Dundee United are being urged to take a dangerous approach for their upcoming game against Celtic as they’ve been told to attack and open up against the Hoops.
Celtic have struggled largely this season when coming up against low blocks. This was something United put into place back in January in their narrow 1-0 loss at Celtic Park.
The Hoops have instead had greater joy against teams that have decided to open up and play more expansive football. The likes of Aberdeen and Motherwell, for example, being ripped apart after trying to be more attacking.
But despite that, United have been encouraged by club great Paul Hegarty to do the exact same this weekend.
As quoted by the Glasgow Times, Hegarty said: “With Celtic coming up on Monday in the cup tie they really have to go and put pressure on Celtic. If you allow them to play football they will pass you to death and they will score eventually. The boy [Tom] Rogic in the last game was exceptional, absolutely fantastic. One of his two goals was superb.
“When they beat Rangers 1-0 at Tannadice at the start of the season they closed them down. That’s what they have to do against Celtic. Just take a chance because if you don’t take a chance they will be out of the cup because it’s a one-off.
“Without being gung-ho or stupid about it, put them under pressure and ask them some questions and see if they can handle it. I think our fans would love them to have a go against Celtic on Monday night without being silly.”
Dundee United likely to sit deep against Celtic even at Tannadice
Ideally, United would indeed come out and try to be a bit more expansive against Celtic. But it certainly wasn’t on show at Parkhead back in January.
In fact, United were happy to sit deep and try to kill the game with an overly-negative approach. Joe Hart didn’t have a save to make on the day and it took a last-gasp winner from Liel Abada to get the job done.
On another day, Celtic would’ve run out comfortable winners had United been more expansive. So it’s difficult to see them doing anything different at Tannadice next week considering how close they ran us at Parkhead.
If they were to play a more open game, they know that would leave space for the likes of Daizen Maeda, Jota, and Abada to exploit. That’ll be a terrifying thought for them.
Hegarty says they need to put us under pressure without being silly. But if they play a high press, for example, then chances are Celtic will beat it more often than not and get into some brilliant areas for goalscoring opportunities.
So it would be a major surprise to see United do anything close to that come kickoff on Monday night. They’ll give us plenty of possession and room in our own third with likely minimal pressure. That seems to be how everyone is operating against us these days, and the Terrors will be no different.
In other news, John Hartson brilliantly takes Celtic rivals off their high horse and puts them in their place
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