Today’s press conference with Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou was an illuminating one, as they tend to be with the Scottish Premiership coming to a thrilling finale.
We learned that Kyogo is back training, Jota is feeling brand-new, David Turnbull could be available tomorrow, and although James Forrest is unavailable against Ross County, there’s still an overwhelming take-away from what we heard from the Celtic boss.
This Celtic squad is looking more fearsome than ever, and is about to get even stronger.
Through 2022, we’ve either blown teams away (hi, Rangers!) or had more than enough to overcome tougher, more drawn-out games. Celtic sit top of the Scottish Premiership for a reason. It’s been deeply encouraging, and even through injury crisis after injury crisis, we could find ourselves 31 games unbeaten domestically tomorrow night.
That’s ridiculous, frankly, in the best way. Across every position on the park, Celtic have at least 2 players capable of being a starter. Pretty much everyone has had a decent amount of game-time, owing to rotation, European tests and injury problems.
Youth team players have come in, like Karamoko Dembele, and there’s an overwhelming feeling that we have just far too much for anyone to deal with. In December, our substitutes benches looked barren of creativity; now we have it in abundance.
If you’re an opposition manager or player in the Scottish Premiership, the last thing you want is to face Celtic right now.
Celtic have all the tools to lay waste to all Scottish Premiership competition
Daizen Maeda, Giorgos Giakoumakis and James Forrest led the line for Celtic against Dundee United on Monday night. Yet, you feel that if Ange Postecoglou had everyone available to him, they would each start on the bench for most games.
Callum McGregor is, of course, a mainstay. But if he’s out, Nir Bitton has drastically improved this season. Yosuke Ideguchi is an exciting option, while James McCarthy has shown flashes of quality. Ahead of the number 6 spot, take your pick: Turnbull will be back with Reo Hatate, Matt O’Riley, Tom Rogic all impressing in his absence.
Left back? Sorted; Taylor and Scales. On the right, Juranovic and Ralston would both walk into any other Scottish Premiership defence, but there’s a real battle for them at Celtic. Christopher Jullien, back from injury hell, and a star of the 19-20 season; also a back-up, these days.
The luxury we have now is that Ange Postecoglou can be decisive, and not settle for mediocre performances across basically any position. There’s quality in abundance; naming a bench might be a challenge in itself, for all the right reasons.
Through excellent squad building, Celtic have built a team brimming with quality, and everything’s coming together at just the right time.
Again, the rest of the teams we face in the Scottish Premiership should be worried about this Celtic side. We have an answer for everything.
Read more: Celtic winger Dembele’s international future unclear as Ivory Coast name squad
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