Former England striker Kevin Phillips has said that Celtic need to manage James McCarthy after the Irish Internationalist was forced from the field yesterday. The 30-year-old was on the end of a painful tackle from Fuchs that only warranted a yellow in the eyes of Kevin Clancy. Ange Postecoglou took no chances and replaced him with Ismaila Soro at half-time.
Speaking to Football Insider, the ex-Sunderland striker said that the club needed to manage McCarthy’s situation in order to get the best out of him.
“McCarthy is not a young player anymore and when you sign a player like that you have to manage him right. You have to do your due diligence with the sport science guys.
“If you want the best out of him on a weekend you cannot physically flog him during the week. You don’t want to tire him out otherwise he won’t be able to last long at the weekend.
“I’m a little surprised they gave him a four-year deal.
“They need to manage him now. It will be interesting to see how many minutes he plays this season.”
McCarthy has probably been unfortunate in the respect that he has come in to replace Callum McGregor. The captain’s energy and ability with the ball is unique in the league and McCarthy has been expected to almost replace that immediately. However, he is not that type of player and could potentially work well with McGregor in the midfield going forward.
The player had COVID-19 and his game time appeared to be limited by the manager before that in order to get him up to full fitness. McCarthy appears to have been thrust into the main stage with McGregor’s injury. Hopefully, he can stay fit and Celtic can see the level of performances that saw McCarthy earn accolades in the Premier League.