Brown tends to look shite on nights like this. His passing isnât good enough and he canât really get beyond their midfield so he ends up just being another slow link in our chain of passing.
I think we need to change our shape and do so immediately. Thereâs no point in persisting with this look when theyâve got their ideal situation - they want Boyata and Ambrose on the ball all game and theyâll just try and stand in their passing lanes.
Iâd consider dropping Bitton back to centre back and taking off Ambrose or Boyata. Will leave us more open to the counter maybe but we can keep Bitton playing facing their goal and at least we might get some incisive passing from there then.
Armstrong has done nothing all game. Very disappointing again.
And Ciftci may as well come on sooner rather than later. Not really a night for Griffiths but he has such a good shot we canât afford to take him off.
Watching that first goal again⌠mother of God thatâs pathetic.
Boyataâs pass is criminal. But whatâs even worse is he is in a position at that time where heâs between the ball and the goal and he drifts out to the right, following a runner to leave a big hole in the middle. Ambrose is perfectly placed and⌠well Strachan has just explained it⌠but heâs in a fine position to force their midfielder to play a world class pass and he just walks out of the way. Bitton is also really poor, he has a chance to slow down their attack but he gets wrong-footed. Surface might not help but weâve been vulnerable to the counter attack and Bitton needs to realise his objective here should be to slow them down, not to go for a wild tackle. Awful, awful, awful.
3 men unmarked in the box there. Midfield all absent. This shape doesnât work. Our attacking âtalentâ in Johansen and Armstrong isnât anywhere near good enough to justify the exposure at the back. And I think Brown and Bitton donât do enough as a shield either.
Donât get me wrong, our defence is miserable, but we were completely overrun there from the tip-off.
I agree, there is nothing more frustrating than a manager sticking with a system when itâs not working, we donât really have a striker who can lead the line effectively by himself.
Johansen is a decent player and he has been good for us but his form has waned this season and Ronnyâs loyalty to him and fucking about with the team balance is sickening. Iâve my mind made up about Armstrong as well, a nothing player. Give me Stokes over him on the left wing any day of the week, at least he makes things happen and his output is significantly better than Armstrongâs Iâd imagine.
Watched their 3rd (THIRD) goal back again there. We have 6 men back - Brown, Bitton and the back 4. We allow them have 3 men unmarked in the middle. Lustig probably sees the guy on the penalty spot so holds his ground between him and the back post lad but then when the cross comes in he has every chance of cutting it out but doesnât connect with a lazy leg.
They have 4 players in the box and 1 guy crossing. 1 of their players in the box is offside and not even looking at the ball. So they have a crosser and 3 targets. Weâre marking none of their targets and have no pressure on the ball.
We have 6 players and a goalkeeper in the box. We have 5 players between the ball and the front post. 5! This happens all the fucking time with Celtic. And remember none of those are marking anyone and none of them are actually pressing the ball. Theyâre all just standing in a line for some reason, apart from Bitton who is studiously ignoring the threat outside him.
Look at all the players between the front post and the ball. None of them actually pressing the ball and the obvious threat is there at the back post again. Lustig making absolutely no effort to try and block the cross, Brown and Bitton doing lazy work near the ball.
And another decent chance on the break for Molde but their lad slips just as he comes inside the last man. Comes from a truly abysmal pass from Brown to gift them the ball.
Having Boyata and Ambrose back there is pointless. Theyâre just letting them on the ball the whole time. Theyâre not even doing basic defending but still we persist. Even Tierney for Izzy might recognise the complete ineptitude of Izzy tonight and bring some direct running on that flank.
Lustig has been a prick tonight. Absolute arsehole performance.
CIftci coming on with 15 minutes to go. Commons going off. Ridiculous call. Commons is seething and rightly so. We keep our stupid shape and that Solskjaer prick must be chuckling at us taking off our goal threat in favour of the rest of the shite midfield.
