Ange rounds on his critics who say he only has Plan A
Ange Postecoglou has challenged his side to “go down swinging” against Real Madrid.
The Spaniards will visit Celtic Park on Tuesday night still revelling in their status as champions of Europe.
As such, Carlo Ancelotti’s side will be massive favourites to begin the defence of their title with victory at Celtic’s expense in their Champions League Group F opener.
However, after watching his players thump Rangers 4-0 in the first Old Firm of the season yesterday, the Hoops manager was in bullish mood.
“We will be tested against Real, of course we will,” he said.“You’ve got to respect the opposition and they are a top team.
“What a great opportunity to play our football, though. If we’re not successful, fair enough.
“But let’s go down swinging, rather than deferring to someone because they’re a good team.
“Our supporters want us to take the game to Real Madrid, and see where it takes us. “Let’s have a crack anyway.” With a derby win under his belt, the Australian meanwhile grabbed the chance to take a verbal swipe of his own.
Former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson had suggested ahead of the game that Postecoglou’s opposite number, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, had his peer’s number, hinting the former had an inflexible approach to the game.
“Maybe if I was German, Dutch or Spanish, people might look at me differently as a manager in terms of tactics,” said the Celtic manager.
“Apparently I’ve got one simple approach, a Plan A. But we’ll just stick to that.”
Kyogo Furuhashi and Carl Starfelt are both doubts for the tie but their chances have not been completely written off yet.
“It’s too early to say on Kyogo for Tuesday night. It’s a shoulder injury,” said the Celtic boss.
“We’ll have a look at him and Carl Starfelt over the next 24 hours.”
Regardless of what happens in Europe, Postecoglou believes an
all-guns-blazing approach will serve them his team well in the chase for the Premiership title.
“The league table isn’t important right now. What’s important is how we play,” he said. “If we continue to play like that, absolutely, we’re going to be hard to stop. That’s our intent. We want to be better.
“We’ve started the season really strongly. But we’ve got stronger each week, and today was another strong performance.
“People have been dismissive because they thought the opposition we’ve had so far weren’t up to it.
“We were brilliant last week, but people spoke about how poor Dundee United were.
“That suits us because it ignores our part in it. We will just keep doing what we’re doing.”
It was a message echoed by Jota, one of the standout performers on the day.
“This is all about enjoying it. People say: ‘You have to be ready for this!’” said the 23-year-old winger.
“They are so into the moment, that they cannot enjoy. I think we will.
“We will stay responsible, and know what we have to do, but at the same time enjoy it because it’s very good to play these games.
“Our mentality is straight. We go into the game with the same mentality.
“We stick with the philosophy of the teams and the football club.”