RONNY PLAYS TO STRENGTHS
Deila adopts O’Neill blueprint with focus on potent set-pieces
FOR Celtic, the goal which finally broke down t he dogged resistance of Qarabag FK had a vaguely familiar feel. A corner drilled at speed into the penalty area. A bullet header from an imposing central defender as the keeper flailed. The old methods of the Martin O’Neill era still pay dividends.
In the aftermath of a crucial 1-0 f i rst- l eg victory, Ronny Deila described Virgil van Dijk and scorer Dedryck Boyata as a ‘dynamite’ partnership.
Chances are the Dutchman won’t hang around long enough to consummate the marriage but, so long as he does, Deila will give his central defensive duo carte blanche to attack corners and free-kicks.
Nadir Ciftci may offer a fraction of the threat posed by John Hartson or Chris Sutton. Yet the Kris Commons and Boyata combination on Wednesday night was like old times in Glasgow’s east end.
Deila bemoaned the dearth of pace and creativity from his front six afterwards but purred at the growing effectiveness of set-plays in his team.
‘It is very important,’ said the Norwegian. ‘ That is our strength. Scottish football has always been physical and we have to use the strength of the Scottish players for set-plays.
‘We should be very dominant in every set-play. Every time we have a set-play, they should be worried. Every team we meet.
‘The height and power we have in the team is very good.’
Boyata, van Dijk, Charlie Mulgrew, Nir Bitton and Ciftci offer height and physical presence. Some Celtic s upporters wil l react with indignation to the idea of these players being mentioned in the same vein as O’Neill’s Seville team.
In European terms, they have achieved nothing yet. The second leg in Baku threatens to be a fraught, awkward night in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees centigrade.
Yet Deila sees no reason why they should not aspire to ape that which propelled the club to their last European final in 2003.
‘I remember that team and every opponent was scared to give away corner kicks,’ the Celtic manager said. ‘ That is a positive thing. We have a lot of height and we have power and good deliveries.
‘Something like 33 per cent of every goal scored comes from a set-play, so it’s as important as counter-attacks or offensive play.
‘You have to be good at it and last year we had a very good record from set-plays.
‘I think we had something like 23 goals from set-pieces and only lost two. That’s very, very good.’
Teams with an emphasis on the physical and on a direct approach tend to be dismissed in sniffy terms. Deila’s countryman Egil Olsen is routinely rejected as a Norwegian clown who took Wimbledon down.
‘I won’t follow him,’ said Deila. ‘Those were not good times…’
Yet neither does he see any reason for Celtic to apologise for scoring goals from set-plays when the need arises. He wants — and demands — more movement and imagination in open play but welcomes goals from any area, including corners and free-kicks.
‘It’s part of the game,’ he insisted. ‘As I said, 33 per cent of every goal scored comes from one.
‘There are a lot of World Cup finals and Champions League finals won by a set-play.
‘When there is a lot of tension like the game on Wednesday and everybody is very tense, set-plays are always very important.
‘John Kennedy is very good at organising them together with Stevie Woods. They do that.
‘Delivery is everything, first and f oremost. It i s hard to score without a good one and then it’s about movement and organisation, to get into the right areas and keep a goalkeeper on his line.’
His team did that to great effect against Qarabag, substitute Leigh Griffiths keeping Ibrahim Sehic on his line as he flailed to get at the Commons corner. With eight minutes to play and frustration mounting, desperation had begun to pockmark Celtic’s play.
‘ Offensively, we had a l ot of possession, which we didn’t have last season, so that’s a positive thing,’ said Deila. ‘But it irritates me that we didn’t create more. There are things we have to work on. We played too many square passes. We played too slow. We have to increase the tempo.
‘At half-time, we told them to relax more. They were so tense. It was an important game and everyone knew that. We had to take off the brakes and start playing quicker, start taking chances.
‘If you are going to hurt them, you have to penetrate and the runs have to go forward. We did that better in the second half. We got more crosses into the box and created more chances.
‘On Wednesday night, they were too static. They were holding back in the first half. They got forward more in the second half.
‘ We j ust need to take some chances in the forward areas. The players were not scared to do that. They were just a little bit tense.’
It will take a disciplined and composed team performance in Baku to advance. Twelve months ago that looked beyond them, but despite the expectation van Dijk will leave before the close of the transfer window, his partnership with Boyata offers early promise.
‘They look very good,’ said Deila. ‘We had two very good defenders last year. Dedryck is starting the same way Jason Denayer did last year — scoring goals.
‘He is also very strong defensively, so I am happy with the signing. He is going to be an important player for us. Those two together are dynamite.’
Boyata’s goals are proving an unexpected bonus. He scored as rarely as he played for Manchester City but added Wednesday’s vital header to an equally ice-breaking effort against Stjarnan i n the last round.
‘You have to understand that he comes from one of the biggest clubs in the world and has played with some of the best players in the world,’ added Deila. ‘He has the level and was very hungry when he came here.
‘He wanted to show what is inside him and he has adapted very well. Virgil is calm as well. You could see that yesterday.
‘We have good communication over these things. These games are important for him and also for us.
‘ I was very happy with his performance.’