ANGE POSTECOGLOU isn’t one to leave things to chance. The Celtic manager believes that he may well have ‘got away with it’ last season as he went into the campaign with a squad that had been revamped and was far from completion, and he isn’t about to risk it again.
That lack of strength in depth in the first half of last season led to players being overburdened, causing a vicious circle of injuries which further exacerbated the problems he was facing, and causing young players to be thrown in at the deep end when they may not have been quite ready.
The January transfer window brought reinforcements and some respite, and this summer has seen Postecoglou and Celtic further strengthen their position with seven new arrivals, if counting the permanent captures of last season’s loanees Cameron Carter-Vickers, Jota and Daizen Maeda.
He said after the win over Norwich City yesterday that rounded off their summer programme that he may not be finished there either, even though he was able to make multiple changes without noticeably weakening his team.
Some of those players, such as Christopher Jullien, look likely to leave the club of course, and Postecoglou is determined to ensure that he has a deep enough pool to cope with the rigours of the season that lies ahead.
"I don't see it that way of being spoiled for choice,” Postecoglou said.
“If we are going to play 60 games this season and try to compete in every competition then you have to have a strong squad. "Our whole recruiting process so far has been about making our squad robust. If we had some fragility last season then it was around the fact it was too much of a burden on the individuals and we ended up breaking down and losing key players for large chunks of the season. "So we want to avoid that this season. In many respects we got away with it last season. In terms of the league, the Champions League and the cup competitions this season we want all of our players to be healthy so to have that will spread the burden amongst them.”
With great squad depth though comes great choice, and while many Celtic fans would have been taking yesterday’s line-up as a pretty reliable indicator of the side that may face Aberdeen next Sunday in the Premiership opener, Postecoglou was keeping his cards close to his chest. "I don't know what it is but I'll have a starting team and there will be at least eleven ready for it,” he said. "For me, what's important is that we have a team of players who are ready to go. "I think we showed [in the second half of] last season our ability to play games out strongly and that was due to having a strong bench and players who could come on do a job. So I don't look at it as starting or non-starting. "It's all about a group of players and I was happy today with the guys who came on. They didn't allow the intensity to drop which can happen when you make all of these changes. "That was good to see and what's important is that we have another eight days of good solid work on the training ground and the early part of August is good for us as we only have one game each week.
“That allows us to keep working, and when the congestion hits, we are going to have a squad which is hopefully ready to handle it all.”
Celtic did appear to be nearing a state of readiness for the Aberdeen encounter next week in the win over Norwich, exhibiting a solidity and a control that has at times been lacking during their pre-season friendlies.
“The reality is we’re working hard in training so we’re not going into games wondering if the players are going to be fine,” Postecoglou said.
“The whole point of pre-season is to prepare them for what’s ahead. It’s not just about winning games. In all our games we’ve shown a few bright spots but today was probably the most solid we’ve been both with the ball and without it.
“We’ll have a good week of training, freshen them up at the back end of the week and hopefully we’ll see the team being in a much better position to play with the sort of high tempo intensity that we want.”
Another bright spot for Postecoglou was the performance of Moritz Jenz on his debut for the club as a second-half substitute, as well as a late run-out for fellow new arrival Aaron Mooy, who the Celtic manager conceded is some way from match fitness.
“I just thought it was a good idea to get them a game,” he said.
“It’s a big occasion any time you make your debut for a club at home, particularly at this football club. So I wanted to give them that experience today and I thought they acquitted themselves well.
“Moritz has had a pre-season although in the last week he’s not done too much but he looked good and comfortable out there.
“Aaron’s not [had a proper pre-season] but the point of the experience today was to give him the matchday experience.
“I know what Aaron’s like and he won’t take too long to get up to speed.”
