Callum McGregor has delivered a blunt assessment of Celtic’s 3-0 defeat at Ibrox, admitting his side looked more like a group of individuals than a team.
Asked whether it had been one of his toughest experiences at Ibrox, McGregor pointed straight to the difference between the two sides.
He told BBC Sport: “Yeah, because it wasn’t us. I think the difference between the two sides was you’ve seen a team and then you’ve seen a team of individuals as well. Rangers were a team and you could see that.
“We looked like a team of individuals that wanted to do our own thing and play when we got the ball, not necessarily run when you don’t have the ball and that’s the one thing you can’t do when you come here, Rangers just don’t run.”
That is a serious admission from Celtic’s captain.
The Hoops struggled to play with any real cohesion once Rangers took control, and McGregor clearly felt too many players were operating on their own rather than working as a unit.
He was just as critical of Celtic’s work without the ball.
“You can’t defend with six players, it’s impossible,” he said.
“We’re trying to get the message to everyone that we have to be a team, we have to be the team that we want to be.”
That comment perhaps says more than anything else about where Celtic fell short.
There were moments in possession where the Hoops showed flashes of quality, but too often they were stretched once the ball was lost.
Rangers were quicker to second balls, more aggressive in their pressing and far more connected as a side.
That has to improve quickly.
The defeat at Ibrox has already raised questions around Celtic’s midfield balance and physicality, but the captain’s comments point to an even wider problem.
Celtic did not function as a team.
With Ferencváros next before Rangers arrive at Celtic Park on Sunday, McGregor will expect a much more united performance from the players around him.
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