Gordon Strachan plans Celtic revival using Man Utd model

Apr 13 2008 By Mark Guidi

GORDON STRACHAN has tried to model his Celtic team on Man United - now he's praying his players can be as prolific as Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez.

Strachan's side have failed to score in three of their last four SPL games and have slumped seven points behind Rangers in the title race.

Walter Smith's men also have a game in hand and are odds-on to win the SPL crown for the first time since 2005.

But Gers have a backlog of fixtures and the Hoops can put some pressure on their rivals by defeating Motherwell at Fir Park today.

Strachan is confident his men can make amends for last week's shock 1-0 defeat by Well at Parkhead.

But he knows they need to find the cutting edge of Sir Alex Ferguson's deadly trio in front of goal.

The Celtic gaffer said: "I'm pleased with the performances. We're tackling well, getting crosses in and heading well. And we're getting shots in on goal.

"We're ticking all the boxes except the most important one - scoring goals.

"When we played Aberdeen in the SPL in February we had 16 shots on goal and scored five.

"But when they came to our place in the Scottish Cup replay we had 26 shots on goal and failed to score.

"So we know what we have to do and will keep playing with two strikers. That's what people want to see and it's what I like in my team. We will also continue to play with wide men.

"I like to base the style ofmy team on that of Manchester United. That's my philosophy on the game."

While some Celtic players have under-performed this season Strachan reckons Aiden McGeady and Shunsuke Nakamura have been different class.

He said: "Nakamura has made a phenomenal contribution. He missed half the season through injury but has still chipped in with six goals.

"Aiden has scored eight and has more assists than any player in Scotland. The pair of them have been invaluable.

"They're both entertainers. They beat players and make telling passes. You build your team with them in mind.

"Whatever people think about them they have not been a problem for us this season.

"If you analyse it properly you'll see we haven't scored a goal from central midfield since November and haven't scored as many times from set-pieces as we did in the last two seasons."

The goals may have dried up recently but the Parkhead side have the best defensive record in the SPL, conceding just 21 goals in 31 games.

Strachan said: "I know stats might not be what people want to hear and it's up to you if you take them on board.

"In our last five games we have limited the opposition to six, possibly seven, shots on goal. That's 1.2 chances per game.

"The best defensive Italian coach would be happy with that.

"However, I accept we need to score goals and we will try to do that against Motherwell.

"We'll start converting some of the chances and it needs to happen this weekend. A win will give us a boost and make life a bit more bearable."

Missing chances is something Hoops defender AndreasHinkel reckons the players must blank out in order to stay positive.

The German says Celtic can retain their title but admitted: "It's out of our hands and that's not a good position to be in.

"The last fewgames have felt strange as we have dominated possession and made lots of chances but drawn a blank.

"It becomes even harder as the opposition create just one or two chances and score a goal.

"Maybe we are thinking too much in the penalty area.

"We need to be more calm and relaxed. The goalswill come and it's important for strikers to have confidence. They only get that by scoring goals."