The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[tyroneStatto]

celtic were well in the game up until the gallas goal and were matching arsenal well. this goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of celtic as it would. disappointed with fortune, maloney and mcdonald in the 2nd half as i thought they could have done a lot better. overall getting beat 2-0 by arsenal is no disgrace as they will beat plenty of premier league teams this season by this or more. not only are they a top 4 premier league team they are also a top 6 champions league team. actually getting rid of toure and adebayor has helped them to play as more of a unit so far this season.

[lynchbhoy]

apart from th result it was a good game to watch - well in the first half anyhow, both teams were on an all out attack drive. Both teams had nothing in the final third of the field and I'd include the second half in that also, as for me Arsenal created nothing and Boruc didnt have to make any kind of save - neither did almunia.

Negatives - caldwell still annoys me as he cant tackle, has brutal positioning sense - the two things you need as a centre half. I'd love if someone bought him.
fox's first couple of crosses were ok but needs to improve. There seems to be a malaise in crossing the ball in top flight soccer as Celtic have been crap at it for years, and most epl sides I see are the same (dont even mention Ireland and woeful crossing).
Thought the ref was v poor and some of the free kicks he gave inc the one that lead to the deflected goal were questionable at least. Too much diving from some of the arsenal players.
Woeful givin the ball away by some Celtic players - the commentators picked on Donati, but whle he gave a good bit away, he defended well and they didnt seem to pick on others giving the ball away more like maloney or nguemo who had a good first half but was poor in the second.McGeady reverting to type and going it on his own too much played into Arsenals hands in the second half.

Positives
Loovens proved himself THE centre half at the club.Fox and hinkel good at defending and while caldwell is a bombscare, the defence kept out the highly vaunted Arsenal attack who are bang in form right now apart from the two 'lucky' goals. Boruc not being tested apart from those two would back this up I'd say. Some great passing in the first half and playing so quickly you will give the ball away more - so either side not to be dishearted , some great passing. Arsenal for longer periods were a joy to watch. Great work ethic as well as their accurate and fast passing.
Mowbray only at Celtic a few weeks and trying to create a winning side up against the continuity of a gunners team that has the continuity of last season playing together and under the guidance of the master Wenger - well its not an easy thing to do in beating them.
Mowbrays tactics were working in the first half. I'd hate to think what a strachan team going out last night would have conceded with his lack of tactical awareness !
Last nights game reminded me of the Celtic v blackburn match a few years ago. they passed th ball to death and were equally as toothless in the final third. Difference here is that Arsenal have two goals and its virtually impossible for Celtic to claw that back. Not impossible but very near it.
Shows how seriously bad strachans failure last season has cost Celtic ! Both these teams would do well in the CL group stages!

[nifan]

Dont think Arsenals second goal was lucky - was a good ball that Caldwell had to try to deal with, unfortunately for him it didnt end well.

McGeady impressed me last night, though got a bit greedy as the game wore on.

[lynchbhoy]

Dont think Arsenals second goal was lucky - was a good ball that Caldwell had to try to deal with, unfortunately for him it didnt end well.

McGeady impressed me last night, though got a bit greedy as the game wore on.

caldwells positioning for it was dreadful, most times a team would not expect to concede from that position, which is what I was thinking just prior to that (poor) cross coming in.

disagree about mcgeady (being in any way impressive- not that he didnt impress yourself) . Decent enough effort in first half but no end product. Maybe a case of trying too hard. Still developing and def improving year after year. Will expect more from him in future.
Still not fully there just yet. Consistency and taking right options will come with more exp.

[Main Street]

I'd agree with you Lynchboy totally on the back 4. Caldwell has the agility of a tractor
and Loovens is out for the return leg for an act of probable pure frustration.

But McGeady did very well in the second half, he did not lose the ball and found a player in some space time and time again, can't be faulted for the rest not keeping up with him.
Maloney for instance doesn't have 1/4 of McGeadys football brain.

[DennistheMenace]

Arsenal dominated the game and were a class apart from Celtic whose tactics amounted to being physical and closing down the space but Arsenal have played and dealt with that type of game plan many times before. Worthy winners in the end.

[Eastern_Pride]

Arsenal dominated the game and were a class apart from Celtic whose tactics amounted to being physical and closing down the space but Arsenal have played and dealt with that type of game plan many times before. Worthy winners in the end.

Arsenal won because Celtic were shite. Full stop.

[DennistheMenace]

Arsenal dominated the game and were a class apart from Celtic whose tactics amounted to being physical and closing down the space but Arsenal have played and dealt with that type of game plan many times before. Worthy winners in the end.

Arsenal won because Celtic were shite. Full stop.

You won't see me disagree with that.

[Clown]

why do celtic get more criticism from pundits and journalists for losing 2-0 at home to Arsenal after 2 very fortunate goals, than a team who hav ten or twenty times the revenue that celtic hav, and where englands 5th best club last year, and still get beaten 6-1 by Arsenal??

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/blogs/mirror-football-blog/Celtic-and-Rangers-in-the-Premier-League-Don-t-make-me-laugh-says-Martin-Lipton-article122521.html

[Clown]

terms like 'a class apart' are over-exaggerating

you have to remember Boruc had nothing to do apart from pick the ball out of the net twice

[118cmal]

The Champion's League is not Celtic's level.  They have overachieved in getting there the last few years.  They may have had some good results and nights over recent years but the current team just isn't good enough.  If the players were good they'd be playing in the premiership.

[bingobus]

terms like 'a class apart' are over-exaggerating

you have to remember Boruc had nothing to do apart from pick the ball out of the net twice

Thats a hell of a lot more than the arsenal keeper had to do. 

The reality is that Celtic/Rangers are never going to progress in the CL when they play in the SPL week in/week out. A few years ago they would have been competitive in the EPL but now they are sliding very quickly and it will soon be the reality that if they did play in it, they'd struggle badly such is the widening of the gap.

[tyroneStatto]

if celtic were in the premier league they would be able to attract a far higher quality of player than they currently have (due to to having more money) and as result would do well. why cant people grasp this?

[DennistheMenace]

If we're being honest, Arsenal pissed all over Celtic last night, yes they got some luck but they were also well deserved winners. No disgrace in being well outplayed by Arsenal though.

[ONeill]

apart from th result it was a good game to watch - well in the first half anyhow, both teams were on an all out attack drive. Both teams had nothing in the final third of the field and I'd include the second half in that also, as for me Arsenal created nothing and Boruc didnt have to make any kind of save - neither did almunia.

Negatives - caldwell still annoys me as he cant tackle, has brutal positioning sense - the two things you need as a centre half. I'd love if someone bought him.
fox's first couple of crosses were ok but needs to improve. There seems to be a malaise in crossing the ball in top flight soccer as Celtic have been crap at it for years, and most epl sides I see are the same (dont even mention Ireland and woeful crossing).
Thought the ref was v poor and some of the free kicks he gave inc the one that lead to the deflected goal were questionable at least. Too much diving from some of the arsenal players.
Woeful givin the ball away by some Celtic players - the commentators picked on Donati, but whle he gave a good bit away, he defended well and they didnt seem to pick on others giving the ball away more like maloney or nguemo who had a good first half but was poor in the second.McGeady reverting to type and going it on his own too much played into Arsenals hands in the second half.

Positives
Loovens proved himself THE centre half at the club.Fox and hinkel good at defending and while caldwell is a bombscare, the defence kept out the highly vaunted Arsenal attack who are bang in form right now apart from the two 'lucky' goals. Boruc not being tested apart from those two would back this up I'd say. Some great passing in the first half and playing so quickly you will give the ball away more - so either side not to be dishearted , some great passing. Arsenal for longer periods were a joy to watch. Great work ethic as well as their accurate and fast passing.
Mowbray only at Celtic a few weeks and trying to create a winning side up against the continuity of a gunners team that has the continuity of last season playing together and under the guidance of the master Wenger - well its not an easy thing to do in beating them.
Mowbrays tactics were working in the first half. I'd hate to think what a strachan team going out last night would have conceded with his lack of tactical awareness !
Last nights game reminded me of the Celtic v blackburn match a few years ago. they passed th ball to death and were equally as toothless in the final third. Difference here is that Arsenal have two goals and its virtually impossible for Celtic to claw that back. Not impossible but very near it.
Shows how seriously bad strachans failure last season has cost Celtic ! Both these teams would do well in the CL group stages!

Some quare bollox written there, the highlights being,

both teams were on an all out attack drive.

Jaysus I wouldn't like to see Celtic on an all-out defending strategy. 11 in goals?

and

the highly vaunted Arsenal attack who are bang in form right now

Van Persie, Arshavin and Bendtner have yet to score this year. Their attack right now is the one area that concerns Arsene; they haven't clicked. So far it has been the centre backs and centre midfield coming up with the goals.

But good to see a bit of humour - Both these teams would do well in the CL group stages!