With the bad news over Giorgos Giakoumakis, and Kyogo still away for the time being, there’s a lot of pressure on Celtic striker Albian Ajeti.
And no wonder. At the front of an exciting Celtic attack, Ajeti started his spell in the team in rare form. He struck twice against Ross County, then scored against Real Betis a few days later. 3 in 2, not bad work at all.
Yet, even when he’s scoring, it’s easy to have doubts about the Swiss striker. Those concerns were particularly prevalent against Livingston, when the striker’s lack of mobility was a real issue.
Most strikers are going to look sluggish in comparison to Kyogo Furuhashi, granted. But when Celtic dominated possession in West Lothian, peppering chances at will, Albian Ajeti only mustered 16 touches of the ball [WhoScored?].
A lack of touches isn’t such an issue when he’s prolific. Against Ross County, he had the same number of touches, and scored twice [WhoScored?]. If he’s doing a lot with limited scope, then that’s fine. But when he isn’t, it’s very, very noticable.
That’s going to have to improve if he wants to be in Postecoglou’s plans long-term. Compare Ajeti’s output to Kyogo, for example. The Japanese striker had 31 touches of the ball, across the park, when the Bhoys beat Dundee 6-0. Kyogo scored a hat-trick, of course.
Now, nobody’s asking Ajeti to be the same kind of player. But if he’s going to show that he can be a fit in the manager’s plans, the time to do it is now.
Albian Ajeti needs to improve for Celtic, but Dundee United represent cause for optimism
Luckily, the visit of Dundee United represents a bit of a chance for Ajeti.
In the areas of the park where Ajeti gets the most touches – the opposition’s 18-yard box – Dundee United are most vulnerable. Tam Courts’ side are just giving away chances in their own box; 56% of the shots they’ve conceded have been from close range [WhoScored?].
Against well-positioned attackers, Dundee United have faced a few issues. Last night, against Hibs, the run of Martin Boyle led to a sloppy foul from Mark Reynolds, and a penalty followed.
As we saw against Kilmarnock last season, Ajeti is adept at winning fouls and dragging defenders out of position. In fact, for a more recent example, the penalty he won at Betis is exactly how he should go at Courts’ side.
We know he can score goals and create chaos. We’ve seen that extremely recently. But against Livingston and Raith Rovers, Ajeti showed an inability to create his own opportunities and take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Edouard received a lot of flak last season. But even on his bad days, he was taking plenty of touches, getting himself more involved in the game, and dropping deeper to receive the ball.
The ex-West Ham United man has to start thinking the same way if he’s going to remain important for Postecoglou. Sunday, then, is a big opportunity.
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