Stuart Armstrong has arguably been well below his best this season and Celtic need him to step up.
Heading into the last summer transfer window, it appeared that one of Brendan Rodgers’ most important tasks may well have been trying to keep Stuart Armstrong at Celtic after the deadline after his sensational season for the Hoops.
Armstrong had struggled to prove himself under Ronny Deila, but almost appeared to be a completely different player following Rodgers’ arrival, and he went on to score 15 goals in just 31 Scottish Premiership games for the Bhoys last season.
This season however, has seen the 25-year-old become significantly less influential for the side, with Armstrong struggling to stand out following the arrival of Olivier Ntcham in the summer.
So perhaps he is the player in Rodgers’ squad who needs to step up the most in 2018 after an underwhelming few months.
Celtic appear to be in the driving seat to maintain their domestic dominance even though Hearts recently ended their stunning unbeaten run in Scottish football, but if they want to keep their dominance going for a number of years they undoubtedly need their key men to take their game to the next level.
That will enable the Hoops to keep making more of an impact on the European stage, and in turn, that should make their task slightly easier in the transfer market. But the men capable of leading Celtic to greater success need to make more of an impact – and after a disappointing run of form over the last few months, it is surely now time for Armstrong to rediscover the form that he showed so devastatingly last season.
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