{"id":10237,"date":"2016-10-31T09:09:56","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T09:09:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/etims.net\/?p=10237"},"modified":"2016-10-31T09:09:56","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T09:09:56","slug":"celtic-diary-monday-october-31-the-assault-on-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/etims.net\/?p=10237","title":{"rendered":"Celtic Diary Monday October 31; The Assault On Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

This military jingoism, which started over on the other side of the river can be quite infectious, and no doubt I won’t be the only one to use war references as the Celts travel to Gladbach to play the local team.<\/p>\n

Actually, thats one thing you can say about the SMSM, that they rarely use that kind of language, as opposed to their English equivalent, who are never shy of telling us that Fritz doesn’t like it up him, which frankly makes Fritz pretty much the same as the rest of us.<\/p>\n

Celtic need to get a point from this game to keep the campaign alive, and although a defeat won’t mean that Celtic exit europe, mathematically at least, it does mean that it will be extremely difficult.<\/p>\n

The team, on a high after completing two difficult games and a Cup semi final without losing a goal may yet surprise us, as BT sports have done by putting the game out live on Freeview.<\/p>\n

Optimistic now rather can confident, maybe Celtic can sneak a win over there. in the past, Celtic have performed well away from home but always seem to make an arse of it somehow, and usually come away empty handed.<\/p>\n

Manager Brendan Rodgers appears to have been working on that;<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to the players a few weeks ago, you have to learn how to win 1-0, They\u2019re not always going to score four or five or six goals.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you\u2019ve got that spirit and collective mentality to fight then it gives you a great chance in any game. The game would have been out of sight. That was the reality of it.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a real connection now, between the supporters, the club, the team, everybody is pulling in one direction. But there\u2019s still room for a lot of evolution of the club, both off and on the field.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we showed today was that we can win any game of football.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it was like in the past, I don\u2019t know. What I know with this group is that they have confidence. They can outplay teams, they can outpass teams, they can press teams, and if it\u2019s a fight, they can fight<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThey can stand up and be counted, be aggressive. We\u2019ve come to some really tough places and won.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see if Kolo Toure starts the game is is held in reserve to strengthen the defence should Celtic do the unthunkable and be ahead in the game with maybe twenty minutes or so to go.<\/p>\n

That would make sense, as not only will the Germans see him as a possible weakness due to his mistakes allowing them to score last time out, he didn’t have the best game of his Celtic career a couple of weeks back.<\/p>\n

Simunovic and Sviatchenko will be our first choice pairing next season, so it makes sense to start them together tomorrow if only for the experience.<\/p>\n

Emilio Izaguirre will step in for Keioran tierney, and he is a different type of left back. much more aggressive and certainly more of a physical presence than Tierney.<\/p>\n

normally i wouldn’t advocate too many changes before a big game, but a different back four, cpmpleted with Mikael Lustig, will mean that the Germans won’t be as confident of breaching the defensive line. ( I thought you said you would leave the military stuff to the other lot -Ed )<\/p>\n

Will Nir Biton partner Scott Brown in the middle. Probably, but again there is a valdi case for the energy and drive of Stuart Armstrong, who is again, a different type of player from what Borussia would expect.<\/p>\n

Tom rogic will start, but this time how about he makes way for Leigh Griffiths on the hour ?<\/p>\n

As we nned to score goals, it makes sense to include the guy who can get them.<\/p>\n

Dembele will probably start up front, flanked by James Forrest and Scott Sinclair, and the two wingers know they have to keep possesion and take the ball out of the danger zone.<\/p>\n

There’s goals in the team at any level, but they will need to start the game at pace, and keep it up for the duration, whilst not allowing themselves to be led into a dance by the Germans when not in \u00a0possession.<\/p>\n

And if Celtic can stop giving the ball away, which is still the sides biggest problem in Europe, then who knows ?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One problem might be the referee. He’s Jorge de Sousa of Portugal, and is rather too handy with the yellow cards for my liking. Especially for a game featuring two northern European sides who don’t mind a bit of robustness.<\/p>\n

MATCHES OF JORGE DE SOUSA<\/a><\/h2>\n
\n
\n