Celtic: Ange Postecoglou must unleash Greg Taylor vs Bodo/Glimt | OneFootball

With Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side heading into Thursday evening’s Europa Conference League clash knowing they require something of a miracle to secure passage through to the next round of the competition, the 56-year-old Bhoys boss will undoubtedly be thinking up tactics that will provide his side with marginal gains over Bodo/Glimt at the Aspmyra Stadion.

Indeed, having been on the receiving end of a heavy 3-1 defeat in the first leg of the tie, the Hoops must defeat the Norwegian champions by two clear goals in order to take the game to extra-time, or three clear goals to see them through.

As such, the Greek-Australian coach simply must get his team selection absolutely spot on against Kjetil Knutsen’s impressive outfit if Celtic are to have any chance of qualifying for the next round of the tournament – with it appearing highly advisable for Postecoglou to make a change at left-back.

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Postecoglou must unleash Taylor

While it is true that Greg Taylor endured a torrid evening up against Ola Solbakken, Hugo Vetlesen and Alfons Sampsted in the first leg of the tie – with the Scotland international earning an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.3 for his display – it would nevertheless appear a smart move to reintroduce the left-footer against Bodo/Glimt this evening.

Indeed, while Josip Juranovic is undoubtedly a fantastically talented player, who is more than capable of operating on the left of a back four, the fact that the Croatia international – who started at left-back in the 3-2 win over Dundee last weekend – is right-footed immediately makes Celtic more narrow, something that could well cause a problem against a side who set up in a 4-3-3 formation.

Indeed, with the middle of the park likely to be an extremely congested area of the pitch on Thursday, especially as Bodo/Glimt are an extremely efficient pressing side – as evidenced by their performance at Parkhead – playing a right-footer at left-back could quite easily play into the Norweigan’s hands.

Meanwhile, by starting the £8.2k-per-week left-footed Taylor, the 24-year-old would naturally look to progress the ball further up the pitch as soon as he receives it, in addition to generally providing Celtic with greater width when flooding forwards – something the Bhoys will undoubtedly need to do as often as possible if they are to have any hope of victory.

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As such, it would appear highly advisable for the 56-year-old to unleash the Scotland international who James McFadden dubbed a “brilliant” player who offers “so much more” down the left for Celtic against Bodo/Glimt, as he could well be the marginal gain Postecoglou is looking for.