Matt O’Riley has insisted that last season he was trying too hard and this affected his game, particularly in front of goal. Brendan Rodgers has set the young Danish midfielder the task off getting on the scoresheet more often and contributing more in terms of goals from the midifeld area.
Yesterday made it two goals in two games for the former MK Dons man and he is eager to add more this season. Speaking to Celtic TV after the game, the 22-year-old said of his current goalscoring prowess, “I think I’m just trying less hard, genuinely. There’s not as much tension in my game right now. I was probably trying a little bit too hard last season just because I care so much and I want to help the team.
“Now I’m just trying to relax a little bit more and just get in the right positions and it seems to be clicking a little bit. This season I’m probably coming on to the play a little bit more in terms of the role I’ve got right now, so I can probably see the play building up a little bit better and I can pick my moment when to arrive in the box.
“It was at a time in the game when we had to weather the storm a little bit. Their crowd was really impressive today and helped them a lot, and I think that goal came at a crucial moment. Joe Hart did really well to keep coming for a lot of crosses, I thought Maik and Welshy, and Cameron in the first-half were really solid today and helped us a lot.”
It’s obvious from these first two performances back in competitive, domestic action, that the team are finding their feet under Rodgers and that those tweaks that have been mentioned before by various individuals are taking some adjusting too. Once the transfer market closes and we have all the pieces of our jigsaw, we will know how well this team can do. O’Riley echoed that sentiment once again, adding: “The pitch was quite dry as well so it made it quite hard for us to play our fluid football,” said O’Riley, “but in saying that, I thought we scored some really good goals.
“It’s early days under Brendan and under a new style, and we’re still adapting, but I still think we played some really good stuff at times, and consistency of good sustained performance will come with time.”
Paul Gillespie
Meanwhile, check out Matt Corr speaking to the one and only Martin O’Neill on The Celtic Star Podcast…