If tactics were a simple matter of arithmetic, and two strikers were better than one, Moussa Dembélé and Leigh Griffiths would start every week, Celtic would beat opponents by double-figure margins and Brendan Rodgers, their manager, would be out of a job.
If only it were that easy. Despite repeated suggestions that Rodgers should exploit the respective abilities of Griffiths and Dembélé by finding room for them both in his team, the few performances they have produced as a partnership have served only to justify the manager’s reluctance.
He has no desire to upset the fluency that has enabled Celtic to run amok in domestic competition, which means that the long-running debate as to whether Dembélé or Griffiths should be the team’s lone striker is about to become a much hotter potato than it was earlier in the season.
There was no argument about the strength of Dembélé’s case when he was scoring four goals against Rangers, five in Europe and announcing himself as one of the best young strikers in Europe. The absence through injury of Griffiths only consolidated his place in the side.
But in the space of just a few weeks, the dynamic has changed. As the new year approaches, Dembélé has scored only once in nine appearances, drifted out of too many games and found himself playing second fiddle to Griffiths, who is back from injury and among the goals.
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Even Rodgers admits that the young Frenchman has gone off the boil. “You get that with every player whether you’re 19 or 20 or you’re 28 or 29,” said the former Liverpool manager. “You’re never going to be perfect in every game. I had the same thing with [Philippe] Coutinho at 19, with [Raheem] Sterling at 17 and Joe Allen at 19. When you’re looking to play over 60 games a season, you just can’t — as much as you want to — physically do it. I have the luxury of being able to put one in and bring one out. Moussa and Leigh have different skill sets but they both bring big qualities to the team. Leigh’s in and scoring and the team is winning.”
Griffiths, who scored 40 last season, has started each of Celtic’s last three matches, and found the net in all of them. It will be a surprise if he does not do the same when Partick Thistle visit in the Ladbrokes Premiership this evening.
After that, he is more than capable of adding to his tally against Hamilton Academical and Ross County, on Saturday and Wednesday respectively, but the question is this: in the Old Firm game on Hogmanay, when Rodgers needs a player who contributes more to the build-up, will he revert to his big-game striker?
Picking a team that suits the occasion, rotating his squad and developing fringe players in the process is all part of the job for Rodgers, who has brought several in from the cold during a busy winter schedule. One or two of the club’s academy players are to be tested against Thistle tonight.
His flexibility extends to the team’s tactical approach, which has had to be adapted during the course of their long unbeaten run. Far from being irritated by the way successive opponents have set out to frustrate Celtic, Rodgers has enjoyed the challenge presented by each and every one of them.
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“It’s brilliant,” he said. “Every manager, every coach has a different way. If that’s the philosophy of the opponent, you have to find the way to break that down and I enjoy that. I enjoy that strategic look at the game. How can we play against that? That’s why it’s so important that my team plays out of different systems because eventually, when we get in the flow of our game, it forces teams back and we create chances and normally score goals.
“If teams block out that space then you have to find a different way. The beauty of us now — and there’s still a way to go — is that the tactical flexibility within the team is very good. We can play different structures, different ways.”
Tonight, they face a Thistle side who, despite lying bottom of the table, are likely to be a little more ambitious than Dundee and Hamilton were in recent visits to Celtic Park. Alan Archibald’s team showed a sense of adventure at Tynecastle on Saturday, when they were unfortunate not to beat Hearts.
Rodgers, who welcomes back Scott Brown from suspension, is a fan of the Thistle manager. “I like him. I’ve watched his teams and how he’s tried to play. He’s a courageous coach. He wants his teams to pass the ball and open up, maybe a little more so at the beginning of the season than now. It’s difficult at times when you’re at the bottom, but you keep that belief. He does really well with the limitations he has.”