Half-time warning for Jota from Celtic boss
Postecoglou urged more care from Jota
ANGE Postecoglou singled out Jota for criticism in a half-time inquest before the £6million man fired home an early contender for goal of the season. The Portuguese winger scored a spectacular 20-yard strike 15 minutes from the end of Celtic’s win over Aberdeen. Buoyed by a headed opener from Stephen Welsh after two and a half minutes, the champions were then frustrated time and again by inspired Dons goalkeeper Kelle Roos. Manager Postecoglou was unhappy with his team’s performance in the period before half-time when Jonny Hayes blew a golden chance to equalise — and identified Jota as one of the ‘main culprits’. ‘There is no doubt the boy has talent and he is determined to be the best footballer he can be,’ said Postecoglou. ‘But, he was one of the main culprits in the last 15 minutes of the first half. ‘He was wasteful with the ball
and he gave away possession when he didn’t have to.
‘These are the kind of things we have to avoid. We have to keep these guys on track and not let them get away from the things we want them to do.
‘The good thing is he addressed it at half-time and in the second half, not just his goal but his general play was really good.
‘He was dangerous, threatening and doing the team stuff as well.
‘There are lessons in there for everyone.
‘I didn’t shout or give him a going over. At the same time you need to address the issues at hand.
‘You can’t just dismiss the last 15 minutes of the first half. There are lessons in there as other teams may punish you in that period.
‘In the second half we addressed it and we finished the game strongly.’
Frustrated to have a first-half strike chalked off for offside, Jota ended any anxiety at Parkhead by skipping around Dante Polvara and hammering an unstoppable strike past the dogged Roos.
Asked if the goal was one of his best, the wide man said: ‘Oh, I can’t remember…
‘This one was probably one of the best, yeah.
‘It was definitely a good moment for me and in my career. I was very happy that I scored.
‘I think the most important thing for me was that we started on the right foot this season in the Scottish league, so now we have to keep working and be better in every game.’
His wonder strike came as Aberdeen began to fancy their chances of snatching a late point.
Welsh’s headed goal from Matt O’Riley’s corner looked likely to make it a long day for the Dons until Roos, their new signing from Derby County, began to make saves and Celtic took their feet off the accelerator
‘I thought we started the game really well and the first half hour we were really good,’ added Postecoglou.
‘We got control of the game and were creating opportunities.
‘The last 15 minutes of the first half we got slack with our passing and were not as aggressive with our press on the ball.
‘We let the game be more open than it should have been, which was disappointing.
‘I thought after the break we got control again and we finished strongly.
‘It was a solid performance but we were just wasteful in front of goal.
‘I was disappointed because I thought we could have been a lot more clinical with the chances we created.
‘If we had taken them we could have put the game well to bed.
‘It was a decent workout for us. Our movement was good and our passing was good.
‘But we could have had more chances if we made better decisions in the final third.’
Asked if a lack of games and rhythm accounted for sloppy passing and possession, the former Australia boss refused to make excuses for his players.
‘The season has started. I don’t buy into that,’ he said.
‘We have goalscorers all over the park so we need to be focused in all aspects of our game.
‘Sometimes you can fall into the trap of knowing we will create loads of opportunities and, because of that, you are not as focused as you should be.
‘My view is we are creating opportunities... so let’s take as many as we can.’