Matt O'Riley

Looks tired, isn’t playing in his best position - but that’s been thrust upon him so I’m not going to be too critical.

Rested midweek.

 

Stepped up recently but he was * poor today. Looked absolutely shattered

 

Not his best by a long way but playing out of position against tougher SPFL sides was always going to be a challenge for him, especially as he doesn't have Cals experience. Ideally we would have had a two goal cushion and could have brought Abildgaard on sooner to rest Matt for midweek but just wasn't that kind of game.

That said we made it through another game while Cal is out without dropping points. An ugly win is still a win. On to the next.

 

Thought he was dreadful today so sloppy

 

Empty Jersey at times recently... More off than on this season.

 

Absolute rank, him and hatate (whonis getting motm all over the place in that other thread, he was utter gash) , mooy was pants too but far better than they two combined.

Caused one of the goals with a shambolic ball to bernabei who was bad enough without that.

 

Don't think the deep-lying DM role does him justice tbh

I'd be inclined to try Abildgaard or Guchi in there to allow him to go back further forward where he can do damage.

 

Midfield 3 isn't working. He's not mobile enough to play in there himself, although he has made some great challenges in the past few games while playing the position. Mooy's lack of mobility isn't helping either. We really need to get some pace into our midfield.

 

Will take time to develop into playing there, he probably will end up playing there when he moved to England as he's too slow to play further forward but isn't really a replacement for McGregor in there, McGregor is very slick on the turn and can spring attacks where as O'Riley is stiffer on the turn and always needs to take touches and slow things.

 

We might want to switch to a double pivot midfield, and try Hatate as a mobile AM.

 

Anonymous today and his passing was terrible.

 

Bad today but I think that was more a product of that line-up struggling with Hearts pressure. We had Bernabei who is nowhere as composed as Taylor, Mooy who I think was struggling to get into the the right spots as we played out, Ralston who isn't able to carry the ball forward like Juranovic to relieve pressure, Forrest and Maeda, neither of whom tend to stretch the game and are more likely to pass the ball backwards, especially Daizen. All of those things combined lead to O'Riley forcing it at times.

 

Probably his worst game for Celtic, passing was really off with the worst one leading to the 2nd pen. Looks shattered but need him back to his best for this run of games.

 

He’s not quick enough on the turn to play that role. You watch McGregor and he can open up space with a touch and turn, O’Reilly turns like a bus at times and then immediately puts himself under pressure.

I think Hatate would be better in the sitting role or get Abildgaard game time.

 

I doubt very much Abildgaard would be any quicker on the turn than O'Riley. The trouble is we just don't have another player who can do it like Cal. Just need to keep winning points until he is back, even if it's luck or gritt that wins them.

I think Matt has coped very well filling in for Cal until now but was a bit out of his depth there today. Might be tirdness and lack of experience catching up with him, if so having to stay on for 90+ today won't help for midweek.

 

It's part of why McGregor is so important for us. Being able to take the ball on the turn and open up passing options makes a big difference. I don't think Hatate would work in that position because he's more of a risk taker who gives the ball too much, and he can be prone to lapses of concentration.

Abildgaard is still a bit of an unknown, but so far he doesn't look much more mobile than O'Riley and he's likely not as good technically.

Mooy has the technical ability and temperament but lacks the mobility and the pace to recover when the ball turns over. Plus with the amount of chances he's creating, I'd rather him playing further forward.

O'Riley, although not perfectly suited, is the best option we have at the moment.

 

More encouragingly for Postecoglou has been the recent performances of Matt O’Riley who has adapted to Callum McGregor’s role in the Celtic midfield. The Parkhead captain is not expected to be fit before the World Cup next month with O’Riley filling the void.




We always feel we are a better side with a technical player in there and Matty certainly is that,” said Postecoglou. “I have been really impressed with him, he is a mature young man and he has taken all the information on board. It is isn’t only what he is doing with the ball, from a defensive point of view he is working really hard for the team.

“It is a credit to him. We knew we had picked up a talented footballer but he is also a young man who wants to get better and take his football to another level. This has been a new challenge for him but he has taken it on board really well.”

 

McGregor is the key to the system without doubt and irreplaceable, hopefully Abildgaard comes good.

 

He is miles off it

 

Talk of him being "destined for the top" should be cooled. Been way off it for weeks and weeks and has been extremely poor in Europe. Big learning curve for him. Should tone down the talk of teams who are looking at him and make sure he gets his form back