Celtic are set to return to action as they take on OGC Nice in a pre-season tournament. Here are three things Celtic fans need to watch out for.
Is everyone excited by the prospect of a real game coming up? You bet! It’s been a long and odd time since the ball stopped rolling. But now as Celtic prepare for the French adventure we all get the chance to focus on the football again. What are you looking out for most from the game itself?
Sure, it’s only a pre-season match on Thursday, but it’s against quality European opposition. It’s not by any means a gentle warm up against some Austrian lower league team, nor are any of the follow up matches either against Lyon, Paris Saint Germain and maybe more if the rumours of a test game with a small crowd are true.
We all want to see what the team looks like, who will play and for how long. We are still likely to see quite a few subs coming on to help give more of the squad some recent match experience and also to help them adjust to the behind closed doors approach. But beyond that, what are top three things we all want to see, learn, find out from the game against Nice? Are any of these in your top three?
How Celtic Set Up the Team
Tactics, formation, style of play. When in Scotland, Celtic tend to dominate matches and play a set way. Against European opposition that doesn’t happen as much and they need to adapt. Lots of fans think that was a Brendan Rodgers flaw, he seemed to just set up and try to play the same way, irrespective of the opposition. There wasn’t much of a “Plan B” when PSG or Barcelona were knocking a few goals past our keeper.
Logic says to expect a more cautious approach, but able to break quickly and take opportunities. Like Lazio away, perhaps a similar result would be brilliant too! One up front seems likely with plenty of support immediately behind from the Hoops midfield and wings.
Three at the back with Jeremy Frimpong and Greg Taylor or Boli Bolingoli pushed up? Or a more obvious and traditional four keeping back than higher up the pitch? Can we vary that for when we defend and differently when we can break up the pitch?
Will we see perhaps a patient passing to and fro game across our quality ball playing midfielders? Or a more direct forward ball looking to get into gaps or behind their defence?
It could all be significant learning and experience for our Champions League qualifiers which are fast approaching, and also for the games against Lyon and PSG.