In a six-nil routing over St Johnstone, Celtic showed off their incredible depth, bringing on the likes of Adam Idah, Reo Hatate and James Forrest to maintain the lightning quick tempo. Auston Trusty had filled in for the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers from the start, Alex Valle had replaced an injured Greg Taylor at half time, nevertheless, the impeccable standards remained.
An Improved Summer of Recruitment for Celtic Beckons European Run
The Comparison with Last Summer
The comparison couldn’t be starker. Just months after Ange Postecoglou headed to Spurs off the back of a magnificent treble, Celtic added nine players to their squad as Jota, Aaron Mooy and Carl Starfelt all exited. Any positives were pretty hard to find.
Paulo Bernardo impressed enough to warrant a permanent move, although the Portuguese star has reached new levels this season. Luis Palma proved to be a reliable goal scorer for the first half of the season, but tailed off badly and now finds himself out of the picture at Parkhead. Yang and Odin Thiago Holm looked bright at times, but both sit on the fringes with game time looking unlikely.
Maik Nawrocki, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Marco Tilio and Heyeok-kyu Kwon all failed to make an impression meanwhile a loan move for Nat Philips went down as one of the worst moves in the history of Scottish football.
The strategy to recruit in mass was a mistake. Bulk buying may work with food produce, but not on a football park.
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Since last January though, the focus has been on quality over quantity.
Nicolas Kuhn, Kasper Schmeichel, Bernardo and Idah have proved roaring successes, Arne Engels has fitted seamlessly into the Matt O’Riley role, plus Valle, Trusty and Luke McCowan have added quality in depth.
Matt O’Riley Exit Hasn’t Hampered Celtic
When O’Riley walked out the door for around £30 million, many worried. The Dane was Celtic’s player of the season last term, and at times looked irreplicable. Taking a stalwart provider out of the midfield trio was always going to provoke apprehension among the Celtic faithful.
However, credit where it’s due, the champions have acted smartly. They have re-invested that money and the overall outfit looks no worse off. It’s early days to judge Engels, but one thing is for sure, the Hoops are just as good a team with him in it.
Bernardo has also taken his game to a new level, becoming a frequent goal-scorer and a wonderful teammate.
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The Intensity Level
Intensity has been the buzzword from Brendan Rodgers this season. The pace of the game has improved incredibly, and while this is partly due to a more routine pre-season, recruitment has helped.
The Northern Irishman can call on changes from left, right and centre to keep the legs fresh, and the quality doesn’t drop, which goes for every position on the park.
In defence, Trusty excelled against St Johnstone in place of Carter-Vickers meanwhile Valle stylishly set up Idah for his fourth goal in three games.
In midfield, Callum McGregor will always start as the deepest of the three, but there are a plethora of options to choose from in front of him. Engels and Bernardo are in magnificent form, Reo Hatate is a class act plus McCowan has impressed.
In the front line, Kuhn, Kyogo and Daizen Maeda are as dangerous a front three as Celtic fans can remember. The famous Abada-Kyogo-Jota trio under Ange Postecoglou has met its match; it could be argued it’s been eclipsed. Idah, Forrest, and Palma all provide goal-scoring threats from the bench, each with different attributes.
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How Far Can Celtic Go?
Domestically, it’s hard to see any other winner come the end of the season. This Celtic team is light years ahead of their current rivals Aberdeen, plus third place Rangers.
The European stage is where they will look to make progress. Already with a five-one win in the bag, confidence will be sky-high. Tough fixtures await with trips to Dortmund and Atalanta plus a home tie against Leipzig. After that though, three incredibly winnable ties are in the midst with Brugge and Young Boys at home plus a voyage to a Dinamo Zagreb side that shipped nine to Bayern Munich.
Rodgers will say ‘a game at a time’, and rightly so. Football can change in an instant, it has a knack for humbling the complacent.
Yet, he must be licking his lips at the prospect of a proper run with this Celtic side, the light looks as bright as it has in a long time. In the meantime, they face Borussia Dortmund this Tuesday night, with last year’s Champions League runners-up fresh from a 4-2 victory over Bochum.
The Hoops will go in as underdogs, but if they were to ever cause an upset, surely now would be the time.
