Celtic’s midfield three has been too hot to handle for all-comers this season including the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and most recently theRangers…
Celtic fans at Somerset Park
Indeed the only team to get anything from a game agains the Scottish Champions so far is Scott Brown’s Ayr United who managed a 1-1 draw at the start of pre-season back in early July, but that was a team made up of mostly B Team and squad players.
Reo Hatate of Celtic directs his team during the pre-season friendly match against Manchester City at Kenan Stadium on July 23, 2024 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
The three midfielders running the show for Celtic were Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley, who was sold for £30m in the last week of the transfer window, ahead of the first Glasgow Derby of the season against theRangers. In O’Riley’s place came summer signing Paulo Bernardo, back at the club on a permanent deal after being here last season on loan, and he put in a tremendous showing, rated by many including myself as the Man of the Match in a emphatic 3-0 win.
And on the Celtic bench that day were two new recruits to the engine room, Arne Engels and Luke Cowan and both spoke to the Celtic Fan Media at Celtic Park this week. Both are here to play and contribute, giving Brendan Rodgers plenty of options, starting on Saturday against Hearts at Celtic Park.
Paul Hartley celebrates his goal against SpartaK Moscow during their UEFA Champions League third qualifying round football match in Moscow, 15 August 2007. Photo YURI KADOBNOV/AFP via Getty Images
And Paul Hartley, himself a stand-out Celtic midfielder for Gordon Strachan’s Celtic team, reckons that it the midfield that are making Celtic so dynamic this season.
The former Celtic midfielder was speaking to PLZ Soccer, and reckons that Celtic are currently “blowing teams away with their intensity and their speed.”
Hartley said: “The games that I’ve seen, and I’ve saw most of the games, they’ve been electric.
Celtic v Rangers – Callum McGregor celebrates scoring the third Celtic goal of the game during the Scottish Premiership match at Celtic Park, Sunday September 1, 2024. Photo Steve Welsh
“In that middle of the pitch, they’ve got so many good players to pick from. McGregor is the captain and he’s been in top form. And I think not having international games now has probably helped him in terms of his rest and recovery. And the players that they’ve brought in… they’ve got so many players to choose from, especially in that area of the pitch.
“They’ve been in top form,” Hartley noted.
Engels and McCowan will both be looking for minutes against Hearts, while Paulo Bernardo did more that enough against theRangers to retain his starting spot. Callum McGregor starts and as Reo Hatate didn’t get any minutes while away with Japan he’ll be eager to get out there against Hearts.
All five are likely to feature at some point this weekend, with Brendan deciding which who starts and who comes off the bench.
Here’s Luke Cowan speaking to the Celtic Fan media on Monday this week…
And that was followed on Tuesday by Arne Engels speaking to Celtic Fan media…
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