Matt O’Riley has stated his tendency to drift out wide for Celtic comes down to the manager’s system as he revealed it wasn’t encouraged at his previous club.
O’Riley has made a seriously positive impression on the Celtic supporters ever since his arrival from England’s League One last month. Already, Matt has a superb 3 assists and 1 goal to his name. That’s despite taking part in our toughest domestic fixtures such as Tynecastle, Pittodrie, and a Glasgow Derby at home to Rangers.
Eagle-eyed supporters, however, will notice that the midfielder often tends to head over to the right-hand side and look to cut in on his left foot. It was particularly noticeable against Rangers whilst his assist for Jota at Pittodrie came from a curling cross into the penalty area.
And O’Riley has stated that it’s an enjoyable new role for him and not something that was encouraged at his old club. Speaking at a fan presser in which 67HailHail were in attendance, O’Riley answered a question from the Glasgow is Green Podcast about the new instruction:
“I think it comes down to the system, the structure we play. I think if I’m told to do a certain thing then I’ll try to do that. At my previous club it wasn’t something that was encouraged too much. But if I’m asked to do it then I’ll try to do it.
“I do like being out on the wide area. I feel like it’s quite a good position for me to come in and create things. So from that sense, it’s enjoyable. But yes I think just the structure of the team allows me to drift out wide or stay in pockets.
“I think we have really good rotation within the system as well which makes it quite easy to be free and loose.”
Matt O’Riley looking like the complete package for Celtic
Nobody really knew what to expect from O’Riley when he arrived. A physical and technically gifted number 8 is what we hoped for. Another project buy is what some of us may have been fearing.
What we got, however, was close to the complete package. O’Riley has shown himself to be capable of doing anything asked of him by Postecoglou so far.
His ability to drift out wide in particular has been a real source of havoc for the opposition. His ability to find space in cramped wide areas is extremely impressive, whilst it’s clear he has an eye for a cross. His assists at Tynecastle and Pittodrie both came from him finding space to put teasing left-footed crosses into the penalty area.
Already, that instruction from Ange has been the main source of 2 of our most important goals since returning from the winter break. It’s clear that Matt is absolutely loving life under Postecoglou so far and has huge amounts of development left within him.
Sometimes you have to pinch yourself to remember he’s only played 5 games for the club so far. The fact it feels like he’s been here for months is a credit to how important he’s been to us over the last month.
The promise of even more to come is only something that will excite the fans even further.
In other news, Celtic top ECL form table as UEFA brilliantly big up Hoops run
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