Former Celtic academy and current Peterhead midfielder, Simon Ferry has given what he believes is the problem with Neil Lennon’s side and the three at the back formation which it is clear has not worked this season.
Speaking on Go Radio, the man behind Scottish Football show, Open Goal’s success, commented on his experiences of playing a three at the back formation, at his time down south in Swindon and why it simply isn’t working, with Shane Duffy in the side.
“I used to play at the back with Di Canio (at Swindon) and what Celtic don’t do well is when the ball is on the left-hand side (with Laxalt attacking) is Ajer needs to become a left-back, Duffy needs to become the left centre-back, Welsh becomes the right centre-back and Frimpong tucks in at right-back.
“When it gets switched over. Welsh needs to go to right-back, Duffy needs to shuffle across, Ajer shuffles across and Laxalt tucks in at left-back.
“What ends up happening is Ajer ends up going out and Duffy leaves a massive gap in between him and Ajer and that is where all Celtic’s problems are coming from, the gaps between Shane Duffy and his fellow centre-backs.
“I think because he (Duffy) plays in the middle of the back three he needs to stay in the middle of the back three. You need to shuffle over to the side of the ball to stop those gaps from happening.”
Last season, the 3-5-2 appeared to be the formation which solved all of our problems after January going on an incredible run of wins, which led us to another consecutive league title and Scottish cup semi-final
The Northern Irishman also had success during his career playing in this formation under Martin O’Neill so it is clear to see it is one of his favoured formations.
However, it just hasn’t worked this season. We have been getting the results but we are not getting good performances, which we saw last season using the system.
On Thursday night, when switching back to the tried and tested, 4-2-3-1 the players looked much more relaxed and had freedom which allowed them to play. For now, it wouldn’t surprise me if this formation was ditched, for at least this tough run of games coming up.
