Celtic boss Martin O'Neill spotted an issue during Wednesday night's draw with Dundee United. The Bhoys took the lead in the draw through Camilo Durán, but they conceded twice in three minutes before half-time to fall behind, with Liam Scales scoring an own goal.
Scales eventually atoned for the error with a second half goal at the other end, and Celtic pressed hard to find an equaliser in the second half, but they ultimately came up short.
For the most part, Celtic looked more dangerous, but on a number of occasions, Dundee United broke through at the other end and had the home side outnumbered.
The visitors botched two or three good opportunities like that, letting Celtic off the hook, but The Terrors were not afraid to leave a player or two high up the pitch, and that meant they remained a threat until the end.
Speaking after the game, O'Neill expressed some concern about that, well aware that his side overcommitted at times.
"Yeah, I think, I think sometimes the lack of control comes from, you know, losing possession quite easily," he admitted. "Sometimes the move breaks down. Next thing you know that we're stranded because we are essentially at Celtic Park controlling the game, controlling it.
"And so we've pressed a lot of players forward, centre halves moving into midfield and beyond. Next thing you know, if it breaks down there is danger. So that's something that we have to try and eliminate."
The issue may not be a major one for Celtic, because on one hand, they are not going to find themselves chasing games in the Premiership very often, and as proven on Wednesday, even some of the better teams don't have the ability to consistently score on the break, even when they have the space to do so.
But it is something they will have to keep an eye on, especially ahead of the games against Rangers and the must-win games remaining in the Europa League. The fix seems pretty easy. The centre-backs simply don't need to be committed, and if they are, then either a couple of full-backs or midfielders need to drop in to fill the void.
There was one moment when a Dundee United player was through on goal from the halfway line and Celtic had to rely on Mika Baur sprinting back to make up the ground. That simply shouldn't happen under any circumstances.
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