Simunovic could have done better for both goals. Heās not good enough really.
Brown was brutal on the ball and they bypassed him comfortably enough at times too.
Weāre not making much progress against this level of team. Recurring problems and same story.
Obviously the opposition are technically better and quicker / stronger than SPFL sides so thereās occasions when a Celtic player will get caught out by the step up.
But itās the lack of concentration and awareness, giving the ball away under little pressure, panicking etc thatās annoying as fuck. Itās the unforced errors and sloppiness thatās entirely preventable.
I know the feedback from watching on TV was that McGregor wasnāt great but I thought he looked most capable of making the step up. He wasnāt helped by the fact he didnāt really have anyone he could play it forward to but he looked to me like he could still play at that level.
I thought Brown had a few moments where he was strong under pressure on the ball but mixed that with the careless which is regrettably typical for him in Europe. But as you say the most alarming bit was how they moved the ball past him. They were able to just play little balls into their forwards all day without Brown reading it at all.
But to just gift them goals they donāt have to work for (particularly the first one) is just horrific.
McGregor gave the ball away carelessly for the first goal. He had a spell for 20 minutes either side of half time where he gave the ball away every time he got it. Not a good night for him at all in my view.
Your two deepest midfielders are always going to have a lot of the ball when the opposition sat back as Valencia did in the second half. I thought Forrest was comfortably Celticās best player
Yeah Iād need to see that again. I just think he wasnāt helped by the passes be was getting and the lack of options in front. Christie wasnāt finding any space and they were wise to our width.
Maybe he didnāt play well but he had a few moments of class for me that put him well ahead of the likes of Christie for now.
I actually think Bitton would have been useful tonight. He has obvious limitations but be can pass the ball capably.
Fair point, just thought they tried to turn and play forward. Izaguirre for example played everything back to Simunovic once he lost his confidence. Sinclair played most stuff back to Izaguirre or McGregor. Donāt think they should be satisfied with just trying but the performance was that poor from a few players that trying was better than most.
At times he looks like he needs to pause things and have a look at an instruction manual as to what to do next. He would have made some rugby player as he is unreal at running in straight lines.