Celtic winger Jota has launched a slight dig at Livingston’s style of football as he urged his Hoops teammates to be more creative against packed defences.
The Bhoys were left mightily frustrated as we slipped to a 0-0 draw against the West Lothian outfit on Saturday. Celtic only managed 2 shots on target all game but also secured an astonishing 85% possession [BBC]. It would prove to be a profligate afternoon for Ange Postecoglou’s men.
Livingston manager David Martindale came out after the game and defended his every man behind the ball tactic. He pointed to the difference in squad value as the main reason for how he set up [Scottish Sun].
And whilst Jota was happy to hold his hands up with Livi’s hard work, he also offered a dig as he stated he knows what team he would rather be playing for.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, the Portuguese talent said: “For sure, but we should’ve created more opportunities during the game. This is football and we have to keep moving on and work hard. I remember a few other games like this, with a back five, with the wingers defending as full-backs. I think we had two or three other games like this.
“So a lot of other teams try to do this. The way they play, we just have to respect that. We have to find our best to score the goal. For sure, when a team like Celtic doesn’t win it’s not good. But this is just one moment — it doesn’t describe the whole season or our whole moment.
“Tomorrow it’s going to be a new day and we’re just going to get started for the next game. Our heads will be up. I’d rather be in this team than the other team that has ten or 15 percent of possession. So, yes, we just have to stick to our principles and do our game, keep possession, find the spaces, score goals and be aggressive. That’s our way of playing.”
Celtic still have a creativity problem despite Jota and co’s form
Celtic have come up against Livingston twice this season and failed to score. Whilst Jota does state that there are other teams in the Premiership that play a similar style, nobody can do it as rigidly and efficiently as the West Lothian side.
And that always seems to pose Celtic a problem. For all of the creative sparks that we have in our team, we still struggle against efficient defensive sides. It’s all well and good saying we need to create more chances, but the style of play didn’t change against Livingston throughout the 90 minutes.
Firstly, Postecoglou needs to ensure that he has all of his best players in the starting XI against teams like Livi. We have to prioritise the league games this season, and with Tom Rogic already sidelined, leaving Kyogo out was a major blunder.
Secondly, however, he needs to be able to change things mid-game. For 90 minutes on Saturday it was the same old story. Cross after cross was being thrown into the Livingston box with barely a Celtic head to be seen. It was bread and butter for Martindale’s side.
Celtic need to try and find a different way of playing when encountered with these challenges. We had no central threat at the weekend with David Turnbull far too slow and hesitant with his decision-making. Not enough players were willing to take a risk, and it showed as Livi eased their way to a point.
There are still big questions Celtic need to answer, and showing creativity remains one of them.
In other news, Youssouf Mulumbu compares 2018 Celtic move to signing for PSG
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