Celtic icon raises concerns about 'worrying' defence after one specific Wilfried Nancy tactic against Hearts
The former Celtic and Aberdeen man feels Nancy could've stuck with Martin O'Neill's program in his first game.
As Celtic suffer back-to-back defeats against league leaders Hearts, a former player believes they must bounce back quick ahead of a ‘massive week’.
In Wilfried Nancy’s first game in the Celtic Park hot-seat, The Hoops started brightly but were undone by a Claudio Braga strike in the first half. A bullet Oisin McEntee header then doubled the visitors lead before Kieran Tierney grabbed a consolation goal. The win means Hearts stay three points ahead of their Glaswegian rivals, however Celtic still have their game in hand.
After Martin O’Neill’s six domestic wins on the bounce, one of the main talking points before the game was about whether the new manager would implement his style straight away in such a huge fixture, or whether he’d stick to the tactics of the past five weeks. Nancy chose the former, as Celtic played with three in defence and attacking wing backs in the Hearts defeat.
One problem that emerged from the game was that Celtic’s back three of Auston Trusty, Liam Scales and Tierney are all left-footed. In the case of Trusty on the right hand side, he was receiving the ball in some unnatural areas of the pitch. Former Celtic full-back Jackie McNamara believes the new man may have over-complicated his tactics slightly.
Left-sided defence creates an area to target
Speaking on BBC Sportsound’s Scottish Football Podcast alongside Neil McCann, McNamara said: “I've played under Martin [O’Neill]. I know exactly what he'd be saying to them in the dressing room and how he's kind of turned it around.
“He's simplified it by saying to them, look, get the shackles off. Yang's been a different player under Martin, McCowan played well the past few games, Hatate had a bit more freedom to get forward, finding little gaps he couldn't get today [against Hearts]. Engles was better. So you could go through the whole team and the system.
“The bits that are worrying are defensively. Neil touched on it earlier about three left-sided centre-backs. If you're going up against that, that's one area you would target. You don't have a recognised right full-back or right-sider.”
‘The players have to respond’
He continued: “Yang, right wing-back, who's not defensively minded, who has not been used to doing that. I've played that position, the wing-back. It's a really demanding position. You're judged on defending and attacking, but you need to be really, really fit to play it.
“I'm not saying he's not, but to go and play that role so quickly. Against such a big team that it was today against Hearts, to set the marker down to change things and get that three points ahead with a game in hand, it would have really taken the club forward. And if anything, it's taken us back again.
“The players have to respond regardless. They’ve got a massive game against Roma coming up, which you worry about it, because you think of the quality they've got, they'll exploit them at the back. They’ve got a cup final. So it's a massive, massive week.”