Balancing immediate results with a long-term footballing vision is among the toughest tasks any manager faces. After Martin O’Neill stabilised Celtic, the club turned to Wilfried Nancy, the 2024 MLS Coach of the Year, a coach renowned for bold ideas and proactive football.
The Frenchman endured a difficult start, losing his first four matches, but Sunday’s 3-1 win over Aberdeen offered timely relief. Despite early setbacks, the tactical identity Nancy is trying to build is already becoming clear — and it differs sharply from what Celtic fans are used to.
The system Nancy is implementing
Nancy has wasted little time introducing the high-possession 3-4-2-1 system that brought success with Columbus Crew. In build-up play, Celtic often form a 3-2 structure, with three central defenders supported closely by two midfielders.
Wing-backs are instructed to stay high and wide, while two attacking midfielders operate centrally behind the striker. This creates a box shape in midfield, allowing multiple passing angles and numerical superiority in central areas.
At Columbus, Nancy deliberately selected positionally flexible players. Defenders like Steven Moreira, Sean Zawadzki and Malte Amundsen were comfortable stepping into midfield or full-back zones, enabling fluid rotations and constant movement.
Early team selections at Celtic have drawn criticism, especially the use of just one natural centre-back, but Nancy may persist with this approach as he learns which players can adapt to his demands.
Centre-backs as attackers and playmakers
A defining feature of Nancy’s football is how his centre-backs are encouraged to step into midfield. At Columbus, the right-sided defender frequently moved forward unmarked, becoming an extra midfielder during build-up.
This demands technical quality and tactical awareness — traits Nancy values highly. He is also comfortable with asymmetrical shapes, sometimes committing six or more players to one side of the pitch to create overloads.
By keeping distances short between players, passing becomes easier and quicker. The objective is to lure opponents forward, then suddenly accelerate play into the space left behind when pressure arrives.
Players are encouraged to attack the gaps created by teammates vacating zones. Markers often follow runners out of position, opening lanes for wing-backs, midfielders and even defenders to surge forward from deep areas.
This explains why Kieran Tierney, operating as a left-sided centre-back, has been heavily involved in attack — scoring two goals in three league games and regularly delivering crosses after underlapping runs.
Encouraging signs going forward
From an attacking perspective, there are reasons for optimism. Celtic have shown clear improvement over their last two matches, despite losing one of them.
In the defeat at Dundee United, they created numerous clear chances, while against Aberdeen they dominated possession with 71% of the ball, unleashed 31 shots, recorded an expected goals figure of 4.53, and struck the post four times.
Even accounting for Aberdeen being reduced to 10 men, those numbers underline how dangerous Celtic can be when Nancy’s ideas click. Poor finishing, misfortune and strong goalkeeping limited them to three goals.
Importantly, attacking cohesion appears to be gradually improving, suggesting players are starting to understand the movements and timings required.
Nancy allows players significant freedom, something that can take time to translate into consistency. As he once explained during his MLS tenure: “For me, there is no creativity in structure. Within our concepts, players can move freely.”
Defensive risks and ongoing concerns
Nancy’s attacking philosophy comes with trade-offs. He prefers cut-backs and central combinations over traditional crossing, seeking precision rather than volume.
Early in his Celtic reign, crosses often resulted in turnovers, leaving the team exposed with fewer players behind the ball. This vulnerability has led to dangerous counter-attacks.
When possession is lost, Nancy demands immediate counter-pressing, but if it lacks coordination, large gaps can appear between defence and midfield, making Celtic easy to play through.
Set-pieces have also been a weakness. The squad appears short of dominant profiles — both aerially and physically — partly due to prioritising technical defenders over traditional stoppers.
Nancy believes some of the issues stem from a lack of intensity after the first clearance, though personnel choices inevitably affect how solid a team can be in these moments.
Why patience is essential
Celtic recruited Nancy fully aware of his footballing model: a three-at-the-back system designed to invite pressure before exploiting the space it creates.
Whether this approach succeeds in Scottish domestic football — where opponents often defend deep rather than press — will be central to his long-term success.
His teams rely on constant rotation, diagonal runs, one-touch combinations and freedom of expression. It is a demanding style that has worked before, particularly in MLS, and recent performances suggest it can work again.
However, for it to truly flourish, Nancy will need time, trust and suitable signings. Progress may not always be linear, and expectations at Celtic leave little margin for error.
That is why the win over Aberdeen — even with late goals against 10 men — felt significant. It may not have been perfect, but it represented a necessary step forward in a project that is still very much taking shape.
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