Ange irked by heavy criticism towards area of Celtic squad; stats back him up

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Ange Postecoglou has suggested there’s a misconception about the strength of the Celtic defence.

While showings in Europe have been far from ideal, Celtic are shutting out league opposition on a regular basis. The latest example, a 1-0 win over Hearts on Thursday, involved shuffling the defence entirely. Despite that in-game upheaval, the Bhoys held on to an impressive clean sheet.

Thus far, Celtic have only conceded 10 times in the league [Sky Sports]. For a supposedly vulnerable defensive outfit, that’s 4 less than Rangers, the next best back-line.

The reputation is certainly something Ange Postecoglou seems irked by. And he believes some context and perspective are needed, especially after what happened against Hearts.

Postecoglou said [Herald]:

“I think people look at certain games, and the times when we have conceded numbers of goals have been against decent opposition in Europe.

“People measure it against that but overall we have been pretty steady defensively. The thing that pleased me most about the Hearts game was the resilience the guys showed. If you look at our back four at the end of the game, not one of them started the previous game in those same positions. 

“Montgomery, Starfelt, Niro didn’t even play the previous game and Josip was a right-back instead of left. So we had to show real resilience and a mindset to keep the opposition out. For me that’s the pleasing thing, we are reacting to these challenges really positively. We are not making excuses, not making allowances. We’re getting on with it.” 

Ange Postecoglou has got the right to back his unfairly maligned Celtic defence

Of course, the most important stat is goals conceded in the league. 10 in 15 games, is pretty great going. But it gets deeper than that.

Celtic are only allowing 7 shots on goal per game, reduced to 5.3 at Parkhead [WhoScored?]. The Hoops also have the fewest number of cards awarded in the Scottish Premiership, are dribbled past the least, and are successful with 12 out of 17 attempted tackles per 90 [WhoScored?]. That’s really convincing stuff.

Yet, because of European endeavours, there’s a perception that the Celtic defence is there to be exploited by domestic teams.

It’s got to be extremely grating for Ange Postecoglou. He’s actually built a really promising defence, but early perceptions hang around. Look at Carl Starfelt, and how hard he’s had to work to be adjudged as even a competent centre-back.

Perhaps over the course of a season, the stereotype around Ange being a purely attacking coach will dissipate. There’s more to him than that. A large part of his approach depends on defending from the front, with players like Kyogo Furuhashi more than willing to press. It’s not “traditional” defending, and perhaps that’s the problem.

For Celtic and Ange Postecoglou though, it’s working. But another big defensive display will be needed at Tannadice today.

Read more: Postecoglou on his ideal Celtic scenario and how he plans to achieve it