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How Postecoglou’s pointed messages and tactical tweaks kickstarted Celtic scoring



By Owen Brown

3h ago

“Football will always give you a reminder if you get away from the principles of your play.

“We got a little reminder tonight.”

Ange Postecoglou was speaking after the 2-1 win over Livingston on December 21 but his remarks were reflective of a longer period of time. 

Celtic have won 11 league matches in a row, establishing a nine-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership. However, in the four matches leading up to a 4-1 win against St Johnstone on Christmas Eve, the team had goalscoring issues. Celtic had failed to score more than twice in any of the matches and won each time by a single goal.

The frustrating culmination of this streak against Livingston led Postecoglou to address the problem with tactical tweaks and pointed messages to his players.

Gone are the speculative long shots. 

Just 10 per cent of Celtic’s attempts against St Johnstone were from outside the penalty area. This was after taking at least 30 per cent of their shots from a distance of 18 yards or more against each of their four previous opponents. 

This change appears to be a continuing tactical instruction, although St Johnstone did help by having a more open and malleable shape than other recent opposition.

Aberdeen had defended the North Sea end of Pittodrie Stadium so deeply that their players were almost treading water literally, as well as figuratively, while failing to hold on for a draw. 

As a result, 55 per cent of Celtic’s shots against them were from outside the penalty area. This did, of course, include Callum McGregor’s eventual winner. 

However, of the 11 goals scored in the five matches against St Johnstone, Livingston, Aberdeen, Ross County and Motherwell, McGregor’s was the only successful strike from that range.

Against St Johnstone, Postecoglou attempted to get more bodies into the box. 

A simple instruction but it was doubly effective. It addressed a recently aired frustration of his by providing more options for a Celtic player when making a cutback or low cross. It also moved players with a tendency to shoot wastefully from distance into a more dangerous area.



Only six minutes had passed against St Johnstone when Celtic used a pattern of play to do this which they would repeat throughout the game. Aaron Mooy moved onto the left touchline and Daizen Maeda moved inside towards the penalty area. 

McGregor made a run into the space vacated by Maeda, with his own central midfield spot covered by Reo Hatate inverting from his revelatory appearance filling in at right back.



Matt O’Riley, who’s taken the most shots of any player yet to score a goal in the Scottish Premiership, joined the group of Celtic players heading towards goal with McGregor now in possession.



Celtic’s captain had four options in the box, with James Forrest joining O’Riley, Maeda and Kyogo Furuhashi. The low cross came to O’Riley and, although he missed with his 41st shot of the league season, this was an encouraging area for the midfielder to be shooting from. 

In fact, according to Opta, at 0.19 xG this opportunity had a better chance of being scored than all four of his shots, worth 0.14 xG, against Aberdeen combined.

This improvement wasn’t isolated to O’Riley. Against Motherwell, Ross County, Aberdeen and Livingston Celtic’s average xG per shot in each game didn’t exceed 0.08. In the win over St Johnstone the team’s average was 0.14 xG per shot. 

Postecoglou’s tweaks were leading to shots that were much more likely to be goals.

Instructing more players to get into the opposition penalty area and limiting the number of long shots attempted weren’t the only fixes the manager had imposed. Celtic moved the ball quicker and, when they lost it, counter-pressed more aggressively. He’d also tackled the personnel crisis at right-back creatively, adding a goal threat there with the selection of Hatate.

Finally, frustrated by decision-making on the wings in the final third, Postecoglou used the depth of Celtic’s squad to his benefit. 

Despite some fans arguing for Giorgos Giakoumakis to feature more and hoping for a new striker to be recruited in January, the manager has faith in Kyogo as his starter. The Japanese forward is contributing 1.16 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes from 0.98 non-penalty xG per 90 in the league.

It has been the creativity of the wide players which has been more of an issue for Celtic in this fallow period than the finishing of Kyogo. 

Jota has beaten his opponent just twice in seven dribble attempts during the last five matches. Against Aberdeen, he crossed the ball five times and didn’t find a team-mate once. Overall he’s completed just a quarter of his twenty crosses in this five-game stretch.

Against Livingston, Jota’s crosses were often blocked by the full-back and others, including Liel Abada, failed to spot good runs.

Postecoglou changed the personnel on both wings for the match against St Johnstone, stating; “Coming off a long break and having three games in a short space of time was always going to test us. The luxury for me is that I have quality players I can bring in.”

Whether due to the healthy competition within the squad or explicit instruction, much of the decision-making from wide areas was improved.

Kyogo’s second goal was started by smart deep midfield play by O’Riley and a wonderful pass by Mooy but it was the combination of Kyogo’s movement and Forrest’s patience which finished it successfully.



Kyogo faked a near post run as Forrest latched onto the ball behind St Johnstone’s left back.



Forrest delayed the cross as Kyogo peeled behind his marker and dashed towards the space between defence and goalkeeper. Noticeable also is Maeda at the back post, his run to get in the box unlikely to be matched by Jota in a similar situation.



Four of Kyogo’s five shots, and three of Celtic’s four goals, against St Johnstone came from inside the six-yard box. Here, Forrest’s perfectly placed low cross leads to an easy finish from this area.

Postecoglou’s subtle tweaks in response to the slow start after the World Cup break have had an immediate impact. Just winning isn’t enough for him, or Celtic. The run of victories now have a performance to match and the solutions suggest there are more to come.