All the talk about Wilfried Nancy’s spell at Celtic has been about how his current 3-4-3 system is failing him.
Celtic’s defeat to Dundee United meant that Hoops boss Nancy became the first-ever Celtic manager to lose his first four games in a row.
It’s a record no one wants at Celtic and, looking at how the team played at Tannadice, it doesn’t look like it’s going to end anytime soon.
And while everyone talks about Nancy playing players out of position as a reason for Celtic’s disjointed performances, the Parkhead boss could deploy one system that would fix two problems the Frenchman currently has at the club.
The 3-5-2 system Wilfried Nancy could use with current Celtic squad
Nancy’s 3-4-3 simply does not work because it relies too heavily on playing players out of position.
However, using a 3-5-2 will allow the Celtic boss to still use wing-backs and play the current players in the positions they are used to.
The 3-5-2 system Wilfried Nancy can use with the current Celtic squad. Thoughts in the comments.
Leaving out the goalkeeper, let’s take a look at the outfield options Nancy has. With this system, immediately, Celtic have three capable centre-backs to hold the Parkhead defence.
Left wing-back is Kieran Tierney with Anthony Ralston or Colby Donovan offering balance on the right.
The midfield has the creativity of Hatate or Bernardo with the calm, defensive brain of Callum McGregor.
And up front, the speed of Daizen Maeda and Johnny Kenny will terrify any defence in Scotland, not just Aberdeen’s.
This will allow all Celtic players to be deployed in their correct positions, with no confusion about what their jobs are meant to be.
But this system also solves another big problem Celtic have right now.
Celtic’s weakness at set-pieces addressed
Celtic have been conceding far too many goals from either set-piece corners or free kicks since Nancy’s arrival.
With the height and physicality of Dane Murray on the right side of a defensive three, that will be balanced out with Trusty in the middle and Scales on the left.
The debate about the quality of either Scales and Trusty can wait for another day, but to get a win against Aberdeen, the 3-5-2 system will offer Nancy a compromise so that the Celtic manager doesn’t need to abandon his philosophy completely.
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