Celtic looked back to their best with a dominant 4-0 win against Dundee United.
Goals from Hyunjun Yang, Arne Engels, Benjamin Nygren and Daizen Maeda were the perfect start to Martin O’Neill’s second spell in charge this season.
It was night and day compared to what we had seen under Wilfried Nancy and has sparked renewed hope that the Hoops can win the league.
Charlie Mulgrew was one of those who watched the game, and the former Celtic defender picked out one area of Celtic’s performance that was notably better.
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Where Celtic improved the most since Wilfried Nancy departure
Nancy was best known for his all-out attacking style and turning a blind eye to the defensive elements of the game.
That was notable as the high press we had become so accustomed to seeing suddenly disappeared.
Now O’Neill is back, Mulgrew noticed that it was back in the gameplan.
Reacting to the win on Sportscene, he said: “You could see there was a real energy and intensity back to the squad today.
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“I think under the previous manager Nancy, I think that the appetite, the intensity as soon as they lost the ball and the structure behind the ball wasn’t right.
“When you don’t close down with intensity and everybody’s not on the same page and you’re not locked in, this is what teams can do.”
Martin O’Neill is bringing the fun back to Celtic
While O’Neill’s predecessor may have played exciting football on paper, it was more regarded as heart-stopping stuff.
There was no regard for anything tactically, it felt just like vibes.
With the Hoops legend back at the helm, there was more structure and logic to the way the side played.
That led to the first complete performance of the season, and one where it felt fun to watch Celtic again.
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