WILFRIED NANCY'S 3-4-3: TOO MUCH CHANGE TOO SOON?
- By LIAM McBRIDE
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
“I saw really good things in terms of the mentality and the intensity but now we have to be a little cleaner when the moment comes.”
The Wilfried Nancy Celtic era started with a frustrating 2-1 loss at home to Hearts. The Jambos were winless in four and sat three points adrift, having played a game more heading into Sunday afternoon.
However, with a second win over the Champions this season, they have re-instated their title race ambitions.
Daizen Maeda missed two gilt-edged opportunities to give Celtic an early lead. The home side controlled the early stages of the game but conceded a slack goal just before half time.
It's Too Early to Judge Wilfried Nancy's 3-4-3
Cláudio Braga freed himself from Callum McGregor’s presence - the captain and too many of the Celtic players focused on claiming offside - and calmly put the visitors in front.
As the second half began, Celtic worked an opening on the left. However, Sebastien Tounetki drilled a pass into Arne Engels from close range, making it more difficult than it needed to be for the Belgian. Needless to say, he fired over the bar.
A breakaway counterattack put Lawrence Shankland through on goal, with Kasper Schmeichel saving smartly to force a corner. The Scottish striker should have been called offside but Hearts took advantage, with Oisin McEntee doubling the visitors' lead.
Luke McCowan took two attempts at goal but to no success. Nearing stoppage time, Engels and Reo Hatate came incredibly close within the same sequence of play. It seemed like it was going to be one of those days.
A late Kieran Tierney strike halved the deficit but it proved to be too little too late.
Celtic dominated the possession stats, had nearly double the shots and a higher expected goals. In the only metric that matters though, they were second best.
15 matchdays in, they have now lost three games. To put that into context, they lost four times the whole of last season. You’d have to go back to 2021/22 for the last time Celtic had lost three games in the league at this stage. The difference being that the Hoops had just begun a rebuild under Ange Postecoglou. This season, they came from a position of strength.
Celtic lost just one game in 2024; this year, they've lost six. The 25 goals scored this league season is the lowest tally at this stage since 2012/13.
Nancy was in the unusual situation of joining a team mid-season on a rich vein of form. With so little time on the training ground, implementing a drastic system change was always going to be a tough task.
Some managers would take the view of 'don't fix it if it isn't broke." However, it’s not quite as clear-cut as that.
To be clear, Martin O’Neill did a splendid job. He got results out of a Celtic team low on confidence. He simplified the tactics, which allowed the Bhoys to play with a greater attacking threat and intensity.
The Europa League victory against Feyenoord could prove invaluable and has put Celtic in a strong position to guarantee European knockout football.
Yet, on the other hand, to say that Nancy came in and ripped up the nuts and bolts of a flourishing side would be misleading.
Performances away against St Mirren and Hibs, plus his final home tie against Dundee, were hardly vintage.
Of the six domestic wins he recorded, three were by a one-goal margin and in the Premier Sports Cup Semi-final, they needed extra time against the ten men of Rangers.
The Positives and Negatives
On Sunday afternoon, the Frenchman played a 3-2-4-1. This formation is typically employed with two defensive minded wingbacks named on the flanks. Instead, Celtic named Sebastian Tounetki and Yang.
In the early stages, the numerical advantage in the central areas was paying off. McGregor, Engels, Nygren and Hatate played some slick and incisive stuff and were able to quickly get into the final third.
However, once they got to goal, decision making often let them down. With the opportunity to shoot or cross, they hesitated, as though they were trying to score the perfect goal.
This is why it’s so difficult to analyze a system after one game.
Had the Hoops been a bit more incisive when they got into the areas, then they would’ve easily had some goals to show for it. It’s a game of small margins.
It’s also unclear whether it was indecisiveness or instructed patience. Time will tell.
Interestingly, Celtic’s most creative period of the second half came when they changed to a 3-5-2 and in particular, when Kieran Tierney moved to the wingback role. The twenty-eight-year-old was more direct than Tounetki and created dangerous opportunities with his crossing. He also added to his tally this season with a penalty box strike.
While there were some strengths to the system, there were also some glaring weaknesses.
Defensively, Celtic looked ropey at times. This was displayed late into the first half. Braga dropped deep, bringing Auston Trusty with him. This left a big space behind. With Harry Milne playing left back for Hearts, he could do a quick one-two with the Portuguese forward, outnumbering Yang on his own, and opening a big space in behind.
Yet, perhaps the biggest damning of the decision to play this new system is that Celtic don’t seem to have suitable personnel.
On the right-hand side, Trusty was a major issue. The left-footed American was uncomfortable driving into space. This led to Hearts organising a press that isolated him on the ball, knowing they were safe in this scenario.
Celtic have right-footed centre-backs in Dane Murray and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey. The twenty-two year old has found gametime hard to come after a Tynecastle horror show though, while Simpson-Pusey has featured just once since joining from Man City on loan.
In reality, these are just one game observations. It’s too early to draw informed conclusions. A singular ninety minutes of action can be influenced by game state and individual fluctuations in performance.
For Celtic, it seems Wilfried Nancy's 3-4-3 is here to stay, but will it work?
It’s boring to say but only time will tell whether this system will be successful.