Callum McGregor Has Just Exposed Celtic’s Biggest Tactical Problem — And We Need to Listen

Sometimes, the most revealing comments about Celtic come from the players themselves. And Callum McGregor’s latest press conference has given supporters plenty to think about.

Following our frustrating 2-2 draw with Dundee United, the Celtic captain was remarkably honest when discussing the problems caused by playing strikers in wide positions instead of using natural wingers.

His comments were telling: “Celtic do not have a clearly defined profile for every attacking position, and players are behaving like strikers rather than wingers. We might get away with it for a few games, but eventually the weaknesses become obvious”.

For me, this is one of the biggest issues facing Celtic right now.

We have spent heavily on attacking players, yet we still seem unsure about how to get the best out of them. Rather than building a balanced forward line with natural width, we have repeatedly seen strikers pushed into wide positions and expected to perform a role that does not necessarily suit their strengths.

Look at Wednesday night. Camilo Durán scored, but Callum Osmand and Kasper Høgh struggled to make the same impact in the wide and central roles they were asked to fill. At half-time, Martin O’Neill introduced Jota and Haissem Hassan, two natural wide players, and suddenly our attack looked far more dangerous.

Jota supplied the cross for Liam Scales’ equaliser, while Hassan offered direct running and the willingness to take defenders on. It was a reminder of what we can achieve when we have players operating in positions that suit them.

But McGregor’s comments went beyond the personnel.

He described Celtic’s matches as becoming a bit like basketball, with the team losing possession, scrambling to win it back and wasting energy in the process. That is a damning assessment of our lack of control, particularly at Celtic Park.

We are supposed to be the team dictating the tempo, moving opponents around and creating chances through our structure. Instead, we can look disjointed, lose possession cheaply and leave ourselves vulnerable to counter-attacks.

Dundee United scored twice in three minutes. That cannot simply be dismissed as an unfortunate spell. It highlights how quickly a game can get away from us when our tactics aren’t clear.

The encouraging part is that McGregor believes the squad can improve. He pointed to the second half against United as an example of how Celtic should look, with better movement, greater control and more intelligent decisions in possession.

However, we cannot keep waiting until half-time to look like a properly balanced team.

Martin O’Neill must decide what our best attacking system actually is. If that means starting natural wingers, then start them. If we want to use two strikers, build a system that allows both to flourish without sacrificing our control of midfield.

What we cannot do is continue squeezing players into positions simply because we want to fit them into the same starting eleven.

McGregor has identified the problem. Now it is up to the manager to find the solution.

Because Celtic have enough quality to win matches, but quality alone will not deliver consistent performances. We need structure, balance and a clear identity.

And if our captain is openly admitting that we still have plenty of pieces to put together, perhaps it is time we stopped pretending these problems will simply disappear on their own.