Opinion: The passing statistics that disclose the tactic Celtic seldom use

Celtic under Ange Postecoglou have established a certain style of play. That is, a lot of short passes, and moves that often build from the back. The Hoops don’t play a lot of long balls, this is even true of goalkeeper Joe Hart, who often passes the ball out to one of his centre-backs instead, to try and get the ball forward.

The Hoops goalkeeper doesn’t usually kick the ball up the pitch when he has it in his hands either, mostly he likes to throw it out to a teammate to start a quick attack.

Some interesting statistics from WhoScored.Com show that Celtic don’t like using long balls in a game. In the Premiership so far this season, the Hoops have used an average of 43 long balls per game, compared to an average of 615 short passes per game. That is a remarkable difference in total, and it shows to a tee the type of football Ange Postecoglou has got Celtic playing.

It seems that the only time that a long ball could used by the Hoops in a game is if the Hoops are looking for a winning goal or an equaliser late on in a match. Even then, you it would only be used as a last resort.

A fairly recent example of a goal scored by the Hoops late on in a game was Liel Abada’s late winner against Dundee United. That match-winner didn’t come from a long ball, it was a pinpoint cross from Jota, which found Abada in the penalty box who finished in style.

If Celtic did want to utilise the long ball though, they have a player in the squad who could thrive on that tactic in Giorgos Giakoumakis. The Greek striker showed how good he is in the air when he scored with two headers in the recent win over Ross County.

He looks more than capable of heading on a long ball for another Celtic player to get on the end of and put the ball into the