Source: Team_Talk
Strachan beats a tactical retreat
Much was made of Strachan's tinkering with the Hoops' side which won the Co-Operative Insurance Cup at Hampden last week.[LNB]Strachan dropped his two tall, off-form strikers Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Georgios Samaras and pushed Aiden McGeady up to support the equally-diminutive Scott McDonald.[LNB]Defender Gary Caldwell came in to stiffen the midfield, with Glenn Loovens playing alongside skipper Stephen McManus at the heart of the Parkhead defence.[LNB]After Darren O'Dea opened the scoring with a header, the ever-dangerous McGeady scored a late penalty to give the Parkhead side a deserved 2-0 win.[LNB]Asked if he would return to his usual 4-4-2 for Sunday's crucial game on Tayside, Strachan retorted: "One or two 'voices of football' - I've been told - said that we played 4-5-1.[LNB]"That was terrific to work out because I never worked that out.[LNB]"You must be better geniuses than me.[LNB]"I must be really ordinary because I sent out a 4-4-2.[LNB]"If you saw something else then that was fantastic.[LNB]"I was wasting my time getting my badges - I should have just joined a radio station.[LNB]"Aiden was on the left-hand side, the right-hand side and getting in the box, so he was everywhere.[LNB]"There were times when it was unorthodox and there were times when players were allowed to roam.[LNB]"But it's a players thing, it's not a tactical thing.[LNB]"If you are saying orthodox is two big strikers, which is often the ploy here, or a big strikers and small striker, then the options are there.[LNB]"You look at at each game you play and think, 'What weapons have I got to cause the other team most concern'."[LNB]Out of the blue, Strachan also rounded on critics who denounced the abilities of Danish club Aalborg, who pipped the Hoops to a UEFA Cup place by taking four points off them in the group stages of the Champions League earlier in the season.[LNB]After taking the scalp of Deportivo La Coruna, Aalborg were knocked out of the last-16 on penalties by Manchester City last night after recovering a 2-0 first-leg deficit.[LNB]The Celtic boss said: "Aalborg did well for a pub team.[LNB]"They beat Deportivo last time and took Man City to penalties so it (Celtic's defeat and draw to Aalborg) is not as embarrassing as the season goes on.[LNB]"We still should have got through. We take full responsibility for that.[LNB]"But it looks like Aalborg are not as bad as people made out."[LNB][LNB]
