It’s fair to say that Carl Starfelt is already living up to the promise he made to Celtic supporters last week.
The big Swede has had a tough time of it since joining the club. Some early mistakes have led to some heavy criticism, and at times unfairly as he still gets used to how Ange Postecoglou wants his team to play.
Starfelt acknowledged his poor start last week and promised fans his displays will improve [Glasgow Times]. He cited the fact he’s still getting used to a new league and way of playing after his summer arrival from Rubin Kazan.
And whilst Bayer Leverkusen last week was a chastening experience for many, Starfelt stood up to be counted at Pittodrie yesterday.
Yes, the game may have been won by Kyogo Furuhashi and Jota’s goals, but not much has been said about how Starfelt in dealing with Aberdeen’s Christian Ramirez.
Carl Starfelt shows his capabilities for Celtic at Pittodrie
No, it wasn’t perfect. He still committed a couple of needless fouls whilst he was put under pressure on countless occasions when playing out from the back.
But so what? Every footballer makes a mistake or two. What’s important is that Starfelt was dominant in his penalty box and got through the game relatively error free.
In fact, whisper it quietly, but he had the second-highest passing accuracy percentage of anyone in our starting XI. Stat experts Who Scored have Starfelt making 67 passes with an impressive 92.5% accuracy. Not bad for a player who supposedly can’t play with the ball at his feet.
He also managed six clearances too as he marshalled his area well. It was an improvement on what we’ve seen in the past as Starfelt managed to get through the game error-free.
And the Celtic fans have been quick to defend him after a big performance from the Swede yesterday. Here’s a look at some of the reaction to his display in the Granite City:
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