Ange Postecoglou singles out Celtic talent for praise after derby delight

By Dave Flanigan

September 4, 2022

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has singled out winger Liel Abada for praise after the Israeli winger hit a double against Rangers in yesterday’s derby thumping.

Although Celtic’s team more or less picked itself in the lead up to yesterday’s game, there was much debate about whether Postecoglou would select Abada or Daizen Maeda to start in attack, and Postecoglou was quick to absolve himself of any praise for the decision.

As reported by The Glasgow Times, Postecoglou said:  “It’s not exactly a pat on the back for me because I could have gone with Daizen Maeda and been rewarded as well.

“That’s the easy part of my job. We’ve got some outstanding players who, depending on the day, can do a job for us. But Liel was great.”

The Aussie was keen to praise the young winger’s attitude, insisting that the 20 year old won’t be getting carried away with his derby heroics and will still be looking to improve even after showing like yesterday’s.

Postecoglou said: “He’s an outstanding young man. From the moment he arrived, he hit the ground running and he hasn’t stopped since.

“The fact he gets the amount of goals that he does as a winger, for such a young player, is outstanding. What I do know is that he will come in and get feedback and want to be better than he was.”

Celtic’s derby rivals were given a warning about Abada’s back post runs in the 3-0 defeat in February but it was one that they failed to heed as the Israeli scored a double from a very similar area of the box to his volleyed finish in that fixture.

At only 20, Abada has contributed to some massive moments for Celtic already, with 22 goals in 60 appearances an impressive haul for the youngster.

Whilst there will still be a debate about his starting place going forward with Maeda’s tireless pressing potentially the more obvious choice against Real Madrid on Tuesday, Abada is clearly a player with a huge future ahead of him at Celtic.

In other news: Referee confirmed by UEFA for Celtic vs Real Madrid; match history and info