Neil Lennon is proving he is streets ahead tactically in Europe with Celtic over Brendan Rodgers.
The Hoops have only tasted defeat once this season in a freak result at home to Cluj. Lennon has now won eight at home in all competitions since the Champions League exit in August. Furthermore, the sensational Lazio result is proving Lennon’s tactics can mix with the big boys of Europe.
Neil Lennon making Celtic a formidable European side at last
It seems that the Hoops are overcoming the problems that the club faced in Europe with Rodgers.
The lack of a decent defence and kamikaze attacking meant the team often frustrated the fans.
Lennon is someone who is more level headed when it comes to Europe and it’s beginning to show. His teams were always difficult to beat in his first spell in charge and the Irishman is repeating the feat. The key to this is having a capable right-back as well as a top class centre-back in Christopher Jullien.
Pay the money for quality then there are only going to be improvements to come in results.
Fans are going to start wondering how long the team can play so positively against formidable sides.
How the Irishman squared up against Italians
One of Rodgers’ positives was the ability to change a game while it’s playing. However, Lennon is surprising folk by doing the same but with greater results in Europe.
Lennon admittedly said that after the Lazio opener, they were in the ascendancy.
However, getting more support up to Odsonne Edouard and matching Lazio’s 3-5-2 was key. The team were playing positively and quick but they needed the men up top to help in attack.
Overloading did catch the Hoops out at times and Fraser Forster helped out majorly at the back. In big results, everyone must be relied on including the goalkeeper to pull of the heroics and that’s what happened.
It’ll be interesting to see if Lennon replicates these tactics from the start in two weeks in Rome.
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