‘See this every week in the Netherlands’ – Voetbal International

It was an awkward moment. In the match against Club Brugge, Celtic were pushed hard at home. Without looking, Carter-Vickers played the ball back to goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. Only, the Danish goalie was not at all where the American expected him to be and the ball rolled agonizingly slowly into the goal: 0-1. The goal was widely referred to in the English media as ‘a moment of horror’.

“I see this almost every week in the Netherlands,” Mulder began. ‘We invented total football, but now there is a Christmas party in the asylum every week. This is the new kind of football, I’m afraid. And that’s because of that data. Defenders are now asked to build up. If they give a wrong pass, the computer will put a cross next to their name and of course they don’t want that.’

‘Insane’, said Mulder, who did not blame the eighteen-time United States international. ‘This is his trainer’s fault. This can’t be something like this, can it? As a neutral viewer in the stadium you are already terrified during such phases, let alone if you are a fan of the team that does it.’

Click on the text above the video to view the goal.

Celtic coach Brendan Rodgers, who according to Mulder was responsible, did not blame his defender much either. “Sometimes you make mistakes and it was just unfortunate,” he said. “He’s played that pass a million times. Just go back and then we can move forward again.’

‘But he’s tough. A fantastic guy and he has recovered well,” said the Northern Ireland manager. ‘He was just strong and aggressive again and played really bravely in the second half. He kept bringing the ball forward to start an attack.”

In the end, Celtic came back and drew at home against the Belgian champions. Due to the draw, both teams are still in a place for the knockout phase play-offs, although the gap with the teams below that line is not large.

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