During Celtic’s League win over Motherwell last month a series of substitutions led to Matt O’Riley and Tom Rogic partnering each other in the dual No.8 roles in Ange Postecoglou’s midfield. Celtic were in the process of defeating the Steelmen 4-0 and no-one batted an eyelid.
The pair then started the ill-fated first leg defeat to Bodo/Glimt and it was a different story. Criticism of an imbalance arose, and when the trick was repeated in the second leg loss on Thursday night in Norway the same questions were asked – are Rogic and O’Riley too similar in style to form an effective partnership?
As reported in the Scotsman today O’Riley has put the burgeoning theory to bed, stating the defensive side of the game, for which Celtic’s midfield took a good deal of analytical criticism, is the responsibility of more than just he and Rogic, and two games against Celtic’s toughest opponent is correctly pointed to as too small a sample size.
“Good players can play with good players and the defensive side of things comes down to more than just two players,” O’Riley stated.
“We’ve only started two games together and it’s been against, arguably, the best team we’ve faced this season. So it’s never going to be easy. If we started with a different midfield, it could have been worse – or better. It comes down to more than that.
“As a team, we just weren’t good enough, on or off the ball. We got picked off at times. And even though we lost, I still felt we showed enough to get more.”
O’Riley went on to show a great deal of self-reflection had been undertaken as he picked apart the reasons for Celtic’s defeat to the Norwegian champions, pointing quite rightly to Bodo/Glimt’s Impressive rotations used to beat the Celtic press, something Celtic suffered from in Glasgow and appeared not to address in the second leg.
Jota celebrates scoring against Aberdeen at Pittodrie. Photo Jane Barlow
“There were numerous factors to it. In the league, we’re used to teams who sit deep against us – they all play a similar way. Bodo were different because they were more expansive. When they were able to beat our press, they looked dangerous on the counter attack. That was a new challenge for us to deal with and it’s where they really punished us.
“They were clinical going forward. We didn’t play our best at Celtic Park but I still don’t think it was a 3-1 game. It felt like every shot they had went in. We just weren’t good enough in the final third. It came down to both boxes and they were better in ours than we were in theirs.”
Copyright: Jane Barlow
O’Riley’s assessment is both honest and insightful, and if there is any criticism being thrown at a Rogic/O’Riley partnership it’s far too early to dispense with the experiment just yet.
Indeed, the manager’s stubborn refusal to change a midfield pattern that offered huge gaps for the Norwegians could play through easily could and should have been addressed after the first leg defeat, instead the Norwegians probably couldn’t believe their luck when the No’8’s starting positions remained high and the holding midfield option was even easier to by-pass when Nir Bitton, instead of Callum McGregor, was left to stem the flow by himself.
O’Riley however is now only looking forward, ahead of this afternoon’s visit to Easter Road. As the midfielder presses forward with Celtic’s tilt at the title and hopes of a treble, as well as an Edinburgh meeting with former teammate Sylvester Jasper who O’Riley came through the ranks with at West London club Fulham.
Tom Rogic
“The mood is still good in the camp. We’re disappointed but it gives us more chance to focus on the league. A lot of people outside, like the fans, won’t feel this is the end of the world because we can concentrate on the title and Scottish Cup.
“He’s a good player (Jasper), very positive and a guy who likes to drive at defenders. I’m sure he’ll be one of their guys to watch out for but I’m sure they’ve got quality elsewhere. Hibs are a good side from what I’ve heard. They have loads of good players but Sylv is a guy who can make stuff happen.
“I’m not sure what his situation is at Fulham but he’s still really young at 20. He’s got plenty of time. But the main thing at that age is to play regular football so hopefully he can do that here and he can further his career at Fulham or somewhere else.”
O’Riley and Celtic can no longer afford to pore over the defeat to Bodo/Glimt, instead the only focus can be what is in front of Celtic, starting today and an encounter with Hibs, where a win would have a huge bearing on the title race. Celtic can pile on the pressure on theRangers in second place by moving six points ahead in the Scottish Premiership before Motherwell visit Ibrox later this afternoon.
And if Matt O’Riley needs a sounding board for his frustrations at early judgement calls on his developing midfield with Tom Rogic, he should ask the Celtic staff for a mobile number for Paul McStay and John Collins and they can tell him how it’s still debated 30 years later.
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