Does Griffiths Set Edouard Free?

Wednesday against Nomme Kalju may have been a glimpse into the way Lennon’s Celtic will play. Following the Rodgers 4-2-3-1 template to see out last season, we saw 4-4-2 and 4-4-1-1 in preseason. In reality, a lack of striking options has stymied any thoughts of two up front. But against the Estonians, both Edouard and Griffiths were pitched in.

Firstly, to be transparent, I know a lot of supporters hanker after “two up top” but I am not personally convinced.

It means there is a risk you will have two players who will play little part in the game, and the first line of defence is usually easy to play through leaving eight between the opposition and the goal.

There is a risk of being over loaded 3 v2 in central midfield.

Finally, with a single striker and two wide attackers who form a five out of possession, you can have three players who will regularly get into scoring positions. Sinclair and Forrest scored 34 between them last season in addition to the striking totals.

However, having two strikers was favoured by Lennon at Hibernian (either 4-4-2 or 3-5-2) and in his previous Celtic stint.

So, with Lennon stating he wants another striker in the window to make four with Bayo, this may be a more regular facet of Celtic’s play this season.

What did the Nomme Kalju tie tell us?

Partnership

Link up between the pair was sparse. This isn’t a Hooper / Stokes type partnership. There were no penetrative forward passes between the two.

They were both involved in only one chance.

On 18 minutes Griffiths corner found Edouard whose header was blocked by another Hooped shirt in the 6-yard box.

There was nothing more to speak of in open play however.

With little utility added as a pair, how did it affect individual performances?

Griffiths

The returning member of the 100-goal club had a classic Griffiths match. He completed 3 open play passes in 59 minutes.

Yet he scored a beauty of a free kick and created three chances, all from corners, for Simunovic, Edouard and Forrest.

This set piece delivery has been missed by Celtic. Incredibly, Griffiths completed 6 corner passes compared to only 3 open play passes.

He even had more shot at goal (4) than completed passes (3). Peak Griffiths!

With xG of 0.608 and xA of 0.231, he was worth his goal.

At 28 it is unlikely Griffiths will massively evolve his game to be a foil to another striker. But having him on the pitch means chances and shots even if there is little tangible build up play.

This was an atypical Griffiths performance but more so – less involvement in the play – perhaps Edouard’s presence allows him to divest even more of those dull non-shooting, non-chance creating actions!

Edouard

The young French player is more mobile and tends to drift into different areas compared to Griffiths. This may allow the Scot greater space to exploit of course.

Edouard led the line for most of last season but you always felt that this wasn’t his sweet spot as a role. He likes to drift off to inside left and a bit deeper. He is a menace when allowed the ball on the turn facing up centre backs. The oh-so brief partnership with Dembele at the start of last season looked promising.

And some may point to the fact he did not score and conclude he was blunted playing alongside Griffiths.

But we need to look at his overall contribution.

Despite playing against relatively weak opposition, Edouard has less shots, possession in the opposition box and a lower xG than his averages from last season.

But he completed 49% more passes (greater involvement), created 4 chances and was the provider of the establishing pass (Secondary Assist) on 3 occasions. Overall, he was involved in 10 of the 23 chances Celtic created (3 as shooter). All of the creative stats were higher than his 2018/19 averages.

Edouard adapted to the two striker configuration by having a more comprehensive impact on the game despite the 0 goals.

Conclusion

It is one game against a poor-quality opponent. And it is the first sighting of a two-man attack for Lennon’s Celtic. Minimal data, very early days.

But the initial signs are Griff will be Griff and that is strangely reassuring!

But Edouard may be released from leading the line to be the more rounded attacker he has always promised. Having Griffiths or another leading the line frees Edouard to take up more varied, deeper and interesting positions. From there he is capable of getting shots off but also being the link man for others.

I’ll continue to monitor.