Fine, it was just a friendly, but Celtic don’t look defensively prepared for the Champions League quite yet.
Against Preston, a 1-0 defeat, there were warning signs all over the place. Celtic started with an incredibly youthful backline of Ralston, Welsh, Urhoghide and Taylor, and that green-ness showed.
And it’s the lack of ready options that worries most. These are very, very young players. Dane Murray and Leo Hjelde saw the Bhoys out after conceding a soft, avoidable penalty, but better teams will take advantage.
Without the experience of Kristoffer Ajer, or the sureness of Christopher Jullien, there are real concerns here. In the build-up to Preston’s goal, there was confusion as to who was covering who. That comes from inexperience. Even if 26-year-old Carl Starfelt [Transfermarkt] makes the trip over to sign for Celtic, he won’t be eligible for the first leg against Midtjylland.
There’s hope. Many of these players will come good. Leo Hjelde enjoyed an excellent spell at Ross County, helping the Staggies steer clear of relegation. Dane Murray continues to look confident with each appearance, and it’ll be interesting to see whether he has a role.
When Postecoglou made his raft of changes in the second half, though, it was Boli Bolingoli who looked most confident in possession, and breaking up opposition moves. That’s a concern, given how many Celtic fans don’t want to see him play for us again.
These promising Celtic defenders just aren’t a unit yet, a worry for Champions League qualification
Again, there’s a lot of potential here.
Osaze Urhoghide has avoided putting a foot wrong as of yet, but he lacked the physicality to win most of his duels against an experienced campaigner like Ched Evans.
Meanwhile, Stephen Welsh is a fine talent, but again, there is disproportionate pressure on the Celtic youngster with the Champions League rolling around. As it is, he’s our most experience available centre-back, given Nir Bitton didn’t feature today.
Again, we’ve left ourselves short before crucial Champions League business. That’s not Ange Postecoglou’s fault, nor the players, it’s a bigger problem, and one we’ve railed against for a considerable time.
Today, we were hoping for shoots of confidence. None of this is a knock on the new boss Ange Postecoglou, who will take time to implement his style of football, just as the players have to get used to him.
Frankly, though, we’ve been left with more questions than answers. Tuesday night feels like a far bigger ask, suddenly.
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