‘He needs to improve’… Marc Rieper says 23-year-old Celtic player still needs to get better

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The start if this season under Brendan Rodgers at Celtic couldn’t really have went much better.

Apart from the slip up against St Johnstone, the Celtic manager had beaten Rangers in the first Glasgow Derby of the season, had went unbeaten in his first 16 games, got a creditable draw against Atletico Madrid and narrowly missed beating Lazio in the Champions League.

It was all ticking along quite nicely in the league until December kicked in. But up until that point the team were creating chances, goals where coming from the midfielders and we also had a healthy lead at the top of the table.

We also had a player who was in incredible form in Matt O’Riley. The Danish international was lighting up Europe and was, at one point, Celtic’s top goalscorer.

But it seems that he still has a bit of improving to do if he really wants to make it at international level. That’s according to fomer Celtic defender, Marc Rieper.

Rieper is a huge fan of O’Riley but delivered a stark message that despite his great start to this season, he needs to do more to break into the Denmark team.

Rieper said [Daily Record], “I was over last year at the training ground and had a chat with Matt and the former manager.

“Matt is up against some really well established midfielders in Eriksen and guys like that.

“But he is a player I know the manager is looking after. Morten Wieghorst, who has a big heart for Celtic, is watching him closely. He is a gifted player. He needs to improve in some departments.

“But he is a big player in terms of scoring goals and assists and will be crucial for Celtic in the next few months.”

It does seem that O’Riley’s form has taken a dip since the winter break and the Celtic fans will be hoping that he will return to his brilliant best for the title run-in.

Heaven knows we need him. His goals have been crucial for Celtic this season and his vision at picking out Kyogo Furuhashi at times this season has been unbelievable.

With Celtic now two points behind Rangers, they need their big players to step up and in Matt O’Riley Rodgers has a player who is an out-and-out match-winner.

In other news, ‘Privately’… How Celtic really feel about the criticism aimed at Peter Lawwell