HOW CELTIC CAN USE ROMA LOSS TO INSPIRE CUP WIN: A TACTICAL ANALYSIS
- By LIAM McBRIDE
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
ACSOM's Liam McBride gives us a tactical overview of the lessons Celtic can learn from Thursday night's loss to Roma.
As expected, Celtic continued with a 3-2-4-1 formation against Roma on Thursday night. Three-nil down at half time, the Celtic faithful would have been fearing the worst. Just how many would ripple the back of the net in the second period seemed entirely down to I Giallorossi.
The opening forty five minutes was a physical mismatch in so many regards. The pace and power of the Italian outfit was simply too much to handle. They have lost just one away game all season (with eleven men intact), their only defeat coming at the the ground of Antonio Conte’s Napoli.
Despite Roma Mismatch, Celtic Tactical Aims Are Clear
Nevertheless, Celtic played some neat stuff at times on the ball. In particular, they looked to utilise the extra man in midfield.
Images courtesy of https://tactical-board.com/
It's just two games into Nancy's tenure but a clear pattern has already emerged. The deepest midfield player looks to play a one two with one of the other midfielders. After receiving the ball back, they then play a one-touch pass to the third midfielder, who then slips through the original receiver. It’s demonstrated in the pictures above, and if you want to think of it as though a letter sequence, it would look like: A-B-A-C-B.
It’s really easy on the eye when it comes off. Moreover, the extra man advantage allows you to occupy one of the opposition markers and create a 3 v 2. The ideal scenario then becomes the midfielder running into the space with options out wide awaiting him and a striker in front.
Sounds great in theory, of course. Yet, while Celtic tried to work themselves into this pattern, Roma were equally adept at preventing it. They blocked the passing lanes for Auston Trusty and Kieran Tierney out wide, and marked McGregor and Engles with the man-to-man press that Gian Piero Gasperin’s sides are renowned for.
This often restricted Celtic to pass down the middle and skip the defensive midfield partnership. Of the further forward central players, Hatate proved the only one able to consistently control the ball and begin an attacking sequence.
Make no mistake though, the central numerical advantage can provide real attacking impetus. Yet, by definition, when you overload one area of the park, you leave yourself short elsewhere. As last night showed, if Celtic lose the ball in that area against a team with the speed and quality of Roma, they will be exploited.
From the first minute, the spaces left in defense were alarming. With just Yang and Tounetki out wide, the visitors roamed down the flanks with such ease, often unchallenged.
While Roma somewhat took the foot off the gas in the second period, Celtic’s upturn in performance coincided with the introduction of Kelechi Iheanacho. The Nigerian showed good hold-up play and was able to connect and bounce pass with the midfield behind him. Should he find full fitness, you sense he is just the type of profile that could suit Nancy’s system.
That brings us to the Premier Sports Cup Final against St Mirren this weekend. Even at such an early stage of his career, this is a colossal game for Nancy. If he fails to win, he will feel the pressure. The last two meetings against the Buddies have needed late winners to secure three points. Stephen Robinson knows how to set up his teams. Expect a physically stacked side, looking to make it as stuffy as possible for the holders.
Nancy won’t change his system, but after two games in charge, he may adapt his personnel. If Iheanacho can start, he should. If that is the case, then Maeda on the left-hand side would make much more sense than Tounetki. The Japanese international’s engine is much more adept at both the attacking and defensive workload.
Perspective is needed. Celtic should have beaten Hearts based on the balance of play and with the current group of players, getting a result against Roma was always going to be a near-impossible task.
Having said that, some possible silverware couldn’t be more timely.