Celtic’s midfield trio of McGregor, Hatate and Nygren
Red Star Belgrade 1-1 Celtic. Kelechi Iheanacho of Celtic celebrates his goal Crvena zvezda v Celtic, UEFA Europa League, Football, Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – 24 Sep 2025Belgrade Rajko Mitic Stadium Serbia Photo Nikola Krstic Shutterstock
The last thing I mentioned in my previous article was that it would be interesting to see if the trio of McGregor, Hatate and Nygren, could handle the step up in competition against Red Star after looking like they were starting to gel a bit better against Partick Thistle. Well the answer, as expected, was no. I have been critical of Brendan Rodgers for persevering with this midfield as I feel it will get exposed against better opposition, and while that wasn’t the case last night, the deficiencies were certainly there to see.
Reo Hatate of Celtic Crvena zvezda v Celtic, UEFA Europa League, Football, Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – 24 Sep 2025Belgrade Rajko Mitic Stadium Serbia Photo Nikola Krstic Shutterstock
McGregor once again looked isolated at times and struggled to get his game going. Nygren is a bit of a paradox were he certainly comes up with big moments like with his assist but also goes missing at times. The biggest let down however was Hatate who was completely off the boil.
Personally I feel like it might be time for Brendan Rodgers to withdraw him for a few games and give Engels, Bernardo or McCowan a chance in there to impress. We all know Hatate is a good player but unfortunately he hasn’t been at the races at all this season so far.
Brendan Rodgers of Celtic Crvena zvezda v Celtic, UEFA Europa League, Football, Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – 24 September 2025 Belgrade Rajko Mitic Stadium Serbia Photo Nikola Krstic Shutterstock
Certainly Rodgers needs to do something with our midfield as it hasn’t been functioning correctly at all so far this season, and if he persists I can see it ending in disaster at some point against some of the better opposition in the Europa League.
Conall McGinty
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