Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has hailed Callum McGregor.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has told the club’s official website that he loves Callum McGregor’s versatility – but his big problem is that when he moves McGregor, he wishes he had another one to take the position he leaves.
The Bhoys haven’t enjoyed the best start to the season, with some patchy early season form and a shock Champions League qualifying exit at the hands of AEK Athens.
Tonight, it’s back to European action as Celtic look to bounce back from defeat to Red Bull Salzburg by attempting to pick up a win against Bundesliga side RB Leipzig tonight.
One of the key players in the Celtic team tonight, and for much of the campaign, is midfielder McGregor, who has come on leaps and bounds under Rodgers.
The 25-year-old is a product of the Celtic youth setup having joined the club way back in 2001, and enjoyed his best season yet last term with 12 goals in all competitions.
Now an international regular with Scotland, McGregor is one of the first names on the Celtic team sheet, and that’s largely down to his outstanding versatility, having played as a holding midfielder, central midfielder, attacking midfielder, winger and even wing back.
McGregor is clearly one of Rodgers’ favourite Celtic players, and the Bhoys boss has revealed that he thinks McGregor’s view of the game is ‘absolutely superb’, noting that he has a wide range of attributes, but is tactically ‘fantastic’.
Rodgers did though add that he has one problem with McGregor, and it’s that whenever he moves him into a new position, he wishes he had another McGregor to go and play in the position he just left, summing up his importance to the Celtic side.
“Callum’s view of the game is absolutely superb for such a young player,” said Rodgers. “The only problem with Callum is, when you move him, you only wish you had another Callum McGregor playing in the position he’s just left. He has a whole range of attributes, but from a tactical perspective, he is fantastic. My teams tend to play in different shapes and systems. I like them to do that so we can surprise opponents, especially when you play teams so many times. You need clever players tactically in order to do that and Callum’s right up there with his view of the game. You only need to tell him something once and he gets exactly what you’re trying to do.”
“Sometimes I’ve played him as a left-back to come infield, I’ve played him as a winger, or a holding midfield player. He played against Barcelona on the right-hand side when we wanted to keep that side compact. He played as a No.10 against Zenit St Petersburg. You can only do that when you have comfort on the field. He’s a player that knows the game, and when you pair that with his high level of technique, you have a great player. Technically he’s very strong. He plays one and two-touch football very well and when he’s in attacking positions he has a wonderful knack of scoring goals. His all-round play has been really important for us and he’s a fantastic young player to work with,” he added.
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