Scotland midfielder laments Celtic ‘passing it around the back’ after Braga defeat

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Celtic’s match against Braga lacked a lot of things.

One was a competent set of officials, with Brendan Rodgers expressing disbelief at a disallowed goal by Kelechi Iheanacho.

But in terms of the Hoops’ performance, there was much left to be desired. Despite looking threatening at points, Celtic let periods of the match pass them by.

Unable to inject real tempo into the game, the Celtic crowd got increasingly flat in response to an uninspiring performance from the team.

And for one Scotland midfielder, the side’s lack of tempo made life easier for their opponents.

Scotland midfielder on lack of Celtic ‘urgency’

Braga came into the match on a tough run of form, having lost against CD Nacional in the Liga Portugal on Saturday.

Knowing that the opponents were vulnerable just makes the circumstances of the defeat so much more frustrating.

READ MORE: Raging Stiliyan Petrov slates ‘jogging’ Celtic man and doesn’t hold back on Braga goal

For former Scotland and Norwich midfielder Kenny McLean the Hoops’ tempo – or lack of it – was the main negative factor of the performance.

Speaking on TNT Sports’ live broadcast of the match, McLean called the Celtic performance ‘laboured’.

He said: “[Stiliyan] Petrov there mentioned urgency, that was the biggest thing for me. I think you need more, so much feels so laboured.

“Even when you go two down with five minutes to go and you have five minutes to go – you’ve got ten minutes, go and show a bit of urgency!”

“They pass the ball around the back, they allowed Braga to just sit in and just let them have the ball at times. There was nothing, it was just so laboured, and that will be the most disappointing thing. They just didn’t put them under enough pressure.”

What is the cause of Celtic’s tempo issues?

Brendan Rodgers has addressed issues with the speed of the team’s play before, saying Celtic had ‘wasted a half’ at the interval of the first leg against Kairat Almaty due to the slowness of their football.

Despite the technical quality of the team’s midfielders, it tends to be the Hoops defenders who see the most of the ball.

Liam Scales and Cameron Carter-Vickers passing the ball to one another has become far too familiar a pattern.

It may be a bit early to say it, but the team could do with another confident receiver of the ball in their build-up… someone in the mould of Greg Taylor, perhaps.