Scottish Cup final 2020: Wide areas key for Hearts & Celtic - Michael Stewart
- Published
Despite their back-to-back wins, the same problems exist for Celtic. Their aura of invincibility has gone and Hearts will feel it is the best chance they've had recently to lift the trophy.
The second half in the 2-0 win against Kilmarnock was an improvement for Neil Lennon's side, but it will not have changed Robbie Neilson's gameplan.
Celtic will try to focus on the positives - that it's two wins in a row for the first time since September, and a first clean sheet in 10 games - but there are still aspects of the game that really need work.
Hearts can exploit wide areas
The transition from defence to attack will be huge for Hearts, and they'll feel they can exploit Celtic in the channels between the centre-backs and full-backs, whether the holders play a back three or four.
That's why Josh Ginnelly will be crucial. When he's missing, Hearts can look a little pedestrian. He has great pace and quality which can stretch Celtic and open gaps centrally for Liam Boyce to exploit.
The Northern Irishman is another player Hearts needs to be fit and firing. At times this season he hasn't been getting into areas to give him the best chance to score goals, but a double from around the six-yard box in the win against Queen of the South is a huge boost. He is a player who can win a match.
I think they will go with Ginnelly on the right and tell him to just run the full-back, with Steven Naismith playing off the left while trying to pick up pockets of space, and Boyce through the middle.
They'll need to have runners beyond the strikers to penetrate. But ultimately it's all about getting down the sides of the centre-halves.
Celtic lacking width
Width in attack will also be crucial for Celtic. This season, they have been far too narrow. Much of their play has been lateral, with wide players cutting inside into a ruck of bodies, which is easily snuffed out.
It becomes like basketball or netball where it's one way, then the other, then back over the other side - there is no penetration. The likes of Ryan Christie or Tom Rogic are then forced to try to thread a pass through the eye of a needle.
Stretching teams out wide to create gaps centrally was something Celtic were brilliant at under Brendan Rodgers. A great example was in December 2016 when they were down 2-0 to Motherwell at half-time.
Mark McGhee's side had gone man-for-man and pressed the life out of them and deservedly led, but Rodgers switched to a 3-4-3 formation with a diamond in midfield at half-time, and it sparked a 4-3 comeback win.
Watch: Celtic pick apart Motherwell in 2016
Callum McGregor's goal got things going just three minutes after the break and was a brilliant example of the wide players - in this case Patrick Roberts and James Forrest - creating space.
As McGregor gets the ball on the edge of the box, you could throw a blanket over five Celtic players standing centrally. He gives it to Rogic, and as the Australian performs a Cruyff turn back inside, you can see Roberts and Forrest drifting out wide.
It opens up a space on the edge of the box, which Stuart Armstrong steps into to play a one-two with McGregor, who finishes into the corner.
The beauty of that goal was the more you saw it, the more you realise the players have an awareness that: 'We need to get out of here, there's too many of us and we're static.'
So it's not just that Celtic need to get men in the wide areas, it's the timing of players arriving there. I would be flabbergasted if the current management team hadn't been taking steps to fix this, but as each game goes by and the same issues persist, you start to wonder.
I'd be hammering it home on the training ground so that it becomes sub-conscious for the players.
Turnbull & Johnston boost
Two major positives for Celtic against Kilmarnock were the performance of David Turnbull and the return of Mikey Johnston from injury.
Johnston gives them something they don't have, which is raw pace combined with the ability to drop the shoulder and go past players. Pace frightens teams and gives you the ability to counter at speed.
Turnbull was excellent again, having got a goal and assist in the 3-2 win against Lille. He always gets in positions to shoot, and invariably hits the target.
You can see how he'll continue to create and score for Celtic, and his delivery at set-pieces is a big threat, with Christopher Jullien and Shane Duffy both benefitting from his corners in recent games. I expect Scott Brown to come back in to the side, but Turnbull also has to start.
It will be a very, very intriguing game. If Celtic win, it's three in a row, another trophy and things could just ignite.
But in a lot of games this season, it looks as though the players are waiting for something to spark. In the cup final, rather than waiting to win it, they have to go and make it happen.
Michael Stewart was speaking to BBC Sport Scotland's Thomas Duncan