Another Champions League night passes for Celtic, another zillion chances squandered. Our one team pursuit of dispelling the 'high Xg = successful team' myth goes on. In the immediate aftermath of the game, it was pretty hard to be positive.
If you took the game in isolation, we battled hard against a top outfit, created numerous chances and were in the game for a large portion of the night. However, having watched this script play out throughout our European adventures this year it was a tough result to stomach.
We started the game off with 6 attack minded players and four defensive ones. I envisaged the opening of the game being absolutely mental due to this and Leipzig did carve out a number of good openings. Having steadied the ship however, Angeball swung into full flow. O'Reilly and Hatate were magnificent in the final third, as well as Haksabanovic, with the latter carving out the biggest guilt edged chance for Kyogo.
With every chance that fell to us, I had no confidence that we would score. I don't think that's just a pessimistic fan speaking either, the players seem to be psychologically shot to pieces. In one phase of the second half, Daizen Maeda had around 40 yards of space to run into on the flank and decided to punt the ball out for a goal kick. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or shout obscenities at the TV screen in the pub at that point. In the end I opted for the latter.
Compare and contrast this to Leipzig. Like our other European opponents this year, they made the art of goal scoring look so simple. That's the unfortunate difference at this level. Timo Werner looked like he'd never seen a goal frame in his life at Chelsea, which of course meant that he was due a masterclass as soon as he took to the park against Celtic. Damaged reputation following his stint in the EPL aside, he was on a different planet to anything we could offer.
His strike partner Nkunku was just as good. Both combined are worth over £100 million, dwarfing the value of Celtic's entire squad. So how do we actually bridge this gap without breaking the bank? There's probably not a simple answer for that. My gut instinct is that we can trust Ange with the project he is building here. He is however, going to need a lot of time. I don't really want to believe that this is our ceiling.
Brendan Rodgers first champions league campaign also showed signs of promise, and that was certainly a process I was willing to get behind. Unfortunately, Ireland's biggest Celtic fan fancied a stint in the East Midlands instead. I'm glad to see that's going so well for him. Following the end of the Rodgers era, we ripped everything up and started again with Neil Lennon. It was painful to watch his downfall.
You get the feeling that Ange is here for the long haul. Consistent Champions League qualification, as well as a continuous implementation of his playing methods from the academy to the first team, should hopefully see us go up another gear as a club. If the unthinkable does happen, we need someone similar to come in. We cannot go backwards again.
Former Celtic youth player Jackson Irvine summed up why that would be disastrous during his appearance on the Open Goal podcast. He referenced when he was playing for the Australian national team and Ange resigned. Ange's playing style was hectic and the transition to a new style after this had detrimental effects on their team. Having gone all in with his style, and the overall goal of being a competitive European team again, we cannot start from square one again.
Onwards to Hibs at the weekend and two more games in the Champions league to really test ourselves again. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it, God bless the Celtic.
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