If the consensus is that Matt O’Riley may be becoming less important at Celtic as the season goes on, nobody has told Ange Postecoglou.
The Celtic manager has offered a strong endorsement of the 22-year-old this weekend, stating he was delighted with O’Riley’s performance in the derby against Rangers last week. It was the midfielder’s piercing run and pass that resulted in Kyogo Furuhashi’s opening goal.
He’s likely to feature in the team against Kilmarnock today too, with Reo Hatate still recovering from injury. Competition has been fierce for midfield positions, especially since the World Cup, with both Hatate and Aaron Mooy in fearsome form for the most part. However, Postecoglou has insisted that will only help Celtic get the best out of O’Riley.
Celtic boss dishes out Matt O’Riley praise
The manager said [Scottish Mail on Sunday, 16/04 print edition page 99]: “I thought Matt was great last week but he has been good all year. To be honest, I have been happy with Matt all along. He is 22 years of age and has been with the club for 18 months. Within that 18 months he has already had success from a team perspective. He has played big domestic games, he has played Champions League football and in a couple of different positions, I think his development and his trajectory has been super.
“He has been a key contributor for us. Yes, he has competition in his position but, like every other player in the team, that is how we get the best out of him. Sometimes other players will play but that does not diminish his contribution this year. We rely on the whole group and whoever needs to step up at any given moment has done so and Matt has certainly been one of them.
“He is an eager learner who wants to get the very most out of his football career. That is the environment here. The players know that every day is an opportunity for them to improve because they are surrounded by others who are looking to do so and by staff who are able to provide them with guidance. Guys like Matt are tapping into that and using it to better themselves. That’s how we provide support to the playing group.”
O’Riley has featured in a massive 43 matches so far this season, which is more than any other player including Joe Hart. A healthy 33 of them have been starts too, so the English-born midfielder is undoubtedly at the front of Postecoglou’s thinking.
There’s an argument for Celtic getting more end product out of him – with just two goals to his name – but he is still a creative force at his best and hopefully he can have a strong end to the season, setting up his third campaign in the Hoops.
In other news, Jurgen Klinsmann ‘really happy’ with Hyeongyu Oh ahead of trip to watch Celtic.
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