All Mod Cons

Are Celtic in a jam as regards the wide forward positions? The season review continues focusing on the wingers. Tears, tantrums, dubious life choices? This is the modern world.

Before I endlessly whittled on about the configuration of the midfield, it was the wing attack performances that held my gaze.

I recall noting the minute-by-minute contributions of the performances of all four combatants in a match against Hibernian in the 2023-24 season. A painful litany of pass backs and pass fails. Poor decisions and poor executions. The four wide forwards utilised that day were Luis Palma, Daizen Maeda, James Forrest and Michael Johnston. The latter pair improved performances over the former on that day.

In the here and now, as we reflect on the season, the winger's narrative journey has undergone significant changes.

At the start of the campaign, in the United States, in a series of high-profile pre-season friendlies against American and English opposition, a new blueprint had emerged.

Brendan Rodgers presented to us a vision of how to damage better-resourced opponents, with an eye on the Champions League campaign. A front three of Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn and Kyogo Furuhashi held for the opponent's terrifying pace and an ability to counter devastatingly. No longer would it be endless ball control and recycling. Quick and long passes over high-pressing opponents would unleash elite-level pace over the top.

Although Celtic remained one of the poorest teams in the Champions League in generating xG from counterattacks, the theory worked in practice. Simply possessing that threat meant that opponents had to sit slightly deeper and set up to avoid being caught on the counter. Whilst not measurable in the data, Celtic likely benefited from some extra space and time due to the latent threat.

Yet, at the end of a largely successful campaign (champions again, progress at Champions League level and a domestic cup), the wing attack positions once again hold intrigue and uncertainty.