The Back 4 & The Ntcham Conundrum.

[Fisiani]

3rd Qualifying Round for Champions (10 teams)
Seeded teams coef. Unseeded teams coef. ------------------------ --- ---------------- ------------------------ --- ---------------- Celtic * Sco 34.000 Qarabag FK * Azb 21.000 Dinamo Zagreb ** Cro 33.500 Legia Warsaw * Pol 17.000 Ludogorets Razgrad * Bul 26.000 Maccabi Tel-Aviv * Isr 16.500 Young Boys ** Sui 25.500 Molde FK * Nor 15.000 Red Star Belgrade * Srb 22.750 FC Midtjylland ** Den 14.500

If we beat Ferencvaros then we most likely will face one of the champions of Azerbijan, Poland, Israel Norway or Denmark in the 3rd one off round.

 

[cheezydee]

Love a good team/squad/formation chat. I had a similar post up last season.

I put a post up a couple of weeks back that I think brown may be past it and it could be a gamble playing him. This absolutely not me against brown, who doesn’t love broony!? But I think sentiment could be costly. My post was linked to a podcast, Celtic underground I think, where it was on about stats in the game and the thoughts were that brown was slipping. I thought myself brown was getting caught out, losing pace which then ends up not allowing him to recover his mistakes. He was getting more prone to misplacing passes. But is he being judged on how great his standard is and I couldn’t be more chuffed at him lifting the 10 as captain.

so as you can imagine, brown isn’t my choice in MF this season. I’d play ntcham & McGregor there for majority. I thought they played well with Christie Rodgers 2nd season when brown was out. We were looking flat before that.

then you’ve got a whole debate on formation.

if we play 2 up top you play 3 at the back, which means choosing between Frimpong and Forrest for RWB, and Taylor and Elyounoussi at LWB, and can’t see Elyounoussi doing that. He could play off the striker but we’ve just signed Ajeti to suggest Lenny wants to play 2 up top with him. folk knock the board, but Lenny seems to be getting the luxury of assembling a team capable of 3-5-2 or the variation of a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1.

Keeper

Taylor
Ajer (or elhamed)
Jullien
elhamed (or Frimpong)

Ntcham
McGregor

Elyounoussi
Christie
Forrest (or a new player)

edourd

Keeper

Ajer (or bitton)
Jullien
Elhamed

Taylor
Mcgregor
Ntcham
Christie
Frimpong

Edourd
Ajeti

It’s hard to pick a team and not leave out good players. I thought we played well switching to 2 up front last season but that was down to Elyounoussi being injured. Can’t see him being signed for another year and not playing him. I want 2 up top but keep the same 10 behind edourd change your 12 man teams as well as 5 subs in corona year!

What was with Ajer last night anyway, just dropped for the game?

 

[michael duffy]

Agree to a certain extent regarding Broony Cheezy,think we all agree,that 1) he cannot play every game,
2)there are games where we will need him,
So flexibility is required,so if we look beyond a starting eleven,utilise our bench, giving the compressed fixtures this season, we can utilise the 5 substitute rule, tactically, and for injuries, Lenny's proved he can switch formations, 3 at the back and 2 up front, 4 at the back, 1 up front,think we all agree we need a centre back, Ajer gives me the fear,the Rennes game showed me he is'nt, and never will be a leftsided centre back, and last night proved we need cover for Greg Taylor, when he went down after that tackle,ah thought he wiz done,
but hey Cheezy, ah think we're good tae go! HH ☘

 

[michael duffy]

This team blew away the filth at the bile drome last september,some faces missing but, i think we're stronger now,

• 67Forster (Barkas)
  
• 33Elhamed
• 2Jullien
• 6Bitton
• Substituted forBauerat 66'minutes
• 23Bolingoli-Mbombo(Taylor)
• 8Brown
• 42McGregor
• 49Forrest
• Substituted forNtchamat 66'minutes
• 17Christie
• 19Johnston (Elyounoussi)
  
• Substituted forHayesat 85'minutesBooked at 90mins

Replacements in brackets, notice, no Ajer!

• 22Edouard

 

[Khenny]

For me Ntcham is a far better footballer than Christie on his day.

The only edge Christie has over Ollie is perhaps a little more consistency from game to game. If you were to get both of them at their best I'd have Ntcham in 11 times out of 10!!!

 

[Spherical Planet]

Love a good team/squad/formation chat. I had a similar post up last season.

I put a post up a couple of weeks back that I think brown may be past it and it could be a gamble playing him. This absolutely not me against brown, who doesn’t love broony!? But I think sentiment could be costly. My post was linked to a podcast, Celtic underground I think, where it was on about stats in the game and the thoughts were that brown was slipping. I thought myself brown was getting caught out, losing pace which then ends up not allowing him to recover his mistakes. He was getting more prone to misplacing passes. But is he being judged on how great his standard is and I couldn’t be more chuffed at him lifting the 10 as captain.

so as you can imagine, brown isn’t my choice in MF this season. I’d play ntcham & McGregor there for majority. I thought they played well with Christie Rodgers 2nd season when brown was out. We were looking flat before that.

then you’ve got a whole debate on formation.

if we play 2 up top you play 3 at the back, which means choosing between Frimpong and Forrest for RWB, and Taylor and Elyounoussi at LWB, and can’t see Elyounoussi doing that. He could play off the striker but we’ve just signed Ajeti to suggest Lenny wants to play 2 up top with him. folk knock the board, but Lenny seems to be getting the luxury of assembling a team capable of 3-5-2 or the variation of a 4-3-3/4-2-3-1.

Keeper

Taylor
Ajer (or elhamed)
Jullien
elhamed (or Frimpong)

Ntcham
McGregor

Elyounoussi
Christie
Forrest (or a new player)

edourd

Keeper

Ajer (or bitton)
Jullien
Elhamed

Taylor
Mcgregor
Ntcham
Christie
Frimpong

Edourd
Ajeti

It’s hard to pick a team and not leave out good players. I thought we played well switching to 2 up front last season but that was down to Elyounoussi being injured. Can’t see him being signed for another year and not playing him. I want 2 up top but keep the same 10 behind edourd change your 12 man teams as well as 5 subs in corona year!

What was with Ajer last night anyway, just dropped for the game?

Aye, Broonie was great against Hamilton and Reykjavik, but he had all the time in the world to do his thing in both games.

He was playing 10-yards deeper last season and we got caught out against even slightly handier teams when they could play through the gaps that were left.

No doubt he's good for 20+ games this season, but I think we need a bit more pace and mobility in there for tougher matches. One other tiny criticism, he seemed a bit more interested in noising up opponents than concentrating on his own game last season. It's good for the craic, but it didn't always end up with the best result.

The man's a legend and remains a mainstay, but we have to keep one eye on the future and perhaps start that transition sooner, rather than later.

 

[JamSam67]

For me Ntcham is a far better footballer than Christie on his day.

The only edge Christie has over Ollie is perhaps a little more consistency from game to game. If you were to get both of them at their best I'd have Ntcham in 11 times out of 10!!!

Or perversely play both at the same time if they’re at thur best just fir
Naw

HH

 

[Imatim]

Some good points put across but to throw a spanner in the works which Ntcham are we talkin about , the one who has just turned up or the one who dosen't seem interested and let's the game pass him bye

If we had the Ntcham giving 100% for the hoops he'd be the first name down on the team sheet

we need someone to put the shitters up wee jamsie would love to give frimpong a run up front to show what he can do

Ajer moved into midfield and ethamed and bitton in defence is a no brainer they can pick a pass bring a calmness and don't panic under pressure

.............................

This in a nutshell.....there’s no doubt Ntcham is a class player at times.....what Ntcham has to prove to Neil Lennon is that he is a warrior who is up for the battle when needed.....the Ntcham that plays on the periphery of the game is a luxury we cannot afford.....the other points made are worthy of serious consideration too...

 

[Spherical Planet]

Good to see you back on SP. Hope you and yours are good mate

Aye Elhamed is definitely capable of moving into central defence but I prefer him at RB as wee Frimpong is a bit too slight and attack minded to play there, would prefer to see the wee man challenging Forrest for his spot.

I agree with you on Ajer. I've been banging on for ages that I think Ajer is a Centre Mid and that BR made a mistake converting him into a CB. I get it was out of necessity at the time but I always thought it robbed us of a big solid CM and successor to Broony. It would just be about getting the timing right on that one as I still think Broony has another year in the tank.

Bitton I quite like at CB, I prefer him to Ajer in there as I think he calms everything down a bit and his judgement is better. He takes up better positions and is better at reading what's going on around him but if another CB was to come in during the transfer window then his spot at CB would be up for grabs.

All this stemmed from watching Ntcham last night, I think we're missing a trick not having him in the starting 11 and was wondering if there was a way to do it without having to sacrifice either Broony, CalMac or Christie.

I trust the gaffer but I'd love to see Lenny try this out at least once to see how it went, failing that I may have to use that tranquilliser dart and Lenny disguise

Aye, but the real question is: do you go bleach-blond MON era Lenny, or do you go post-modern ginger ninja Lenny?

 

[Imatim]

When teams park the bus and sit in deep we need to be tactically astute to overcome this.....we proved against the average teams last season that playing with 2 up front worked for us.....when we play the Huns.....we have to adapt tactically to not getting outnumbered in the middle of the park which allows them to shut us down quickly and win the second ball.....we match them tactically, we beat them.....the Huns tactics against us is to play narrow and sit in.....win the ball and attack us at pace.....we have better players.....so we negate this by getting our line up tactically right.....having the necessary desire.....and by dominating the midfield.....we do this we will beat them imo...

 

[Spherical Planet]

When teams park the bus and sit in deep we need to be tactically astute to overcome this.....we proved against the average teams last season that playing with 2 up front worked for us.....when we play the Huns.....we have to adapt tactically to not getting outnumbered in the middle of the park which allows them to shut us down quickly and win the second ball.....we match them tactically, we beat them.....the Huns tactics against us is to play narrow and sit in.....win the ball and attack us at pace.....we have better players.....so we negate this by getting our line up tactically right.....having the necessary desire.....and by dominating the midfield.....we do this we will beat them imo...

I think that's the one area where we are a wee bit lacking, mate. Pace through the middle of the park. Even with Eddy, he doesn't have blistering pace, but he has that extra yard between the ears. We're fine for speed out wide, but even then, we don't have the legs to get runners in the box.

I felt a wee bit sorry for Jonny Hayes last year, as he put in some really decent balls that looked poor because we didn't have anyone on the end of them. Even Calmac the other night played a couple of great flashing balls across the box without any takers. It's not as if the huns mid is lightning fast, it's only that we ain't particularly zippy in that area either.

 

[JamSam67]

I think that's the one area where we are a wee bit lacking, mate. Pace through the middle of the park. Even with Eddy, he doesn't have blistering pace, but he has that extra yard between the ears. We're fine for speed out wide, but even then, we don't have the legs to get runners in the box.

I felt a wee bit sorry for Jonny Hayes last year, as he put in some really decent balls that looked poor because we didn't have anyone on the end of them. Even Calmac the other night played a couple of great flashing balls across the box without any takers. It's not as if the huns mid is lightning fast, it's only that we ain't particularly zippy in that area either.

Turnbull or Boyle Fi Hobs then again wee Karamoko looks quick

HH

 

[Weedocbhoy60]

One big thing to come out of last night was it threw up some answers and some questions about who should be playing and where.

Though the back 4 wasn't tested that much when it was it looked far more solid and settled and all without having a detrimental effect on our attacking capability down the flanks. Elhamed and Bitton's inclusion seemed to settle the back-line, they were better positioned, they were calmer and more assured and more importantly they were less exposed as Elhamed and Taylor got the balance between their defensive and attacking duties just right. Given the worries about our defence recently I think that back 4 last night is our strongest and best option from here on in.

Now to Ntcham......the guy is simply too good not to be in the starting 11! But how do you fit him in there?

Ntcham & Broony doesn't work, been there done that and it was a bust plus we cannae afford to drop a player like CalMac as he's too important to how we play.

Ntcham and CalMac does work and works really well but neither of them can do what Broony does. Without Broony we lose our bite and that player who battles, snaps at heels, gets in the faces of the opposition and offers that extra bit of protection to the back 4.

Ntcham instead of Christie? Just presents the same problem as before. Christie is too good not to be starting plus Ntcham and Christie are different players with different styles, each player offers a different type of threat and choosing one threat over the other means using completely different strategies. Having both those threats on the pitch at once would not only open up our attacking options but it could make us far more potent and clinical all over the pitch.

So given we want Ntcham in there but don't want to lose either Broony, CalMac or Christie from the starting 11 and we don't want to compromise what so far looks a more solid back-line could this work?

View attachment 10683

Gives us a solid back 4, we don't lose the midfield bite and the protection to the back 4 Broony provides, we get the intelligent clever play and passing ability of both Ntcham and CalMac, we keep our width, we don't have to compromise by giving up the threat Christie provides and we have 4 dangerous players supplying Eddy who have the ability to link up well, have an eye for a pass that can carve a team open and provide a goal threat of their own.

Thoughts.....

Your eleven does not include Ajer, Elyonoussi or Frimpong. This, imho, shows that we have a strong squad and how hard it is to enhance it.

 

[50 Shades of Green]

Broonie going for 10 in a row.

Thats ten seasons in a row I've seen people tell everyone he's finished

Law of averages tells you they will be right once, and boy will they tell us all they told us.


Long live the Broonie.

 

[Spherical Planet]

Turnbull or Boyle Fi Hobs then again wee Karamoko looks quick

HH

Aye, but it's still mostly out wide, Jam (with the exception of Turnbull). It's a tricky one because there's not an abundance of pacey players that don't cost an arm and a leg and bollock as well. Often it's not even genuine pace that's required, it's that players who sees the game and reads the game and can pick up the position to nullify or open teams up.

Calmac is that type of player, but he's also our main playmaker and you sacrifice something if you ask him to be the one who gets in behind defences, as he is ultimately the player who's going to find the hole to pass into.

I'd take De Bruyne, Silva, or Messi, but they'd have to all buck their ideas up to get into a consistently winning team.

 

[michael duffy]

Olly Burke had lots of pace!

 

[Imatim]

Olly Burke had lots of pace!

.....................

Beep! Beep!

 

[Spherical Planet]

Olly Burke had lots of pace!

It's just a pity he forgot to take the ball with him

 

[JamSam67]

Olly Burke had lots of pace!

But he could trap thi baw further than I can volley it MD.
but do feel like WC there’s deffo a player in thur Mibbies they ghost hunters could ouija board it oot.

HH

 

[50 Shades of Green]

Olly Burke had lots of pace!

Needs it to get to his second touch though