking in his passing. Moreover, his tackling at times was rash. 

Paulo Bernardo (6) Early on he rotated possession without providing much value, a similar picture to the whole eleven in all honesty. Against a compact defence, he had to drift out wide to receive the ball but failed to change the dynamic at any point. As the game wore on his lack of match sharpness showed as fatigue crept in with uncharacteristically slack in possession moments.

Arne Engels (6.5) He was incredibly close to putting daylight between the reigning and soon- to-be Scottish Cup winners, but his attempt ultimately clipped the post. Outwith that, it was a similar performance to the rest of the midfield, and similar to many of his performances this season against low blocks.

He constantly tries to find the space and makes unnoticed forward runs, but in possession, struggles to turn and create space for his teammates. On the occasions that the game briefly opened up, he showed off his long passing range but ultimately failed to influence the game much. 

Nicolas Kuhn (5.5) The winger was doubled up on and largely anonymous throughout the final. It was a performance reminiscent of his first season in Celtic colours, with a lack of ambition to take a player on, and instead, he simply passed it back to the midfield or defence. 

Adam Idah (6) To put it simply, he was given no service at any point. On the occasions he had the ball, he did fairly well, but those moments were rare. You can partly blame Idah, as he rarely made runs to try and unsettle the Dons’s defence, but his lack of influence was ultimately a symptom of the whole teams’ lack of creativity.

Daizen Maeda (6) It looked as though a fairytale ending may be on the way, but in the end, it was a scuffed attempt. He ultimately failed to influence the game in the way he usually does. In fairness, he did seem to be nursing a back injury after an awkward first half fall, but nonetheless, it wasn't the Player of the Year's best showing.

A Mention for the Subs:

Luke McCowan - When he came on he was the best midfielder for Celtic, on the one occasion he lost the ball, he showed great hunger to immediately win it back. Unlike Bernardo and Engels he took the ball on the turn more often and created more opportunities. Admittedly though, that is much easier to do so when the game opens up against tired legs.

Yang - A day before his 23rd birthday, he somewhat struggled. He drifted very centrally, and out wide failed to create much.

James Forrest- In the brief spell he played, he was the best performing Celtic player. Unlike the others, he was able to get to the byline and take players on in one-on-one situations.

Johnny Kenny - Similarly to Idah, the lack of service made it a tough afternoon. Although he did have a great chance with a header, but lacked a clean connection.

Watch the Latest Episode of This is ACSOM

Jeffrey Schlupp - At times his defending was lackadaisical, although he provided Celtic some much needed width. Late on his thunderous strike hit the bar. It will be interesting to see if Brendan Rodgers calls on his services this summer.