Arne Engels will be a revelation in his second season, just like Stan Petrov…
Arne Engels has admittedly at times struggled to live up to his £11 million price tag but he’s not the flop that some would have you think and he’s shown that in glimpses in many games as his goal and assist record would actually suggest.
Engels came to Celtic as a 20 year-old
Folk seem to conveniently forget that Arne was only 20 years old when he signed for the club and the pressure of being the club’s record signing as well as adapting to a new culture and style of football would have been a huge strain on such a young Bhoy.
Let’s go back twenty six years and to a player who faced the same situation and that would be a certain Stan Petrov who arrived at Celtic as a 19 year old for £3 million, a relatively high fee in those days for someone of notable ‘potential’.
19 year-old Stan Petrov looked like a fish out of water in his first season at Celtic
Stan arrived in Glasgow from Bulgaria with no experience of the culture, the language or indeed the expectations placed upon anyone representing a club like Celtic. That was evident in his first season at the club as he looked very much like the proverbial fish out of water and it all looked too much for him and his Celtic career didn’t look like going any further.
Then after the arrival of Martin O’Neill Stan knuckled down and with a year’s experience behind him he quickly became a fans favourite and the rest as they say is history.
Arne like Stan will be all the better after a first season getting used to playing for Celtic firmly behind him.
Arne Engels – First Season Overview
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Appearances: Engels featured in 51 matches across all competitions.
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Goals: He netted 10 goals, with 9 in the Scottish Premiership and 1 in European competition.
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Assists: Contributed to 22 goals and assists combined, indicating a significant impact in the midfield.
Notably, 8 of his 10 goals came from the penalty spot, highlighting his role as a reliable set-piece taker.
Arne Engels – First Season at Celtic Achievements
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Scottish Premiership: Celtic clinched the league title, with Engels playing a pivotal role in midfield.
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Scottish League Cup: The team secured the cup, adding to their domestic success.
Scottish Cup: Celtic’s treble ambitions were thwarted in the final, losing to Aberdeen in a penalty shootout.
While Engels’ statistical contributions were commendable, some critiques emerged regarding his overall influence on matches. In the Scottish Cup final, for instance, he was unable to significantly impact the game, with a notable missed opportunity hitting the post.
Despite these critiques, Engels expressed satisfaction with his adaptation to Scottish football, stating, “I love it here,” and emphasising his comfort with the club’s winning mentality.
>Arne Engels demonstrated resilience amidst the pressures of being Celtic’s most expensive signing. He addressed criticisms confidently, focusing on his qualities and abilities to contribute positively to the team.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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In my opinion, he certainly couldn’t contribute any LESS than he did last season!
Apart from being a decent penalty taker, his contribution levels are very poor.
We paid £1M for Luke McCowan, £3.5M for Poalo Bernardo, and £11M for Engels!
When on the park, both McCowan and Bernardo give every ounce they possess for the club!
We could NEVER accuse Engels of the same! His efforts are no greater than 50% of the other two.
Can’t agree with that. The situations are completely different. Petrov came in under a bit of chaos, didn’t speak English, was played out of position in a very different environment than he was used to. He was completely phased by the situation but worked hard to integrate.
Engels is a good player, he’s just not suited to our style of play. He’s not suddenly going to become more press resistant or better in tight spaces.
He’s a longer ball, counter attacking style player in transition, it works for us a bit in Europe but he doesn’t have the guile or finesse for bunkered low block defences.
He’s decent in altheticism, decent defensively, neither of those things are going to massively improve either. His decision making may improve slightly but you’re not going to see a drastically different player than you did this season.