Christopher Jullien - The Last Five
Celtic splashed out around £7m on the French centre back from Toulouse continuing the French connection which has proved fruitful at Celtic Park in recent years.
I may not be adding anything to what you've read already but I like to watch centre backs especially so I watched his last five league matches. I will likely spend too much time on small stuff because, well, I'm that guy.
Opponents - Dijon(A), Marseille(H), Amiens(A), Rennes(H) & Lille(H)
The Positives
It only took 11 seconds of Christopher Jullien's most recent game vs Dijon for Jullien's best attribute to come to the fore. He's very athletic. Dijon were put through on goal only for Jullien to gallop over and put out the fire. Physically he looks a bit of a monster. I'd assume at Celtic he'll be playing a lot further up the field so his acceleration will be a massive plus when teams bang it over the top for forwards to chase. Don't be surprised if we see him sprinting across the field then slide tackling opponents. Fun for the whole family.
Another trait that should translate well to the Scottish game is his aerial dominance. Over the five games, I think he lost 1 header. He is absolutely in control of anything in the air, even when he doesn't win the header himself he makes sure his opponent doesn't win it. Toulouse fired every long free-kick to the back post for Jullien to win, to the extent that one team put two men on him, didn't matter, in the end, he still got a knockdown. I don't think there's any doubt we'll see Celtic's goals from set-pieces rise with Jullien in the lineup next season. Below are videos showing his aerial prowess in open play and then set pieces.
Not sure if this is indicative of Ligue 1 as a whole but Toulouse faced a lot of crosses in these games. For the most part, this played into Christopher Jullien's hands. He's terrific at anticipating where the cross will go, it obviously helps when you're 6 foot 5 but he's a bit of a magnet to a cross ball.
Due to the wing preference of their opponents, Jullien didn't really get many strikers backing into him providing a focal point but when he did get a chance his tackles were really clean. No tangle of legs, no ball getting caught between legs, he won the ball and moved it forward. Even his slide tackles look elegant. At Celtic, he'll need to be more proactive with Celtic likely to press the game which isn't the strongest part of his game at the moment.
On the ball, he's a very confident passer. Willing to take the ball in any situation, he keeps it simple. Playing LCB can be tough for right footers as they find it difficult playing out with their left foot so Jullien usually finds the left-back or the deepest midfielder to keep it moving. It'll be interesting to see who Lennon prefers at LCB with Ajer playing there last year. I think Jullien at RCB would be great as he'll be more adventurous with his passes, it's not happened too often at LCB but when he does try the more difficult passes he can absolutely fizz it through the lines.
The Negatives
The biggest negative in these games was the relationship with the left-back. Any team that had their winger high and wide would easily exploit that side of the pitch. The Toulouse full-back would press the winger leaving a space in behind but Jullien wouldn't leave the centre of the pitch to close the gap. He was rooted to the width of the goal which is baffling considering he's more than quick enough to cover the gap.
Toulouse tried to slot a midfielder in the gap but that just gave up territory in the middle. Ideally, once the left-back has pressed the winger on the touchline, the rest of the back four all narrow in one position shutting off any through ball but Jullien rarely moved over. Any ball in behind that space caused havoc for Toulouse. If Jullien plays LCB he'll need to improve this part of the game massively as Kieran Tierney or Boli Bolingoli will likely be attacking pressing left-backs.
A strange thing I noticed was how rash he could be. For someone so composed in standing tackles, if he gets beaten by a dribble he seems to foul most of the time. His teammates can be in a good position to deal with it but Jullien's reaction is to foul. Especially in Europe, it'll be interesting to see if he eradicates this from his game.
I saw that tweet after the signing was announced and laughed. If a player is only responsible for 3 goals in a team that conceded 57 league goals his teammates must be absolutely terrible. Alas, it was just Whoscored not doing things properly however Jullien did make a few key errors in the 5 games I watched.
Game 1 vs Dijon he wasn't aware of where the defensive line was playing an opponent onside for him to slot it away. If he moved with the line he would've played him offside. He also had a lucky escape after getting caught on the ball in his own box leading to him bringing down an opponent only for the ref to overlook it.
Game 2 vs Marseille after a solid performance against one of the better Ligue 1 teams he folded in the last 10 minutes. Completely switching off on two occasions which lead to goals conceded.
Game 5 vs Rennes he ducked out of the way of a shot whereas if he stood still he'd block it very easily. He's a massive unit but does have a slight tendency to turn his back with shots from distance.
A good manager/coach/analyst won't take long in ironing out the downsides to Christopher Jullien's game and in my opinion this will be a terrific addition to Celtic's squad.
Naebody is allowed to nab this and stick it in an article.