IS 3-5-2 THE ANSWER TO CELTIC’S CURRENT MALAISE?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Apr 9
- 4 min read
Perspective is important in football, especially when we follow a team as successful as Celtic.
However, despite remaining on course for a domestic clean sweep, it would be foolish to ignore a quite apparent drop in performance levels at Celtic since the new year.
Brendan Rodgers didn’t hold back in his post-match interviews after Sunday’s loss to St. Johnstone.
Without naming names, he called out what he saw as poor attitude and lack of application from some players.
However, outside of Celtic, the manager has also come in for criticism. Whilst his point about the team playing as “if they’ve already won the league” is valid, many commentators have also drawn attention to Rodgers’ seeming inflexibility when it comes to tactics.
Celtic Need a Plan B For Breaking Teams Down
In short, beyond tweaking the team with personnel changes at half time and during the second period, there was precious little alteration to Celtic’s tactics and general approach as the game wore on to its seemingly inevitable conclusion.
The introduction of Yang and Forrest did, certainly, give the team an added attacking impetus, but the tactics and formation remained static.
Rodgers likes his 4-3-3- set up. And when it works, it works beautifully. The problem is, particularly in the two recent Glasgow Derbies, it hasn’t worked.
What is most frustrating is that, purely in terms of player ability and squad depth, a team as mind-numbingly mediocre as the current Rangers team shouldn’t get anywhere near us.
It seems obvious to me that we need to try something new. We could probably stagger over the finishing line with the current set up.
But to do so would be to set ourselves up for an almighty fall next season. These problems aren’t going to go away just because the season ends.
So, I suggest we give a 3-5-2 system a try.
It is after all the system which brought us great success in Europe and in Scotland under Martin O’Neill.
Yes, I know that was more than 20 years ago, and football has changed a great deal since then.
I also know that many believe even the notion of playing two strikers together is an outdated approach to the game. I get that, but I still think it’s worth considering as a plan B.
Afterall, even in the modern game, very few teams will be as dominant or have as much of the ball as Celtic do most of the time domestically.
So, I think a more direct, attacking approach may be in order.
Take the two recent derby games in isolation. Rangers flooded the midfield; they won that battle which in turn allowed them to create the chances that led to their goals.
All this came despite Celtic having more possession.
Our wingers seemed isolated. Our fullbacks tried to push up in support, and our central defenders were frequently drawn out of position to cover for this.
If we had a back three instead of the current two, then that wouldn’t be as much of an issue.
Additionally, pushing our two fullbacks up into midfield affords McGregor, Hatate and Engels a bit more breathing space.
It gives them that all important “out ball” for when the opposition try to squeeze them out with sheer numbers.
So, how would this proposed 3-5-2 work? Which players would make up the system?
Well, I think there’s some issues around Auston Trusty right now. He seems to get bullied a lot, and sometimes lacks positional awareness.
He is undoubtedly a very talented footballer, but he needs to refine his game. That is something that Celtic don’t have time to wait for right now.
So, I would put Maik Nawrocki in for Trusty on the right side of defence. Carter-Vickers plays in the center.
His form has also dipped lately, but having considered things, he is still our best defender by some distance and should start when fit. Liam Scales can fill in on the left side of this back three.
Onto the midfield. I would recall Greg Taylor for the time being.
Whatever happens in the summer, will happen, but for now, I think he’s a better bet on the left than Schlupp. He knows exactly what’s required from this, the business end of the season.
Likewise, despite a recent drop in form, Alistair Johnston retains his place on the right. In the center, obviously Callum McGregor is in there.
However, the question of who to play alongside him is a tricky one.
Engels is struggling at the moment. His quality is undeniable, but again, maybe what we need here is someone who has been over this road before.
So I would recall Paulo Bernardo to the starting line-up. He offers more physicality than Engels, even if Engels may well be a better all-round player.
The final midfield berth is perhaps the most difficult question for me. We need creativity, so that leaves two options in my book.
Option one is to persist with Reo Hatate who we know can do it, even if his form does go through very apparent peaks and troughs.
The more radical option though, would be to deploy Jota as a traditional “number 10” sitting behind two main strikers and making things happen from a deeper position. It’s not his usual forte, but he has that maverick streak in him that makes me think he could do it.
That leaves Daizen Maeda and Adam Idah upfront. I don’t think we’ve yet seen the two of them playing as a strike partnership at Celtic. So again, its risky, but it could potentially open up a whole new source of goals for us.
There is no place for Nicholas Kuhn in this line-up, as I think he’s not mentally where he needs to be right now. Yang has shown fantastic effort and undoubted improvement over the last few months.
He would be an important impact player in this formation, coming off the bench. So too would James Forrest.
It’s a radical idea, and probably one that will attract a fair bit of ridicule, but I’m just throwing it out there. Celtic need to change something, and maybe a different formation is the answer?
But then again, there’s a reason why Brendan Rodgers is the manager and I’m not. Whatever happens, I remain confident he’ll get it right.