Scott McDonald has stated that he doesn’t think Ange Postecoglou “really believes” in Celtic midfielder Ismaila Soro.
Soro has missed the last 5 league games after being a regular in the matchday squad during the early stages of the campaign. The Ivorian played a part in 14 of the opening 15 games this term. However, he’s found game-time hard to come by over the last month.
Postecoglou has gone with Callum McGregor and Nir Bitton as his sitters over the course of October. Soro, meanwhile, has been left out of the matchday squads entirely outside of in the Europa League. The former Bnei Yehuda talent has struggled to make the same level of impression he did at the tail-end of 2020.
And speaking exclusively to 67HailHail, McDonald believes the manager isn’t keen on placing his faith in the midfielder: “I don’t think he fancies Soro after the beginning of the season to be honest. Hearts away – the first game of the season – it just didn’t work. He didn’t have a very good game.
“Obviously the promise of him coming in when everything was going bad last year, it might’ve sort of made him look probably better than what he is because of the situation. Who knows? I thought he was doing okay but since he took that role and everyone thought he was going to be the guy that was going to sit, he never took it with 2 hands.
“I just don’t think Ange really believes in him.”
Ange Postecoglou showing no urge to give Ismaila Soro a Celtic reprieve
That’s just the cold hard fact of the matter. Even if Postecoglou sees something in the Ivorian, he’s certainly been in no rush to throw him back into the first-team.
After all, we’ve had a quick turnaround of games since the October international break. Yet with the likes of Bitton being given an opportunity ahead of Soro instead, it doesn’t read too well for the energetic grafter.
Soro does plenty of work when on the pitch. He covers a lot of ground and looks to make his presence known in the engine room. The only issue is that he goes a touch too far when doing so. Whether it be committing too many fouls or being caught out of position, Soro doesn’t appear to take in the tactical side of things.
Maybe that’s why Postecoglou is at pains to invest anymore trust into him. Perhaps he sees Soro as a bit of a liability. He wouldn’t be wrong either, and it’s something the Ivorian must improve upon.
It’s difficult to see how or when he gets his next opportunity to thrive in the Celtic first-team again. Postecoglou barely says much about his situation and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out he isn’t impressing enough.
A big next 6 months await Soro as he tries to make an impression before the summer window.
In other news, John Hartson admits he can’t understand Celtic swapping penalty-kick takers
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