Celtic's midfield duo of Landry Nguemo and Marc Crosas catalyst among the pigeons

Published on Saturday 19 December 2009 20:48

CELTIC ARE like a three-legged dog right now. With fully functioning attack, midfield and goalkeeper, they can stand solidly and are therefore not seriously hampered by a missing limb where a defence should be. Integral to that solidity is a pairing in the centre of the park that is proving to be a genuine partnership – a rare thing at Celtic in recent times.

Landry Nguemo and Marc Crosas will link up for the tenth consecutive game when Celtic face Hearts at Tynecastle today. First-team coach Peter Grant describes the combination of the Cameroonian and the Catalan as the "catalyst" in a recent revival that has seen Tony Mowbray's men slam-in 14 goals in five games.

These two midfielders bring balance, rapid recycling of possession and the ability to pick a runner. And it's changing the way Celtic are performing. For the better. There seems scant acknowledgement of the benefits accrued from a still-rawish duo. The 5ft 8in pair have been accused of being too alike and too lightweight. They have individual weaknesses, too. Crosas is criticised for his tackling, Nguemo for being wasteful with the ball. They are guilty on both counts. Yet they also have a lot going for them, and are giving much to Celtic going forward. It should be remembered that the pair didn't play regular top-flight football until shortly before they turned 20. For Barcelona-raised Crosas, that was only two years ago, in a loan spell with Lyon. Until now, moreover, he had never enjoyed a run of nine straight games since developing with Barcelona B.

Nguemo, meanwhile, is hardly Methuselah at 24. Indeed, this season seems certain to bring him more senior involvement across a single campaign than any of the four he had with Nancy, to whom Celtic are expected to pay 1.75m at the conclusion of the player's year-long loan next summer. The twosome is certainly worth persevering with.

"Nguemo is evolving and young Marc always played in a three at Barcelona," says Grant. "It was difficult for him to get close to the opposition when the ball changed hands, now he is getting better all the time. We have played top sides in Europe and Landry has looked to go and get involved. There is going and giving help, but he has seen that as being five or ten yards away. What we are saying to him is that he can be 15, 20 yards away. We are saying to him not to run to the ball and leave big gaps but wait for it to come. You like to think they are growing with the run and hope they can keep doing so, keep learning the more time you work with them. You hope you have the opportunity to give them that time."

As a midfield sitter in the days before it was described as "playing the Makelele role", Grant knows what he's talking about. "If Makelele had played up here he would have been ripped apart," he says. "I was doing it when there was only two of us in midfield. I would have loved to play with three midfield players. These sort of players you don't always miss until they are not playing."

Celtic have had some of the finest "holding role" exponents across the past decade. Neil Lennon and Paul Lambert did it in the club's most successful team in 30 years. They were at the peak of their careers when paired, however. It is doubtful that Nguemo and Crosas will enjoy such longevity. It is questionable whether the 21-year-old has much of a future at all. Whenever given the opportunity, Mowbray has been reticent to talk up an intelligent footballer. He has attributes but things he has to work on, tends to be the Celtic manager's stock response. It required the departure of Massimo Donati – a player Mowbray and Grant still pine for – and a long-term injury to Scott Brown for Mowbray to turn to Crosas. Yet, even in an up-and-down season, when Gordon Strachan tended to use him in less pressurised fixtures, Crosas made a difference. Celtic's net-bulging was dreadfully erratic last season. However, on one occasion they scored seven goals, and in five other games plundered four goals. Crosas started all but one of these.

The presence of the Catalan and Nguemo has been cited as a reason why Celtic's defence has had the perforation of a tea-bag lately – three goals in 19 minutes in Vienna, three in 40 minutes in Falkirk, two in 25 minutes in Motherwell and two in seven minutes at Tannadice. The reality is, though, that Celtic can't keep clean sheets because their centre-backs Stephen McManus, Gary Caldwell and Glenn Loovens are woefully deficient.

"They come in to the dressing room and you don't have to shout at them because they know they've made errors," Grant says. "All we say to them is to be top players they have to cut these out. The other night Stephen hadn't played for a few games and was hyped up to do well. Glenn was moved to the opposite side from where he has been playing. You can make excuses for them but... It is sometimes not the best players who become the best defenders but those with the best concentration. Especially at the Old Firm.

"You have to have the mentality, hunger and desire not to concede. Of the players I played with, Mick McCarthy had that. I used to say he was world class and people laughed. But he was world class with the mouth. When we were attacking he would say to me 'right shoulder' 'left shoulder' 'push round' 'tuck in' because he didn't want to be isolated. So everyone was organised. That is what we are trying to get in to our defenders."

There is more mileage in trying to impress upon Nguemo and Crosas what is required of them. Their centre-backs appear irredeemable and Celtic are in no position to finance a move to bring a straight-up-and-down, bruiser of a centre-back from a second-tier English side, as happened when McCarthy joined from Manchester City in 1987.