Celtic dropped their first set of points under Martin O’Neill on Sunday at Tynecastle.
Even though ten-man Celtic managed to take a point against Hearts, it was still a negative result because the Hoops are still trailing in the Premiership table, and the performance was rather worrying.
Celtic are playing some dire football, and it’s proven by how the midfield is operating, because they couldn’t string a pass together against the Jambos.
Chris Sutton isn’t shy to say what he thinks, and he made sure to call out Arne Engels for what he is producing in the middle of the park.
- READ MORE: Callum McGregor weighs in on Celtic red card with the ‘only question’ he has for John Beaton
Is Arne Engels ‘hiding’ in a Celtic shirt?
Chris Sutton calls out Arne Engels for ‘hiding’ as Celtic drop points at Hearts
Engels is Celtic’s club-record transfer, and unfortunately, he hasn’t performed anywhere near those levels since joining the club during the summer of 2024.
Against the Premiership leaders, Sutton feels Celtic were getting ‘bullied’, and Martin O’Neill will be aware of the huge task on his hands.
Speaking on The Warm-Up, Sutton proceeded to namecheck Engels and how he is ‘hiding’ in a Celtic shirt.
Sutton: “I thought Hearts bullied Celtic. That would be a worry. Martin will be well aware of that. He will be working ferociously hard.”
Steven Naismith: “Going back to the game, I think for the first half an hour, Hearts didn’t really know how to go about the game, which allowed Celtic the opportunity to get that passing.
“But the passing was probably some of the worst I have seen in any Celtic team. That core of that midfield.”
Sutton: “Engels hides, in my opinion. If you look at the way Hearts wanted Celtic to build. Leave Trusty on the ball. Nullify McGregor, and everybody has cottoned onto that. Nullify McGregor and Celtic have a problem. If Engels was hiding.”
Is the Celtic midfield too one-dimensional?
Passing percentage of Celtic midfielders against Hearts
The three men who started in the middle of the park for Celtic against Hearts were Callum McGregor, Benjamin Nygren and Engels.
Even though O’Neill had Paulo Bernardo and Luke McCowan on the bench, he opted against using them, as the trio played the entire 90 minutes.
And this is what their pass completion rate looked like.
- Passes made by Engels: 36
- Pass percentage: 58.3%
- Passes made by McGregor: 35
- Pass percentage: 65.75
- Passes made by Nygren: 17
- Pass percentage: 76.5%
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
