Cameron Carter-Vickers gives indication of Celtic tactics vs Real Madrid

By Dave Flanigan

September 4, 2022

Celtic star Cameron Carter-Vickers has pledged that his side will play in their manager Ange Postecoglou’s chosen philosophy against the might of Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

The USA international was largely unchallenged defensively for much of yesterday’s 4-0 derby drubbing, and despite the low likelihood of that continuing in the next match, he insists that the benefits of Postecoglou’s style outweigh the risks, even against a team of Real Madrid’s quality.

As reported by The Scotsman, he said: “Of course there’s risk. To use that squeezing of the pitch as an example, we need to be wary of the fact they have such good players at the top of the pitch. So there has to be a balance.

“You need to push up at the right times but also be ready to drop when required. But if we can be brave and do that then it will definitely benefit us.

“I think that’s a tactic we use against every opponent. That is obviously led by the manager who wants us to get up the pitch as quickly as possible and squeeze the space.

“That’s designed to give the opposition less space to play in but also to prevent us dealing with long balls closer to our own goal. It keeps the danger away when you play so high up the pitch.”

Carter-Vickers was also quick to point out that adopting a more traditionally pragmatic approach would be deviating from what’s brought Celtic their success under Postecoglou, and backed the home crowd to roar the Celts on against the European champions.

He continued: “We will go out there and try to play the way we always do. I don’t think there’s much point in trying to change it because we are not used to playing a different way.

“If we suddenly changed we wouldn’t play as well. So we need to try to impose our style and go from there. The crowd will help us. The atmosphere in the stadium will be electric and we will feed off that and play to the best of our ability.”

It’s unclear at this stage who will partner Carter-Vickers at the heart of Celtic’s defence against Madrid, as his usual partner Carl Sarfelt was replaced by Moritz Jenz in the second half against Rangers, with the Swede feeling a twinge in his knee.

Whoever is given the nod will have to be at their best to repel Real’s fearsome attack, although Carlo Ancelotti has hinted that star forward Karim Benzema will be due some rotation at some stage in the coming weeks.

Whatever the case, it’s a massive occasion for a Celtic side in scintillating form, and a chance for Postecoglou to have a crack at one of the greats of European football.

In other news: Celtic UEFA squad list confirmed as Yosuke Ideguchi misses out.