Could see a situation where Stokes is left out. Our game plan isn’t really going to suit him and in order to bolster our midfield we may play Charlie wide there again with Sammy going up front. If Ledley doesn’t make it then Charlie will probably play centrally and we’ll have a very exposed looking left flank of Sammy and Izzy. I think we have to play Mulgrew in one of those 2 positions or we’re too open.
Why on earth should Samaras start up front? You are taking your best player out of his most effective position and putting him in a position where he has not contributed from in the past. If Lennon is going to drop Stokes (which I don’t think he should) then Balde is probably the best player we have suited to playing up front by himself.
This is a game where I wouldn’t be too bothered about Mulgrew playing in midfield as we are going to see very little of the ball.
The team I would go with would be.
Forster
Lustig
Van Dijk
Ambrose
Matthews
Commons
Brown
Mulgrew
Samaras
Pukki
Stokes
If Ledley is fit I’d bring him in for Mulgrew. Stokes and Pukki have a good work rate up front and will be able to press Barcelona in deep areas as will as being giving us a threat on the counter.
Ah Rudi. Baldé has the first touch of a horse. He wasn’t just poor on Saturday, he was comically bad.
Kayal is an option to come in now but hasn’t played in about a month. So I think Mulgrew has to play alongside Brown. Then we’re left with wondering if we can afford to play Samaras, Commons Stokes and Pukki. I think that’s at least one too many attacking threats so someone has to drop our for Izzy and push Matthews forward. That left flank will be a concern anyway.
Samaras is definitely best on the left but he played well in the lone front role at home to Barcelona last season.
Barcelona have better players than Celtic so, like last time, there’s a need to set up to counter their strengths to an extent too. Alves bombing on from right back and linking up with Pedro or whoever’s playing higher up on that side is one of their main ones.
I think we’d be okay playing Samaras on the left if Matthews is selected left back - again, he did a smashing job there in the home game last season. But Izaguirre’s defending has been fairly sloppy this season on too many occasions. He was terrible for one of the goals on Saturday too. An Izaguirre/Samaras combination on the left would be asking for trouble defensively, I feel.
Trouble is we’re short of bodies in midfield with Ledley out and Kayal coming back from injury so Matthews might be required to play wide on the right.
Either way, the most realistic/best option may be to play one or more players out of their preferred position. Balde rightly won’t be considered to start as he’s nowhere near ready for this level. There’s a huge difference in destroying Liverpool to contributing at SPFL level, never mind taking on Barcelona in the Champions League.
He struck the ball cleanly after dribbling down a cul de sac with his knees while ignoring an obvious pass to Stokes, presumably because all his other passes had gone out for throw-ins. He was abysmal on Saturday, as far removed from a professional footballer as you could imagine.
[quote=“Bandage, post: 839519, member: 9”]Samaras is definitely best on the left but he played well in the lone front role at home to Barcelona last season.
Barcelona have better players than Celtic so, like last time, there’s a need to set up to counter their strengths to an extent too. Alves bombing on from right back and linking up with Pedro or whoever’s playing higher up on that side is one of their main ones.
I think we’d be okay playing Samaras on the left if Matthews is selected left back - again, he did a smashing job there in the home game last season. But Izaguirre’s defending has been fairly sloppy this season on too many occasions. He was terrible for one of the goals on Saturday too. An Izaguirre/Samaras combination on the left would be asking for trouble defensively, I feel.
Trouble is we’re short of bodies in midfield with Ledley out and Kayal coming back from injury so Matthews might be required to play wide on the right.
Either way, the most realistic/best option may be to play one or more players out of their preferred position. Balde rightly won’t be considered to start as he’s nowhere near ready for this level. There’s a huge difference in destroying Liverpool to contributing at SPFL level, never mind taking on Barcelona in the Champions League.[/quote]
Miku played up front on his own last season against Barca - FFS Bandage.
Sammy has shown time and time again that he is not able to play up front by himself, when you couple that by taking him away from a position where he is the team’s biggest threat to playing him up front on his own you are bordering on lunacy.
I believe the team I posted above is our best option for tonight. If Lennon goes for Samaras up front by himself then he should rightly be vilified.
[quote=“Rudi, post: 839758, member: 1052”]Miku played up front on his own last season against Barca - FFS Bandage.
Sammy has shown time and time again that he is not able to play up front by himself, when you couple that by taking him away from a position where he is the team’s biggest threat to playing him up front on his own you are bordering on lunacy.
I believe the team I posted above is our best option for tonight. If Lennon goes for Samaras up front by himself then he should rightly be vilified.[/quote]
No, he didn’t. Miku played between the lines behind our lone striker Samaras. Mulgrew and Commons were on the flanks with Ledley and Wanyama in the centre. Brown and Hooper missed the game through injury. I accept your imminent apology.
[quote=“Rudi, post: 839758, member: 1052”]Miku played up front on his own last season against Barca - FFS Bandage.
[/quote]
Come on Rudi. Miku did the job on Song. FFS sake.
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