Celtic boss wants Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo to “temper” attacking runs

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Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo’s position must see him temper his attacking style slightly, according to Neil Lennon.

The left-back did plenty of attacking for the Hoops in their 2-1 home win against Sarajevo tonight. The defender was constantly bombing beyond Lewis Morgan or James Forrest down the left. On several occasions, he even came close to notching his first goal for the club.

It’s clear Boli is full of energy and excitement. But he did make one costly error when he gave the ball away deep in our own half, and it led to Sarajevo snatching a shock equaliser on the night.

Lennon was quick to defend his man for the mistake. But speaking to the BBC (22:00), the Celtic boss did hint that he wants Boli to change his style slightly in order to be more defensively aware.

“Boli’s just in the building and hasn’t trained much because he rolled his ankle. That’s something we’re going to temper a wee bit (his overeagerness to attack). You can see he can play left-back and left-wing, but obviously we want him playing left-back.

“We want him to support the strikers but to make sure he’s defending, but that’ll all come. We know he’s a top top player, and you could see that in stages tonight.”

Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo’s position means he must defend first

It’s always exciting to see overlapping full-backs who are eager to join the attack. Lennon loves them, in fact, and has always had them in his teams. But it’s also extremely important that they’re defensively aware too.

At times tonight, Boli just tried to be a little too clever on the ball at times in dangerous areas. He’s a clear crowd-pleaser and loves to be on the front foot. He seems like the kind of player who just doesn’t want to part with the ball at all.

Lennon, therefore, is correct to warn him about the dangers of over-doing it going forward. We got away with it tonight, and may even get away with it against Nomme Kalju too. But when it comes to the latter stages of the qualifiers, we won’t keep getting so lucky.

Boli’s intent to get forward on the overlap will prove to be a huge advantage when we face packed defences this season. It’s clear, however, that Lennon sees something there that he wants to modify.

That’s not a criticism of Boli either. It’s just something he’ll pick up quickly as he gets used to playing for his new club. There was plenty to like about the left-back tonight, and it’s clear he could be a real top player in Scotland.