Neil Lennon has opened up on the tactical change that provided Celtic with some life in their 1-0 win at Dens Park.
For large stages of the first and second half yesterday, the Hoops were lethargic in possession against Dundee. They didn’t look like cutting the hosts open, and everything was too slow from the get-go.
In the end, a late Odsonne Edouard winner forced Dundee’s hand, and Celtic took a vital three points back to Glasgow to extend their lead at the top of the Premiership to 10 points.
Lennon, however, believes that switching to a three at the back was key in the game. Speaking to BBC Scotland’s Sportsound programme (17 March 2019, 15:30), Lennon spoke about the change.
“It’s pointless having defenders on when the ball just keeps coming back – we wanted to vary the play.
“We wanted to get Hayes high and wide and we wanted to get Forrest out wide, because we were getting too bogged down through the middle. We kept playing the same way instead of stretching the game out.
“What I would like to see us doing is put a cross in the box with a bit of quality. We don’t do that enough either, but they kept going, were patient, and it’s a big big win.”
Wasn’t the reason we won the game
Lennon makes a good point about Celtic needing more variation throughout the game. Too often there were some careless balls being crossed into the box by Scott Brown. Seny Dieng had far too many easy catches to pluck out the air for Dundee.
But it was hardly the reason we won the game.
Celtic were able to catch Dundee out with a loose pass from the Dee. It became a bit of a free-for-all towards the death, with Forrest somehow finding himself down the left and Edouard gathering the ball about 30 yards from goal.
Lennon’s change did improve things. Bringing on Hayes added some freshness down the left, and he put some great deliveries into the box. Despite that, Celtic still never looked likely of getting on the end of one of them.
For too long yesterday, Celtic’s attacks were food and drink for Genseric Kusunga and Darren O’Dea. Poor link-up play and not enough risks held us back from winning more convincingly.
There’s no denying Lennon’s tactical tweak injected some urgency, but it wasn’t the reason we took the points.
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