Kristoffer Ajer’s last two performances for Celtic have been extremely worrying for the so-called wonderkid.
The 20 year old struggled after replacing Mikael Lustig in the first half of Thursday’s match against Red Bull.
Things didn’t get much better for the Norway internationalist yesterday as he faltered badly in Celtic’s 2-0 defeat to Hibs.
First of all, Ajer was not the only player to have struggled in both of these matches.
Of course his horror miss against Salzburg is what first springs to mind over his performance.
However, in the capital yesterday, Ajer’s return to the starting line up didn’t bode well for Celtic.
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His distribution from defence was suspect, and his insistence on stepping out of defence at every opportunity left Celtic short at the back on occasion.
Now to be fair to Ajer, neither goal was his fault, both coming from the opposite end of the pitch.
It just seems that when Ajer is in the team, Celtic don’t move the ball quickly enough out from the back.
Things had improved markedly since Filip Benkovic and Dedryck Boyata formed a solid partnership.
Sunday stunk of the Celtic of earlier in the season, and the second half of last season, when Ajer was a permanent fixture in the team.
He’s extremely rash in the tackle at times and gives away needless free kicks.
It may appear harsh on Ajer, but he may not be ready to be Celtic’s first choice centre half after Boyata and Benkovic leave the club.
Coming to Ajer’s defence
Ajer is not a natural centre half. He was captaining his first club, Start, as a 16 year old midfielder.
Although naturally defensively minded, he has had some adjusting to do to fit into the Celtic team.
He played 16 games on loan at Kilmarnock as a centre half in Brendan Rodgers’ first season at the club.
There’s no doubt Ajer can be a major asset for Celtic in the future. However he has a lot of learning to do before he’s ready to be a man for the Bhoys.