Posted by a Celtic fan on another forum. Some worrying quotes in there, especially the last one.
Postecoglou's system works for Celtic as they play teams who put ten men in defence and allow them possession, practically every game. This means their forward players can attack at will, which he has trained them to do well and this will get goals. Teams though that on the occasion do attack them, have exploited the inverted full backs Ange plays. He's relied on Vickers immensely and when he hasn't played, they've been vulnerable to attacks and since he's been injured they've been very poor at the back, as was evident in the last old firm.
Only Rangers have given them a game and they're in a bad place and due a rebuild and have been badly managed in regards to recruitment (something Ange has got right and it's made a big difference). Celtic have clearly got the better of Rangers since Beale came in at Xmas with results, but in reality, Rangers have done well to exploit Ange's system quite well, they've just lacked the players to maximise possession, having only one recognised forward in Morelos, who has been poor and had his eyes on the exit door being now out of contract.
In Europe, Celtic haven't the resources to truly compete with the bigger teams, which is no fault of theirs given the finances and the fact their regular Scottish fodder standard of opposition is so poor, it's hardly practice for Champions League level teams. But still, Ange has stubbornly stuck to the same formation... Attack and keep running, still playing inverted fullbacks, even when teams have easily worked out all they have to do is exploit the wings when the full backs are out of position and they're short at the back. Good teams just let Celtic tire themselves out, then hit fast on the break. Even Scottish teams started to catch on.
Perhaps with better resources and players, Ange could make the system work in the SPL. He's charasmatic and seems to create a good environment for players. It will take time though to implement his system, in Scotland when he took over, Celtic were still a strong team, even though Rangers had just won the league the season before, the players he had were always going to be enough to beat SPL teams. I think having to face MUCH better teams in the EPL will be a step beyond his current abilities, especially as he sticks so strictly to the one formation/tactics and teams will take advantage of that and punish his naivety and inexperience.
On recruitment he's done well bringing players from Japan. Three players in particular made a huge difference. Kyogo, Hatate and Maeda. When Kyogo or/and Hatate haven't played - especially if Vickers is also out - the fringe players struggle to replace them and make an impact and Celtic can be very sluggish. This could be down to the fast system he plays, needing players to be playing regularly to hold it together. Ange isn't big on rotation.
