Yesterday I showed how McGregor remains deeply creative despite having an extraordinarily high pass completion rate (94%) and that this did not indicate overly risk averse passing. Today I will complete the picture across the squad as regards deep creative abilities. You should expect some clustering around position which makes the outliers all the more … [continue reading]
McGregor
McGregor Passes the Test
Whilst no stat is completely meaningless given the right context, it is certainly true to say that passing statistics on there own can reveal little. For example, if I tell you the player with the best Open Play Pass Completion is Simunovic who completes 94% of non-set play passes, you might wonder why this is … [continue reading]
Unshackle McGregor
By James Dailey In the lead up to the Cup Final in December, I started a comprehensive comparative analysis between the squads of Celtic and The Rangers, while trying to attribute where they were performing better than our team. At that time, their cumulative xG was better than Celtic’s and their xG surrendered was only … [continue reading]
Midfield Red Flags
The mid term reports focus now on the midfield and wingers. I covered Brown in Brown: A Never Ending Story as he has a unique role in the side. Let’s now consider the rest of the midfield. PS I will include Brown in this for completeness. Celtic’s midfield and wide attack has largely been about … [continue reading]
Familiar Failings As Celtic Crash Out
Elimination from the Champions League will cast a long shadow over Celtic’s season. Much remains to play for, of course, but the errors here need to be openly discussed and avoided in future. I will say from the outset I have been a consistent critic of Celtic’s squad management over a number of seasons. This … [continue reading]
McGregor: The Marathon Man
McGregor’s marathon season finally ended in Brussels on Tuesday 11th June. After his 69th appearance for club and country since the 10th July in Alashkert, a short break finally arrived. 69 matches in 337 days is a match every 4.9 days. What to make of it all? As it is his birthday today, here is … [continue reading]
Celtic By Numbers Player of the Year 2018/19
The Celtic By Numbers Player of the Year is revealed! I have considered squad performances across Defending, Creativity and Goal Threat. Short List Firstly, whilst there are stellar performances across the squad, not all players have contributed equally in terms of appearances on the park. Quite simply, some have had more work to do than … [continue reading]
Midfield Tweak Brings Sixcess
Against St Johnstone Rodger’s made a subtle change to the midfield shape at half time counter intuitively withdrawing McGregor deeper. And it won the game, moving Celtic 6 points clear. At the half Celtic were utterly dominant in terms of possession. With 83% possession, seven Celtic players had completed 50 or more passes but only … [continue reading]
Celtic Speed Towards A Future Without Brown
The emergence of McGregor and Christie at the heart of midfield has undoubtedly reenergised Celtic. To the eye they play quicker and with more forward thrust. This has largely come about through serendipity. The injuries to captain Brown and others forced this arrangement. We may have a great manager but do we also have a … [continue reading]
Brown and McGregor: The Great Debate
There was an excellent article in The Herald using data (crumbs!) to compare McGregor and Brown in the defensive midfielder position. I strongly recommend you read it. Sadly, it was uncredited but great to see stats-based content in the mainstream media. The data used was from Wyscout which is a subscription-based service. As you know … [continue reading]