One of the major gripes of the season so far has been Celtic’s main Achilles heel of dealing with cross-balls.
It’s ultimately been what’s cost Neil Lennon his job. Whether it be domestically or in Europe, Celtic haven’t been able to find a remedy to solve our lack of competency from set-pieces or cross-balls from open play.
Celtic have stuck rigidly to a zonal marking system this season. But too often, it’s leaving big gaps in the penalty area for opposition strikers to weave into. Alfredo Morelos managing to spot nobody at our back post was hardly a surprise on Sunday.
Just as it wasn’t a surprise when Shaun Rooney powered a header home for St Johnstone against the Hoops. Or when Ross County’s Jordan White found space five yards out to nod home directly from a free-kick.
But this hasn’t been isolated to only this season. This has actually been a problem through Lennon and Kennedy’s full tenure, particularly in derby games.
It would’ve been even less of a surprise to see Morelos score that goal for those aware of Rangers’ previous efforts in this fixture. Quite stupendously, our rivals’ last six goals against us have come directly from cross-balls into our penalty area.
At Ibrox back in December, Callum McGregor glanced a corner into his own net. At Celtic Park back in October, Rangers scored from a free-kick delivery and a low cross across our goal.
Rangers getting joy from Celtic’s Achilles heel
Even back in the 2-1 home defeat of December 2019, Ryan Kent netted from Borna Barisic’s low cross before Nikola Katic glanced home directly from a corner.
You have to go all the way back to May 2019 for the last time Rangers scored a goal against us that wasn’t from a cross. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
At times we’ve been guilty of not shutting them down quickly enough. Especially when they’re so reliant on Barisic and James Tavernier when it comes to cross-balls.
How we still haven’t become competent in this area, particularly in derby matches, is bewildering. It’s the only area of success Rangers have had against us, yet we still underestimate just how bad we are in defending them.
Watching several Celtic players hover on the edge of the penalty area at the weekend when they should’ve been deeper into their own box was gut-wrenching. Not enough care is being put into just how dreadful we are defending cross-balls.
Why Celtic haven’t switched to man-marking and ensured everyone knows their task is anyone’s guess. We continue to play zonal whilst defenders allow opposition attackers to roam into their space unaware. That’s the problem with zonal, you don’t know who to pick up.
That our last six derby goals conceded have come from this shows Rangers have a strong idea of where we’re weak. It’s partly the reason all they looked to do on Sunday was whip balls into our penalty area.
The new manager needs to give this issue the respect and care it deserves. Evidently, Lennon and Kennedy have been either ignoring it or failing to deal with it efficiently.
In other news, we take a look at Kennedy’s three-game review.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
