WOW!..talk about a Star-A Star-A night!
Im not gonna linger on the event itself as I am hoping to write up a piece later so lets just say WOW! again and get straight into the Ratings
Gordon – 8
Some folk ( ahem! – Ed) had been critical of Craig Gordon lately, especially in European games but last night all doubters had to say “Fairs fair”. The distribution may never be the necessary standard either in speed or accuracy but when your keeper can dive low and save a free kick destined for bottom corner or face\shoulder a diverted shot over the bar in the dying minutes then who cares about a punt to the sidelines now and again. Confidence will be boosted after playing in “The loudest game ever” according to the keeper.
Lustig – 7
Solid as they come and any doubts about his legs were calmed with excellent placement and speed of mind. Had a great partnership with Forrest and both never stopped all night. Deserves a rest for the Dundee game to recharge for Gladbach and beyond.
Toure – 8
Excellent game after a scary opening minute when this watcher though Man City were just gonna run away from him. The wise old Toure duly adjusted his positioning accordingly and was soon running the game from the back and even stepped up into midfield when needed. Great clearance near end and even nearly scored when getting stuck in after a goalmouth stramash. Great Twitter gag had him removing his keys, phone and Aguero from his pockets when he got home after the game which summed it up. That’s Aguero remember folks!
Erik -7
Seemed to be a little slow at times but given the speed the ball was moving that was understandable. Helped lessen speed of Gundogans shot on goal at the end with a sliding tackle which was then saved by Gordon and also helped make the first goal by heading ball towards Dembele at the clever free kick so kudos for that effort and nevr hid. Just needs to learn to kick the ball out the park now and again as inward clearance led to their 3rd goal but no one can complain at the overall effort given except Scott Brown who suffered at one instance when Erik came barging through him to ensure a Celt won a high ball in middle of the pitch.
Tierney – 9
Its getting frighteningly ridiculous now isn’t it?
What a showing from the young superstar. Went at it hammer and tongs all night. Only blimp was it was Tierney playing Fernandhino onside after he failed to come out his box quickly enough. How would our young left back answer that disappointment…only by “scoring” one and then making another! – that’s how!. The shot which diverted off Sterling into the net was a truly joyous occasion when it hit the back of the net. Theres something truly special when we see a celebratory Tierney runs to the Green Brigade and then his song rings out. As if that wasn’t enough, he then sent in the cross to Dembele for the 3rd which had everyone screaming in salute. What a night for our bhoy wonder!
Sinclair – 7
Some folk on Twitter were going crazy for Sinclairs performance but I didnt really see it as anything truly exceptional. Covered lots of ground and supplied the perfect ball at the free kick for Forrest to send across goal but on a few breaks towards goal he tried to beat one player too many. Seemed to me to be trying a little too hard in first half and looked a little more relaxed in the second and playing more his own game and continues to improve his relationship with Dembele game after game.
Broony – 9
Cometh the hour, cometh the Captain. I was actually worried that this game could pass Broony by after a few recent games had saw him dummied in the middle of the park by players from lower SPFL clubs and this time he would be facing International superstars David Silva and Ilkay Gundogan. Silly me. Broony had obviously just being saving himself for this one as he totally ran the show last night. A powerful run in the 2nd minute won us the free kick that led to the goal and from that point the Captain was everywhere and never let up. You can picture that ice bath melting as soon as he entered it after the game. Broony ensured every tackle was forceful but placed perfectly and motivated and mentored his colleagues perfectly. Broony is now The Scotsman with the most Champions League performances…Bravo sir!
Biton – 8
Remember the Madona Video for “Ray of light” when the old vixen is standing still while the world flies by all round her. That’s how a game with Nir Bitton can seem at times. He often seems slow and pondering but after last night I’m starting to think he just sees the game that extra micro second sooner that the rest of us. It wasn’t a perfect game by any means but that calm skill earned us 2 goals last night. The 2nd goal started with a sublime Bitton turn in the middle of the park and then perfect pass to then release Rogic. Bitton then did a brilliant feint and dribble on the by line to release Tierney for the cross into Dembele for the 3rd. Sometimes its all about the skill rather than the blood and snotters.
Forrest – 8.5
I could talk about Forrest brilliant running all night. I could talk about his persistent tackling ( yes tackling). I could mention his pressing and his excellent coverage of large areas of the park. I could talk about his brilliantly timed run and cross for the opener. I could talk about his well earned standing ovation when he was subbed for Roberts. But I wont.
Instead I offer this simple story to highlight how wonderful James Forrest is currently playing and how important he is to this Celtic side under Brendan Rodgers:
Theres a guy called John sits behind me. At every annoying game last season, he would rant “Forrest shite this!”…”Forrest shite that”. Game after game he would have a go at our James. Well last night, see when the sub board went up, John got vocal again. This time he cried out “FOR FUCK SAKE BRENDAN, DONT TAKE FORREST OFF!”.
James Forrest, beloved Celtic stalwart..well done son!
Rogic – 7
A great first half for Rogic topped off when Rogic picked up Bittons pass and surged forward, took his time and then played a truly sublime pass for Tierney to smash towards goal for the 2nd. At one point I was thinking “Theres Silva, Aguero, Sterling out there and the most skilful player on show is Tom Rogic!”. The Aussie was dancing round the City players and one piece of ball retention saw him hounded for the ball but Rogic suddenly swivelled, actually hit the deck and yet still somehow came away with the ball and left Man City midfielder bemused. Subbed for Armstrong 10 minutes into the second half and will be looking for a goal or two up at Dens me thinks.
Dembele – 9
We have a superstar left back who is a child (19)and we have a superstar striker who is at most a young man(20).
Dembele just continues to astound. Folk questioned could a boy from Fulham make the grade at Celtic and he listened, smiled and answered in not only goals, but playing the role of the perfect forward. This isn’t just a guy who can be in the right place at the right time like he was for the first goal. This is skill, an overhead kick for the 3rd goal, winning headers after headers, all over the park, even in defence at set pieces for City. This is holding up the ball. This is having the skills to dribble and beat a man anywhere in the pitch, facing away or towards the goal. This is unselfishly dragging defenders all over the place creating space for runners like Sinclair and Rogic which was essential to set up the 2nd goal. Dembele truly is the whole package!
A few weeks ago I suggested he would be worth around £20 million at the rate of improvement. That was after the Rangers game in the league. Last night was Man City, a team of all high class midfielders and defenders in a team organised by Pep Guarliola no less. What happened?..Dembele ran amock with no regard for transfer fee or reputation. Brendan Rodgers once helped make Raheem Sterling worth a fee of £49m. At this rate Dembele wont be far off.
Loses 1 mark for that errant pass to Broony that led to their 2nd goal..hey welcome to Tough Love CSC
Subs
Armstrong – 6
Came on for Rogic and got stuck in when extra legs were needed to combat the skill, stamina and use of space by City. Continues to improve under Brendan and might get a start at Dundee at the weekend with others rested.
Roberts – 5
Came on for Forrest and had a few runs but didn’t have much chance to really get into his own game with Celtic moving onto the back foot as game neared closure. Another who will probably start at Dundee and will have gained some more confidence as some decent dribbles against City.
Griffiths – 6
Only came on for last 10 minutes but gets a slightly higher mark for annoying the City keeper with a tug at his sleeve and also picking up the ball and removing the chance of City breaking quick after a foul. The ref warned SuperLeigh about his antics but those earned his team a few seconds of a breather which was perfect within the last 10. His introduction also gave the corwd another boost which in turned helped roar the side onto a memorable result.
Manager
Brendan – 9
You get gubbed by Barcelona and then you have to face a similar team in Man City. What to do? As Elcormaco covered in his piece yesterday it was a right old dilemma, wasn’t it?
It wasn’t for Oor Brendan.
He simply picked the side and got them ready for the challenge. He respected the £420m opposition but essentially, even amongst a rampaging unbeaten side of Pep Guardiola’s, Brendan had also spotted weakness and opportunity. It was Brendan and his team that divised that brilliant free kick from the calm Sinclair which had a false run and then a perfect late run by the un-marked and rejuvenated and confident Forrest to square across goal. It was Brendan and his team who ensured every Celtic player pressed when needed and tackled CLEANLY when needed. No bookings in such a frantic game, truly amazing drilling there.
Our manager made substitutions once again when fresh legs were needed and even more importantly, did not cower and try and shut up shop but went for it when introducing Roberts and Griffiths when other lesser managers would have put on Jozo Šimunović and tried to shored up at the back and pray we didn’t get broken down by City. City brought on John Stones, a £50m defender, say no more.
I expect Brendan to rest a few players at Dens as they deserve a mental and physical break after such effort and we now we are in 3rd place in the CL group and head into the Borussia double header with unbound eagerness.
The Fans – 10
The old guy next to me uses an inhaler. I thought we were all gonna need a puff after 20 minutes last night. The crowd were fantastic and constantly cheered on the side and from the Walk On..to the Huddle Roar..up to COYBIG then onto Grace and even with the Roll with It at the end, it was all truly joyous. You could see the lift the players were getting as well as the shock impact on the Man City players who clearly were not used to playing in such a cauldron. Every time we scored we roared, every time they scored, we roared louder and lifted our guys back up onto their feet.
Social Media, TV coverage, and Man City fans, players and management were all rampant in their praise for Celtic Park last night.Bravo one and all!
hail, hail!
I’m still knackered from it all. Can’t wait for the double header
Sorry Des on this show the whole team were a 10.
What a game, what a performance, it was great to stick it up the SMSM desperate to Rubbish Celtic with their Souness dross and the English media.
The team last night beat a team worth over 400 Mil and negated Aguero one of the worlds best forwards.
I was tempted to write a spoof ratings with just a big massive 10 for everyone but changed my mind for realistic back to earth review.
The 7 scores are very good, the 8 are excellent, 8.5 brilliant, 9s are Amazing
The 10 is out of this world!
On that ranking \ scale I think the scores above are fair and bravo to all!
My chest is still so tight and heart still beating like hell..I feel like Mike when Susannah is on the breakfast telly or pensionerbhoy when Werthers Originals appear in Poundland
He,He,He, Its summit else that beats for me,when i see Susanna and yes its still tight.
Oh these matchstick men they could only draw,
we fought so hard we deserved much mair an awe.
Lowrie,one of my maist favourit arteests.
Desimond – 10 Wrote a blinder.
Thanks, Desi. Difficult to disagree with any of that, though I thought it was Lustig playing Fernandinho onside rather than Tierney.
Man City have a very aggressive attitude towards the newish offside regulations which I hope Celtic can use (not so much in domestic games where “honest mistakes” by the MIB* will obviously occur) as it looks to be effective.
* Etims suggestion: can we replace MIB with MIA “men in aprons”?
Had a smile on my face the whole way through that read, thank you. Imagine what Brendans team will be like in two years time?
“WHAT A FEKIN GAME” well that’s up there with one of the best all round performances I’ve seen in the last 20 year, for every player who started to get a pass mark of 7 or more against quality opposition like City is truly breathtaking. Watched it with some fellow Tims and none of us picked the same man of the match, Gordon,KT,TOURE,BROONIE, DEMBELE,for all 11 player’s to give it their all for the whole game was a sight to behold,Rodgers subs were even perfect/borderline heart attack. Personally I’ve got to pick Broonie as MOTM,to put a performance in like that at 31years of age against that kind of opposition is incredible.. COYBIG..
This is the first few lines from Man City web, so they ack how good we were:
The way Celtic tore into City in the first half will have made coaches up and down the land sit up and take notice.
Buoyed by more than 57,000 fans, Celtic tried to get around and behind the Blues, trying to disrupt the rhythm of the Premier League leaders with energy, pressing and width.
What supporting Celtic is all about! Jings, crivvens, help ma boab! Sheer magic. Well done Brendan and the bhoys and well done Celtic fans.Pride restored.
Griffiths and Roberts on as subs at 3-3 against a team with a better than decent chance of winning the cup was braver than brave. It was fucking brilliant! Broony mom for simple reason hes oor captain and he acted like it. Nine out of ten for the rest. Yet again, am proud to be a tim!
Fair summation Dessi, I couldny believe my eyes at Bitons dribble past three city defenders doon the line to pass for young Kieran,who passed to Dembelle,who scored.
Our first goal came out of Lennoxtoun, a free kick out to Jamsie who sent over a good cross,brilliant.
Pressing persistence beats Resistance, a marvelous team performance,guided by a Manager who kens fitba.
Happy days are here again,
we have our auld team back again,
happy days are here again.
EPL clubs,eyes aff.
Glad to see Gordon have a good one as couldn’t understand why he got so much flak. As we are being grown up and adult today I hold up my hand and say sorry to James Forrest as I wanted to see him out the door after last season.What a change in the boy since Brendan took over but he still heeds to get a proper haircut. The media are trying to get Dembele sold as quickly as possible but as Barcabhoy put it on Twitter they are missing the point as when he is sold for a shed load of money his replacement will not come from Accrington. HH
Not sure I feel the same way about Gordon tbh. Last night I finally twigged to what BR had been saying about using the keeper as sweeper at times. When being pressed, its good to have an option of using the keeper but his distribution inevitably gave the ball straight back to the opposition. Admire his shot stopping but his distribution definitely is work in progress. Still better than Dorus though!
According to some idiot on The Scotsman – I assume he normally reports on rugby – Heriot Watts (aka Hairy Twats 🙂 ), or caber tossing at Highland games, or Scottish county dancing or something. NONE of the Celtic defenders warranted higher than a 6!
e.g. Toure got the same as Aguero – 6- despite the fact 1 of the world’s top strikers hardly got a sniff all night.
.. Dembele “scored 2 poachers goals”
Even Sterling could only manage a 7
Beyond a joke
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/celtic/celtic-3-3-manchester-city-how-the-players-rated-1-4243501
Yeh I saw that Dr Jung. Couldn’t believe it. Desi Mond’s ratings much more accurate.
We’re still a work in progress but what potential. Need to keep up the high pressing game in every game so that it becomes second nature. But last night you could see how that works, even against big spenders. Wonder why they didn’t do it against Barca?
What a show that was. I cant recall when I last felt this proud that Celtic are my team – the stadium bursting, the fans like a physical presence on the field, willing the team on, sensing when they needed a lift and giving it to them, the manager for being brave and going for the BrendanBall apporach – ten minutes left and bringing on an extra striker – Walter would have had a heart attack at the thought, but most of all the players.
I wondered yesterday if it might have been a good idea to leave Tierney out, he got a roasting in Barcelona and I feared another one last night would have knocked his development.
How wrong I was! He was magnificent. Sterling had a great game and I playing at the top of his form but Tierney matched him, was an attacking threat throughout, and proved that he is going to be able to cope at this level. Not just a great engine, but great quality and composure.
Goals two and three were preventable, for goal 2 we were actually on for a good break but a poor pass to Dembele and a worse one to Brown undone us, and Sviatchenko didn’t clear effectively after Toure could have let the ball go through to Gordon, but in a game of that intensity, for those to be the only instances when I can be critical – immense.
Brown. What a leader of men. I think many of us thought we’d seen the best of him, last night he was a colossus, a player others responded to, he lifted not only his own game but his team mates.
Dembele, enjoy him while he’s here, he is an absolute monster player. I let out a roar of “Oh My God” at his second goal I didn’t recognise as coming from me.. Skill like that in such a high pressure game? You’ll do for me. Heard Tyldsley on commentary for ITV today saying he didn’t connect with it how he might have liked? Seriously? How else would he have liked to have connected with it!?
Rogic in the first half showing that his skills in the SPFL are transferrable to the highest stage,. If only Armstrong could donate him a lung.
Och the whole team were fantastic to a man, and I m so, so proud, we matched a team with a value ten times out own and did it by being brave and playing positive attacking football – The Glasgow Celtic Way
I wondered yesterday what the best way to approach might be, and felt going down swinging would be better than just waiting for the inevitable, well by God did we swing last night, Brendanball indeed.
So very proud of all at CP still haven,t come down from cloud 9 and hers me just out after getting a pacemaker and told to take it “easy” well that’s that fcuked,don,t know if it,s still working after last night but sod it,we are a couple of players short of being a really good team inmo,hail hail.
Keiran Tierney – i love the lad! I honestly havent felt an affinity for any Celtic player in this way since Henrik left
The whole team, the management, the performance, the fans – we’re on the verge of something very special here Bhoys and Ghirls!
Hail Hail! #Grace
Oct 19th 2016 Celtic v BMG
Oct 19th 1957 Celtic 7 Rangers 1
A date easy to remember.
The outstanding player for me last night was Darus De Vries, never made a mistake stoped shots, showed defenders that sometimes you just need to hump a clearance and best of all disguised himself as Craig Gordon, it was like something out of Harry Potter.
Last night was better than the Barcelona game, the support were really on the field, I think that the noise and passion gets over egged against proper professionals but last night it really helped Celtic.
Further to El Cormaco’s comment on JAMES ForrestvI have a guy called John behind me who has given Janes Firrest pelted for a number of years. He is too classy a guy to swear and use the f words but he has been frustrated by Forrest’s poor showings, more a case of “Will Master James try a leg today,or get Firrest off he’s done nothing.”. This wasn’t just during the Delia years but under NL as well. What a different player he is now, the John behind me called him “Jamsie” last night, a good indication of a player back to his best and giving everything for the shirt.
Nobody’s mentioned the referee – and that’s significant. He controlled the game, let the players perform, and was INVISIBLE. Great display by him, and one that added to the enjoyment of a wonderful occasion.
My thoughts exactly Tom. His job was made easier due to the mutual respect between the sides as well with no ‘Hearts at Tynecastle’ tackles flying about.
Getting yourself excited about Young James?
Granted he is much improved but that would not be hard coming from a position of limited contribution.He made maybe 2 tackles of note,does not yet get close to his man when marking,and in my view should hit the bye line more often.
Would it surprise you to know he covered less distance than Nir Biton and did not feature in the top 6 of distance covered by players.
Getting better…………… but that would not be hard.
He is definitely a better player than in the past but I still think that if we are to improve then we have to get better players than Forest/Rogic/Armstrong just look at what we have in Dembele can you imagine if we had another 3 like him and they are out there.
His best period for me was in Lennys first Season when we had a rake of injuries early on in the Season and both Forrest and Samaras more or less carried us for about 6 weeks.
Unfortunately he had a lengthy lay off after that and so his troubles began.
He looks sharp now though and his confidence is up but I think Sinclair on the other side is playing much better.
Fud
FFS..Sometimes its about quality over quantity.
Forrest played excellenly covering the right side with Lustig, often just killing available space and that was his role.
He isn’t a “Just hog the touchline and hope for a tricky wing run” player these days. Hes playing for the big team picture, not just a forward out on the edge of play.
Enjoy your coffee, mind take the shit stirring spoon out first.
Some fuckers just haven’t got a clue Desi.
The first goal came straight out of Lennoxtoun,it was well worked and created with skill,Forests performance was excellent,back tracking and taking on opponents with pace and skill.
If it had been wee Jinky they would still be moaning and talking gash.
He’s been excellent so far this Season Mike.
As have Lustig and Brown by comparison to last season.
Fud
Another great night to be a Tim. Thanks BR, the Boys and the 12 men. Thanks, truly memorable.
Now we know that we can play like that and live with the very best. It was great Celtic Park rocking is unique. A wall of passion and noise. Magic!
We should treat all these games as Cup ties in my opinion.
Even unfancied sides have a chance of upsetting the big sides in a Cup.
Home or away we should look to press attack and hound any side and I include Barca in that because it’s better to go out swinging than curled up in a ball getting your cnut kicked in like the Camp Nou.
Yes Charlie Saiz that pressing game has to become second nature and playing it against even so-called weaker opposition week in week out just means you can really fine tune it. When you lay off because you think it isn’t necessary it’s hard to pick it up again with the same effectiveness. Why didn’t they play this way in the Nou Camp? Any ideas? I know Deila believed in this way of playing too but he couldn’t get players on board the way Brendan Rogers has and that isn’t simply down to his lack of man management skills – more to do with player injuries and dips in performance and a management team not of his own selection. DId in some way Deila prepare the ground for Rogers? Not everyone will admit that but …
He did and those who fail to admit or or see it are just blinkered bud.
Fud
I love the criticism of a team tha actually played above themselves last night, that includes Biton and Forrest. Rogic had a major contribution in the first half as Armstrong did when he came on. So far MC have brushed far fancier teams aside and will continue to do so this season.
Dmbele was a standout last night in thT they could not knock him off the ball, and BR substitutions showed no fear of th opposition.
It was a joy to read the dross from the SMSM about the game, no doubt we will be a tie up with the tribute act shortly.
The futures brighter the futures GREEN
Agree totally with Tom Campbell. That is the best refereeing I’ve seen in a long while. Not over fussy, he let the players play. That suits us in the long run, because we always try to play. I think Dembele might have been offside, but so was one of Man City goals. That referee and his colleagues get 10 of 10 IMO. Referees should be invisible and they were. More of the same please, both domestically and in the CL. I’m so high I feel like a young stud again! It’s a good thing I don’t own an Xbox! Last night was the best of the Celtic of old.
I think they let it go due to the fact the header was net bound anyway?
If anything he got in the road of a great goal for Erik.
Like I said on the other thread sometimes fortune favours the brave and we got 3 slices of good fortune in the 3 goals.
1 Offside 1 deflection and a complete miss kick by a top defender.
Magic hehe.
Heeder
Dont like push back Desi?
I dont drink coffee it impairs judgement.
JF is getting better as I said,the fact he has scored more this Season than in the last 2 years rather proves my point that his contribution was so low his positive input now is in stark contrast.
Cheer up.
Where to begin? My head was still spinning this morning and there was nae alcohol involved. I think we have to applaud both teams last night for restoring football to what it should be, no diving, no feigning injury, no sticking your leg out to cause a tangle of legs with a chasing player and con the ref into giving a free kick or penalty. Played with desire to win by both teams, played physically but cleanly. It was a furious paced battle without violence or bloodshed and was ten levels above any other Champions League game played this season.
I watched it here in South America and the Spanish speaking commentators were impressed to put it mildly. When we scored they gave us “GoooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaLLL de Celtic!!!!! While that superior sounding English fuckwit commentator on another sports channel could only muster a “Oh, it’s gone in”..barely able to hide his surprise/shock that we were capable of scoring against teh pride of the EPL.
The ref and the linesmen were great, the game flowed like a fast running river and I cannae remember a single bad decision by them.
If we had played with half of the passion we had last night, does anybody here think Barca would have won 7-0? If we’ve learned anything it must surely be that we NEVER AGAIN take to the field and curtail our own attacking abilities just to try and survive. We might have lost to barca 5-3 but we’d have given them a bloody nose and something to think about.
I haven’t felt this happy about a Celtic performance for a long time. Any neutrals watching it must have been thoroughly entertained. And to think that German tosser (Rummeniger?) wants to block teams like Celtic from the Champions League and turn it into a predictable fekking borefest for the “elite” clubs!!!
Last night was more than a great game…it might just be the match that saved the Champions League for football clubs all over Europe.
God bless Celtic. HH
Spot on on.
HH
Spot on funky.
X 2
Never understood many fans wanting Jamesy out. I got roasted by many for saying he was a great player that needed a bit of help. Well any of you reading this, Jamesy you were bloody great! As were the whole team! Proud of everyone of you! HH
He never helped the situation by dragging out the signing of his contract bud.
Let’s hope he can continue playing this well and progress further into another Sinclair on the right.
Then wee Paddy going might not be such a big miss when it comes?
I think that the contract talks were pulled from under him by Peter. So I don’t think it was all Jamesys doing.
You have been told about his contract. Why persist with the bullshit.
Because he is a fuckwit
Full troll mode now I see.
What to do about Saturday.
I’m sure the players are knackered today, they gave their all,and as a supporter that’s all you ask.
Should we make big changes or keep them ticking over.
A difficult one for the boss, but he knows best.
The ref certainly helped us. First goal was offside,but we got away with it. Great training ground move though.
Can’t believe the bookies wouldn’t pay me out on Tierney scoring anytime at 16/1, aye it was deflected but cmon he was shooting for goal.
@jimmybee..if you had put on a bet that Sterling would score an own goal I bet the bookies would have said it was Tierney’s goal. That’s bookies for you, as bad as insurance companies, they always look for an escape clause….and find wan!!!
John young , rogic was magnificent in the first half , he was on apar if not better than the city midfielders , how much better do you want
Great positive article in the Independent newspaper about Celtic’s performance against MC. It suggest that EPL teams can learn from Celtic’s high pressing tactics but states:
“Whether Premier League teams can match Celtic for work-rate remains to be seen, but energetic, attack-minded wide players have now shown that they can cause serious problems for City’s defenders.”
Very complimentary comments about Brown and Dembele in particular. Check it out at
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/manchester-city-have-celtic-unearthed-the-blueprint-to-stop-pep-guardiolas-early-dominance-of-a7337746.html
Read this great article in the Independent that suggests Celtic’s high pressing game is the model for EPL teams aiming to beat Man City. The writer wonders though:
“Whether Premier League teams can match Celtic for work-rate remains to be seen, but energetic, attack-minded wide players have now shown that they can cause serious problems for City’s defenders.”
Praises for Brown and Dembele in particular but everyone spoken of positively. Let’s hope we can keep this up. Still wonder why they didn’t do this in the Nou Camp.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/manchester-city-have-celtic-unearthed-the-blueprint-to-stop-pep-guardiolas-early-dominance-of-a7337746.html
Broony best player on the park by a mile.More fouls on him than any other celt,he was everywhere.
Referee was best I,ve seen since that big baldy Italian guy.
Some afterthoughts…
I’ve M8’s who’re big Man City fans and who’ve stuck with them, even when they were in the 3rd tier – We’re talking real football fans here, not glory hunters. I even stood myself on the “Kippax” at Maine Rd a few times in the old days. Anyway, they were “absolutely gobsmacked” at the atmosphere at Celtic Park. In fact, I sense they were slightly embarrassed that even if/when full the Etihad is not in the same league.
So, although there is an element of right-wing scum among the City support who’ve been tempted/brainwashed by the hatred from Huns (The LoutsDen etc.), I felt I should point out that the vast majority are decent fans who just love football.
The match on Wednesday was a testament to everything that’s good in the game – no yellow cards, no diving, no bad tackles. just two teams trying to play attractive, attacking football. The RESPECT coming from 99% of City fans has been genuine & heartfelt, so I hope we can reciprocate that at the Etihad – hopefully, the game itself will be played in the same spirit. There’s a feeling coming form them that we could create a bond – even friendship – that will show the rest of the football world how things should be – That for most of us – it’s not about the money or bragging rights, but about a passion for our football club, and respect for those who have a similar passion for their’s.
So, to anyone who’s planning to travel to the Etihad on 6th December, let’s show the City Of Manchester how real football fans should behave and why Celtic fans are welcome all over the world.
Great article in the Independent newspaper about how Celtic’s high pressing tactics are a model for any EPL club looking not to be beaten by Man City. But the writer had this to say:
“Whether Premier League teams can match Celtic for work-rate remains to be seen, but energetic, attack-minded wide players have now shown that they can cause serious problems for City’s defenders.Whether Premier League teams can match Celtic for work-rate remains to be seen, but energetic, attack-minded wide players have now shown that they can cause serious problems for City’s defenders.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/manchester-city-have-celtic-unearthed-the-blueprint-to-stop-pep-guardiolas-early-dominance-of-a7337746.html
Very positive comments about Scott Brown and Moussa Dembele especially but everyone got plaudits – I think the EPL teams will look at us differently from now on. Hopefully we can keep the bar high. As Brendan Rogers knows, that high pressing game has to be played even against teams that you don’t fear. It’s very energy sapping and you need to have high levels of fitness. It can’t just be switched off and on. Also, the other elements of Brendan’s vision – fast attacking from goalie outwards and even faster counter attacking – need to be fine tuned. It works best when everyone is playing for the team and know each other really well.