Ange Postecoglou has hit back at some of the criticism in the wake of Celtic’s UEFA Champions League performances, insisting his team showed today what kind of football they want to play.
No one at the club has shied away from the disappointing nature of the four European matches so far this season, with Celtic falling short despite some strong periods of play and plenty of chances created.
However, the manager clearly feels some of the more hysterical criticism was over the top and used his post-match interview today to reinforce that nothing much has changed about his team.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland [17:21], he said: “It’s hunger, it’s ambition and it’s who we want to be. It’s why I thought some of the comments were ridiculous coming out of the Champions League about our performances. We set out to play a certain way and we have done that.
“We have fallen short in areas where I think, in the most part, we can improve. It’s not through a failure of endeavour or will, and we will never change our approach.
“That is what we wanted to show today, and I think that is what the players wanted to show today; what kind of team we are and what kind of team we want to be. We did that today.”
Today, Celtic certainly managed to find what had been lacking in recent weeks. We had the finishing touch up against Hibs with Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda both on the scoresheet after missing some golden chances recently.
With James Forrest also coming in to make such a big impact on his first start of the season, hopefully the group can start to turn around the perception of them being wasteful in great positions.
Obviously that doesn’t necessarily translate to being successful in upcoming European games, but today as a good sign nonetheless. This Celtic team has a lot more to give and Postecoglou is intent on unlocking its potential over time.
In other news, Ange Postecoglou praises written off Celtic hero.
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