Celtic’s Europa League defeat to Braga was a continuation of many of the side’s problems so far this season.
For a start, Brendan Rodgers had to start a not-yet-fit Kelechi Iheanacho for the second match running, as well as starting Daizen Maeda in a right-wing position in which he is clearly not fully comfortable.
Pundits said that there is something ‘not right’ at Celtic after the game, which was the fifth time already this season that the Hoops have failed to score.
One thing which can’t be legislated for is the shambolic decision to disallow Kelechi Iheanacho’s equaliser for a ghost handball. Clearly no one could’ve seen that coming.
Something else which no one saw coming was Rodgers switching up his team’s formation midway through the game – but his captain has revealed the intentions behind the decision.
Callum McGregor on Celtic changing their formation vs Braga
The first half of the encounter was a tough watch, particularly after Braga took the lead when Kasper Schmeichel made a mess of Ricardo Horta’s effort.
So Rodgers decided to switch systems, matching up to his opponents with a three-centre-back formation. This allowed Marcelo Saracchi to replace Colby Donovan.
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It was an uncommon move, so McGregor offered an explanation for the switch-up after the game.
He said: “We matched up the system, went man to man and then were a lot more aggressive in the first phase of the game.
“A lot of the time, we then turned the ball over. It’s not something that we’ve worked on too much. I know the manager likes to have that flexibility with guys that can play a couple of different systems.
“It seemed to work well for us. Obviously, that’s a question for him in terms of tactically how he sets up the team. I thought the boys adapted reasonably well having just seen it at half-time and then second half.”
The change definitely did work in the opening part of the half, allowing Celtic’s defenders to be more aggressive and eventually leading to Iheanacho’s ghost goal.
But in the end, it wasn’t enough to change the Hoops’ fortunes in terms of the result.
Could we see more of Celtic changing formation?
The formation change was a fascinating insight that revealed Rodgers’ willingness to use his squad differently, something we haven’t seen often in his second spell.
In the Northern Irishman’s first stint in charge at Celtic Park, he occasionally moved to playing three centre backs in certain situations – mostly to allow Kieran Tierney further forward.
However, today’s version of Tierney is more suited to a position in a back-three, which he occupied in the second half on Thursday.
What was more unorthodox was Maeda being utilised as a wing-back – the fourth position he has been used in already this season.
Whether Alistair Johnston could be used in this role when he returns to fitness remains to be seen.
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