Ange Postecoglou is clearly working the Celtic players hard on how his teams play, and yesterday it seemed as though they took one particular message on board.
Whilst there will be a host of things the new manager will be working on, it’s brilliant for supporters to see aspects being demanded on the training ground be replicated on the park.
Yesterday, Celtic hammered Dundee 6-0 in their first Premiership match of the season. It was as perfect a day as supporters could possibly have wished for. The win, combined with Rangers’ 1-0 loss to Dundee United the day beforehand, sees the atmosphere at Celtic having turned around.
And it appears as if one of Postecoglou’s key demands was met yesterday. Back when he arrived, Celtic posted a superb video on their online platforms. It was of the new manager mic’d up during a training session. This gave supporters an opportunity to see what Ange was all about.
One of the key parts of the video showed the manager issue a stern message. As he shouted orders to his players, Postecoglou told them:
“You’re always involved, always involved. Ball’s on the far side, you’re not standing there thinking I’m not involved. If a ball comes across, you see the next pass and then you’re always going. You’re ready to go at the right time.
“If our movement’s good, the passing’s good, the ball doesn’t stop. That’s going to be super important. And as I said, react if the move is dead.
“Just get it into your heads – you never stop. We never stop. We’ll stop at half-time and we’ll stop at the end of the game when we celebrate. But during the game we don’t stop. If the opposition wants to stop that’s good for us – we’ll take advantage of it.”
Ange Postecoglou got what he demanded from his Celtic players against Dundee
This is an absolutely brilliant philosophy from Postecoglou. It’s so high-intensity and plays towards football being entertainment. It’s not a chore in which players can just be up for being creative until they feel the game is won.
At Celtic Park, more of you is demanded than that. Fans want to see you trying your heart out for 90 minutes. That’s what they’ve paid for. Not 60 minutes and a final half-hour of knocking the ball around contently.
For the first time, we saw that attitude yesterday. Dundee were never given a chance. At times you had to feel sorry for how they were being ragdolled around.
Even in the final minute of the match, Celtic were still creating chances. We had Anthony Ralston and Ryan Christie battling each other to get on the end of a cross. It was incredible high-intensity stuff.
There was no 20 minute period where Celtic sat off. No cooling-off period after the third or fourth goals. That scoreline yesterday could’ve been something bizarre. Freakish even. Celtic have that ability in their locker against Scottish sides.
And as we get more used to the new manager, it’s great to see his ideas paying off in training.
In other news, Ryan Christie keeps reminding Celtic of his value but the ball is in his court
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