Josip Juranovic made a fine return from injury in yesterday’s 2-0 home win against St Johnstone at Celtic Park.
The Croatian international returned from a near month-long injury and put in a hard-working display at left-back. Operating alongside Jota, it was his speculative effort from range that led to the opening goal. He would then slam home a second-half penalty to seal the 3 points.
Stat experts WhoScored ranked Josip with a 7.76/10 for his display. With 97 passes and a 91.8% passing accuracy rate, you can see why his return was heralded.
However, even though it was a productive afternoon for the former Legia Warsaw man, we again failed to get the best out of him due to the fact he was playing out of position. For the 4th time this season, Josip didn’t feature down his natural right side, instead watching on as Anthony Ralston took the spot.
That had an effect on the amount of crosses Juranovic was comfortable putting into the penalty area. Despite constant Celtic attacks against the Saints, the Croatian only delivered 1 ball into the penalty area. This was because his natural instinct was to cut onto his right foot and look for a pass instead of going with his left and deliver.
Meanwhile, down the other flank, Ralston struggled for inspiration with his final ball. Yes he bagged the assist for Giorgos Giakoumakis’ effort, but there were several more opportunities to hurt the St Johnstone defence with crosses into the box. Ralston often beat his man before totally overhitting or shanking his delivery. It’s something we’ve come to expect from Anthony despite his generally impressive campaign.
Josip Juranovic was signed by Celtic for his right-back abilities
Celtic moved to sign Juranovic due to what he was producing at right-back. It’s where he shines for Croatia and where he bossed things for Legia Warsaw. It’s therefore a touch confusing as to why Ange continuously features him on the left flank.
Sure, he’s comfortably enough and you can see that during games. But it’s also clear that he isn’t overly certain with his left foot. He’s limited in what he can do because he always wants to cut inside when we need to be stretching teams like St Johnstone as much as possible.
Celtic already have 3 alternative options they could be using at left-back. Boli Bolingoli, Adam Montgomery, and Liam Scales all look capable of being regular appearance-makers for the Hoops. There’s no real need to be shoehorning Juranovic into the role.
Yes, you could argue whether Ralston has played poorly enough to lose his spot. But that’s not the point. If we have a better option available then it should be used. Juranovic looks like an upgrade, so it makes sense to play him in his natural position when possible.
Of course, Ange will have his own reasons for continuing to play Juranovic at left-back. So long as we continue getting results, it’s not something that will cause too much concern. But for me, it just looks like an obvious amendment that could make us that little bit stronger.
In other news, Report: Celtic continue January prep as they send scout to watch Lee Buchanan
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