Exactly. Lets face it, they weren't that great and are in even more dire need of a striker than we are! I thought VVD and Effe strolled through most of the match, excepting one Effe brain fart in the 2nd half that VVD mopped up for him. I thought our midfield did pretty well considering there is a case to be made for suggesting we were missing our entire first choice midfield (Boerrigter - LM; Ledley - CM appeared but clearly way short of match practise; Brown - CM; Commons - AM/Playmaker; Matthews - RM). There was a period in the game where Kayal started to look like the Kayal of old. Forrest was dangerous in flashes, took his penalty very well. Going back to @TOareaFan post, I think a victory at the 'Dam is not out of the question. The penalty was a penalty and we could have had another one in the first half when Stokes was barged off the ball. Last point, the Ajax travelling support were an absolute disgrace. They trashed the stadium and attempted to push through the stewards line to get to the Celtic supporters in the family section (111) of the stadium.
My team for Wednesday: Forster Lustig, Ambrose, Van Dijk, Izzy; Kayal, Mulgrew; Forrest, Commons, Sammy; Stokes. Mulgrew over Ledley for height. Pukki's not impressed me and Balde isn't ready to start. Being honest though, Stokes hasn't impressed recently either. So maybe have Sammy up top, Mulgrew at LM, and Ledley at CM.
I reckon we are going to play containment and hit on the break. With that in mind I'd prefer a front 3 of Sammi with Forrest and Derk either side of him. At least they would have the pace to get forward on the counter and offer Samaras some form of support. Whether he would get his head up to see them or not is a different matter... Boerrigter may be ready to put in the performance of his life against his former club. The old prove them wrong adage for selling him. One things for sure, if we play like we did in the 1-1 draw at home to Dundee Utd on Saturday then we're going to get our arses well and truly skelpt.
The thing with playing 4-3-3 against 4-3-3 is that it leaves the CDM relatively unmarked. Also, Commons is the creative force in the team so I'm not sure about leaving him out.
Commons would still be playing in a 4-5-1 with Derk and Forrest on the wings and Kayal and Mulgrew in the middle of the park. It would be more akin to a 4-5-1 changing to a 4-3-3 when we're countering. I'm just concerned about Samaras being left isolated up front (that's if he doesn't start with Stokes or Pukki). I completely agree though that neither Stokes, Pukki or Balde has done enough recently to fill anyone with confidence if any of them were to start as the lone striker.
I just remembered Biton is banned for this game hahaha. Daft for getting himself sent off after just getting subbed on. Completely unrelated, but... I think Bangura is back soon...
First off - great goal by Ajax. Now thats out of the way... We were shockingly poor. We have a good GK and the back four is shaping up nicely but midfield to front is embarrassingly bad. We have no creativity at all and carry next to no goal threat. I'm struggling to remember the last Celtic team that looked so poor going forward. Time and again last night we had possession in a decent area in the middle of the park only for an Ajax player to pressure our ball carrier and two passes later its back with FF to hump up the park in the general direction of the most disinterested player on the pitch last night, namely Samaras. Just to show I'm not picking on him all the rest of the midfield and front players were almost as bad, other than Kayal who put in a good shift and was subbed out for Joe Ledley. Why? Good question to which I have no answer but then again that pretty much sums up the majority of NL's substitutions. The front 7 and the gameplan (is there a gameplan?) needs ripped up and started again. We are in dire need of a creative CM and a goalscorer. This was a big, big game in our season last night and it is clear for all to see that we are toothless up front and yet, the two strikers signed in the summer can't make the first eleven. Says it all really. Infact, other than VVD our summers signings have been the same as that match last night - utter s**te. This team needs rebuilt from midfield to front and I'm not entirely sure NL is the man to do it unfortunately.
TBH, I don't think Sammy and Commons were fully fit. Commons was losing his footing every other time he received a pass or went to close down an Ajax player and Sammy couldn't win a single ball in the air. The team couldn't get Forrest into the game, making him ineffective. Mulgrew was mediocre at best. Lennon is notorious (IMO anyways) for not using substitutes effectively. Around the 60th minute mark, he should've taken off Sammy (who never looked like he was gonna play better) for Ledley and taken off Commons (who looked like he was exhausted already) for Boerrigter. Either let Mulgrew (better delivery) or Ledley (faster pace) play LM. Let Forrest play in the hole, where he'd get the ball more so he can run at the Ajax defense and put Boerrigter at RM. Stokes was doing the best he can (considering he had very little service), so IDK why he was taken off. Around the 75th minute mark, if Celtic still hadn't tied the game, Lennon should've put Balde on for Stokes. The team seemed content to always pass back to Forster and let him punt the ball upfield so I have no clue why Pukki was put on. IDK if it's Neil Lennon or the board to blame for Celtic's troubles lately (it seems like we are on the downward trend since the Milan game). In the summer, we should've spent a little more cash and signed Finnbogason instead of Balde and Pukki. We desperately need a No.10 (hadn't had a proper one since Nakamura IMHO) so in the winter we should sign Lee Tomlin (supposedly he's decent and we tried getting him on transfer deadline day). There's too much reliance on Commons in the team for creativity. Whenever Commons has a bad game, the whole team usually does too. Also, a backup LB wouldn't hurt. Izzy's been getting better, but it's always nice having some competition in the squad. A more defensive LB (how Lustig is to Matthews) would be great.
I agree that Commons wasn't fully fit but unfortunately I think Sammi was just disinterested. He almost seems to be living on last seasons European glories. This in turn is probably why he's being given so much more attention by opponents this season but he at least still needs to put the effort in. Granted we need to find a plan B for when he is being ineffective, or shut out the game which we do not have. Agreed. Especially in the first half. If our tactic is hoof the ball long for our left winger to win aerially then there ain't a whole lot our right winger can do to influence the game. I've read people on other forums saying he was hiding which I totally disagree with. Yep. Well, a CB playing CM... what else should we expect? I think the transfer situation is a bit of both to be honest. I think, as well, that's the general consensus of opinion among most of the support. However, if we're going to spend a combined figure of between £4-5mill on two strikers, neither of which can get a start in an important match such as last night then why didn't we look at spending £5-6mill on one talented striker such as Finbogasson?
Disappointing performance & defeat in Amsterdam (I expected Lennon's guys to play with more passion & risk), but there's still a chance to reach spot 3 in the end by defeating a very mediocre Milan team at Paradise. That late goal conceded against Ajax at Celtic Park might prove to be decisive in the case of a draw, though...
We've signed another striker http://www.celticfc.net/newsstory?item=4928 CELTIC Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Holmbert Fridjonsson on a pre-contract agreement. The 20-year-old striker has signed a four-year contract with Celtic and will join the Club officially on January 1, 2014. Holmbert said: “I´m really delighted to sign for such a big club like Celtic and it´s just a dream come true. It´s unbelievable to be here, I can´t wait to get started. " Surely, sooner or later, one of them has to come good... right?
Surely a prospect for the future, but hardly a stepping up for the moment. Well, my BMG strikers Luuk de Jong (we paid € 12 million to Twente 1.5 years ago) and German U21 national player Peniel Mlapa (came for € 3 million from Hoffenheim) don't get any playing time these days, so a loan deal or even sale might be an option this winter break. BTW: After reading plenties of articles about "Celtic hooligans arrested in Amsterdam" in German media, I was quite shocked and couldn't believe it ... since I've never experienced any Hoops hooligans at Celtic games. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2488912/Celtic-fans-arrested-Amsterdam.html If there's a club whose fanbase consists of a huge hooligan scene, it's actually Ajax. Not sure what to think about such news ... after all, it's hard to imagine that those arrested persons might be really Celtic fans.
I thought De Jong was doing well for you. What went wrong? A huge amount of Celtic supporters have written official complaints to Celtic regarding the abuse and violence they received from Dutch police and undercover units. A riot officer (also a Celtic supporter) has written to the club regarding the violence. He states the Dutch cops were 'out of control'. http://celticfc.net/newsstory?item=4955 There is far more to this than Celtic fans runing amok in Amsterdam. Find the youtube clip of CCTV footage by an attack of Ajax hooligans on Celtic fans in the Jolly Sailor (I think) on the Tuesday evening before the game for further proof .
In other news rumours persist of a return to paradise in January for Aiden McGeady. Time will tell...
A lot of things went wrong from what I've heard and seen. As mentioned by the news Ajax hooligans had been picking fights with Celtic supporters in and around the red light district in the day before the match. News agencies also reported other hooligan firms from Antwerp, Hamburg and Zagreb were also causing trouble in the city. In response the city council declared a state of emergency which authorizes the police to use any amount of force to maintain order. Celtic had warned their fans to be on the lookout for casuals. I don't think the were aware of the curfew. In the evening the atmosphere had turned tense. Things seem to have escalated when the police arrested a couple of Ajax ultras involved in a argument about a banner. Some Celtic supporters got involved and undercover police intervened with violent fright tactics to break it up. Other fans mistook them for hooligans and all hell broke lose. Then the riot police sweeped the area clear and a lot of people were hurt. Sad state of affairs really. This all happened around match time in the city center. There were no problems at the stadium which is 5 miles away.
My team for tomorrow: Forster Lustig, Ambrose, Van Dijk, Izzy Kayal, Mulgrew/Ledley Forrest, Commons, Boerrigter Samaras. Subs: Zaluska, Fisher, Ledley/Mulgrew, Biton, Stokes, Balde, Pukki
Thanks for the additional info. I think the vast majority of the Celtic support were taken aback by the 'extreme force' and tactics used by the police in Amsterdam. I haven't been to an away game in Europe with Celtic for about 4 years now but the times I did travel (Milan, Barcelona, Seville, Benfica and even Rotterdam) I never came across any kind of trouble or threatening atmospheres.