Tonight is the Night when the Euro Champions come a Calling!
What a strange morning it is.
After completing my morning perusal of all the messageboards I am confused beyond belief! After having a glance at some of the Ranger’s sites this morning I would have to wonder whom it was that Rangers actually beat last night, as all of the comments appear to be about Celtic!
Easily your best result in Europe in decades and all you can do is slag off Celtic? Come off it Bears, cant you support your team with resorting to narrow minded parochialism?
Seriously though what a result! 90 minutes and not a sectarian song to be heard! Well done Rangers fans! Oh wait a minute, which particular scum was it that you were asking about last night?
Anyway onto football, and more importantly tonight’s game. Celtic could face Milan tonight without the influential Shunsuke Nakamura and the struggling JVOH in the team and Strachan really has to look at how he is to approach the game against the Euro Champions.
Should he stick to his tried and tested 4-4-2 and directly replace the two missing players or should he look to re-jig the formation?
It has been widely rumoured that Paul Hartley will play a holding role in front of the two centre halfs, but is that really the way to go? And if so should that be at the expense of a more attacking approach?
The defence has been a source of much discomfort for a long time now and whilst that criticism is upheld it should be remembered that Celtic are yet to lose a goal at home this season. Tonight’s formation will in my opinion reflect how much protection Strachan feels his rearguard require against quality opposition.
I feel that Strachan should draw on his team’s best performance against Milan in the San Siro and use that style of formation tonight.
If you remember correctly, Strachan deployed Aiden McGeady in the hole between the midfiled and a lone striker to great effect, with Aiden causing the Milan defence all kinds of problems in that role. Given that McGeady is on fire at the moment WGS may decide that 4-5-1 with McDonald in front of Aiden is his best option. This formation would certainly offer a balance between attacking potency and rigidity that is necessary against a team of Milan’s quality.
This is one of may options Strachan has at his disposal, and he may elect to play his standard 4-4-2 with Killen replacing JVOH as the target man up front.
Whatever formation plays tonight it will be a special game in a very special arena! The atmosphere will be electric and I personally can’t wait for kick off!
Mon the Hoops!
As I type, two Rangers (they always travel in pairs don’t they?) fans shuffled into my office and are standing there grinning at me giggling like two schoolgirls on a picnic, nudging each other. "What about that result last night Timmy"? was the cry " yes well done" was my reply "congratulations" I offered willingly and sincerely. It was then I realised what this display was akin to, it was like watching a pair of dogs who had just performed a trick waiting to receive praise from their master, although William and Billy didn’t agree with my appraisal of the situation and left with their tails between their legs!
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt