The February derby at Celtic Park was a wonderful, raucous, pedal-to-the-metal, under the lights night for Celtic. Postecoglou’s new Celtic tore into Van Bronckhorst’s reigning Champions from the first minute and had established a 3-0 lead by half time. More importantly, Celtic had been utterly dominant playing the style of football the Australian espouses. By … [continue reading]
Team Performance
Defending the Left
You might have hoped for a political polemic in these troubling times. However, it is the left side of Celtic’s defence that exercises me today. Scottish football tends to be more direct that most. Outside the top two, sides average 76 long balls per 90 minutes. Celtic average 42. How to beat Celtic? On limited … [continue reading]
Good-Bad-Lucky-Unlucky – Away With the Fairies!
Ahead of the next match, and in advance of the run in to the league, let’s take a look at home the SPFL teams are faring as regards goals for and against versus expected. Yes, it is time for the good/bad, lucky/unlucky graph! What does all that mean? Here are the definitions: Bad and Unlucky … [continue reading]
Is Celtic’s Set Play Defending Improving?
On last nights Huddle Breakdown (please subscribe to the channel!), we were asked by Pete Lacey (thank you), “Are (Celtic) getting better at defending set pieces?”. A nice simple question! Let’s look at some basics first. Season Comparison I can share data on this for the last five seasons on this for all competitions. This … [continue reading]
Who Has Striking Edge In Title Race?
As the title race reaches the final laps, let’s look at the comparative creative and goal threat across the squads to see who may have the firepower to secure the crown. I have used Opta data for this analysis and it relates only the SPFL Premier matches. The method will be to compare each position … [continue reading]
The Second Half Danger Zone
Celtic have the best defensive record in the SPFL both in terms of goals conceded (15 in 26) and in xGA (0.65 per 90m). Despite this Celtic are on track for conceding a goal a game overall (41 in 44) mainly due to early season European profligacy. The Mid Half Blip More specifically, the recent … [continue reading]
Heading for Trouble?
Celtic conceded two goals from set plays against Aberdeen. This triggered the usual dual response from pundits and some supporters alike bemoaning Celtic’s ability to defend crosses and set plays in particular. But, is this fair? Context Firstly, kudos to Aberdeen for two well executed set plays from Ojo. Both were very well delivered. The … [continue reading]
Ready for Take Off
Postecoglou’s start to Celtic management has the classic 3 Act narrative arc, when seen through the prism of xG. If that sentence doesn’t have you reaching for your skinny latte or Almond infused IPA, it’s the best I’ve got. Oi! – Come back! xG Differential This plots a 6-game rolling average of xG Differential (xG … [continue reading]
Not As Expected
I still maintain the biggest issue Celtic have faced this season is not finishing off their chances. There are undoubtedly many concerns for Postecoglou to address: A settled defence First choice left back Curing the hamstring epidemic How to operate a midfield with no natural “8”s The never-ending striker shortage Lack of aerial presence in … [continue reading]
Better to be Good or Lucky?
If like me you were rubbish at maths and are not a statistician, then this analysis game is often about pinching great ideas from others. My rule is always to acknowledge the pinchee! So, my thanks go to @MarcusBr22 and this tweet for introducing me to the concept of “Good / Unlucky” in terms of … [continue reading]