It doesn’t feel like 12 years ago since Celtic famously
hammered Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. When you look at the team we had back
then it’s hard not to look back in envy, even without the likes of Petrov,
Thompson, Hartson and Moravcik.
It wasn’t a bad side they played that day either. The likes of Cristian
Chivu, Hatem Trabelsi, Maxwell, Van der Vaart, Mido, Steven Pienaar and Zlatan
Ibrahimović were all in the Ajax squad. All of which were terrific players at
one point in their careers.
Looking at the 2 teams nowadays shows a different story. Two teams from two
suffering leagues. The SPFL Premiership and Eredivisie seem to be stepping
stones to apparent bigger things. Years ago it would be inconceivable for a
player to force a move from Celtic to the likes of Norwich or Southampton,
hence why both Ajax and Celtic are placing more and more emphasis on youth.
Quite refreshing it is watching youth prospects grow into talented football,
young James Forrest a prime example of this. Hopefully we get to see more home
grown talent being introduced throughout the remained of the Premiership
campaign.The focus on youth does come with a downside however. Is there much quality in
Scotland? Have they just not been given the chance? Maybe if they had a foreign
sounding name they might.
It’s evident what we are missing from watching the Celtic team this past 10
years. Playmaker, playmaker, playmaker. In my opinion Celtic have not replaced
Moravcik, and how can you? What a player. Henrik Larsson, still to this day, has
no clue to Lubo’s favoured foot. The lack of playmaker was evident again last
weekend against HIbs. Looking at our currently attacking squad, we have box to
box midfielders and quick wingers, but who can link the strikers and midfield
with 1 defence splitting pass? Kris Commons is the closest thing we have to
that. Worryingly it seems he may miss the big game tomorrow. Who can take his
place?
The days of being linked with quality attacking players are gone I’m afraid.
Basturk, Rivaldo, Giroud, Hakan Yakin, Saviola, Quaresma to name a few we’ve
targeted throughout the years. I’m not convinced this type of player can shoot
through the youth ranks. We can only hope to find a diamond in the rough like
Lubo. That being said, tomorrow should give us a good insight into where we
stand in Europe, with Ajax in a similar situation to ourselves. We have one
thing that differentiates us from the rest of Europe however. One thing that in
my opinion will secure 3 points tomorrow. That is, of course, 60,000 passionate
fans packed into Paradise.
Prediction: 2-0 Celtic
C'mon the Hoops!!
It doesn’t feel like 12 years ago since Celtic famously
hammered Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. When you look at the team we had back
then it’s hard not to look back in envy, even without the likes of Petrov,
Thompson, Hartson and Moravcik.
C'mon the Hoops!!