It’s an overused cliche at this point, but Celtic simply never stop, and it’s never been more evident than in yesterday’s 4-2 win over Dundee United.
Other sides would happily have taken their medicine yesterday, falling victim to a ludicrous VAR-awarded penalty, and a freak, cross-cum-shot with only a handful of minutes on the clock.
Postecoglou’s Celtic, of course, had other ideas, and not only found a winner, but added gloss to the scoreline in the dying embers of the match through Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada, respectively.
It isn’t just late winners that define this approach, however. To never stop, you have to start correctly, and it’s an element of their approach that the Aussie’s side have refined this season,
Celtic set their stall out early by scoring in the opening fifteen minutes, and kill games off by scoring in the final quarter of an hour. It was the case yesterday, last week at Livingston, at Tynecastle against Hearts and against Hibs before that, and it’s a pattern that’s developed since the opening weeks of the season.
The Scottish champions come alive in moments where other teams aren’t yet set or are tiring out in a game. The idea of “going for ninety minutes” is another well-wrought cliche but it’s another fitting one, and it’s also a sign of a team that completely buy into their manager’s ideas and wider philosophy.
Though Kyogo’s winner came from a corner yesterday, Celtic are almost never aimless, and you’d struggle to point to times this season when aimless crosses from deep have become the primary method of attack with a points on the line – unlike their crisis-ridden city rivals, for whom a horseshoe pattern of play and countless crosses are basically endemic.
It’s never enough to simply be relentless, Celtic are focussed, and surgical in moments where lesser teams lose their bottle and wilt. They don’t just offer up hard yards and empty tanks, but a steely mental fortitude, too.
Despite their domestic consistency, the 2-0 defeat to St Mirren in Paisley in September will still sting for the manager, despite that result offering the only points dropped so far this season. Of course, results change mindsets and there’s no guarantee that subsequent results would have played out accordingly, but a formidable seven point lead with two games until the World Cup could have been an unassailable one.
Naturally, nothing is won before the turn of the year, this season of all seasons, where the break for the Qatar tournament offers a reset point significantly earlier than usual. Celtic will need to return from the break as single-mindedly and as purposefully as they entered it.
There’s still an awful long way to go but for Celtic and their manager, things are looking very rosy indeed.
In other news: Celtic legend Lambert identifies key improvement for next season’s Champions League
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