The great thing about watching this Celtic team under Brendan Rodgers is just how differently they are now playing from what they were at the start of the season.
Like me, many Celtic fans were probably worried at how the tempo had dropped from the fast-paced football that was seen under former manager, Ange Postecoglou.
However, what is really noticeable is how the team are playing with more fluidity under Rodgers and how direct their attacking intent is.
Yesterday at Tynecastle, the Hoops were rampant in the 4-1 win and what was clear is how Matt O’Riley has changed his style of play compared to how he played under Postecoglou.
And it was noticed by Pat Bonner. The former Celtic hero was lavish in his praise of O’Riley and said that how he works now for Rodgers is really starting to pay off for the Celtic manager.
Bonner said [BBC Sportsound], “It was a beautiful finish, first-time finish. It was a good pass into his path and he knew exactly what he was doing.
“But what he’s doing is he’s working from a very deep position at times when he has to.
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“And [Rodgers] maybe changed slightly the position of him and in relation to what he was doing under Ange [Postecoglou].
“He was playing very, very high and staying high and now he is asked to go a little bit deeper at times but he is still making those runs into the box and the timing of those runs is magnificent.”
O’Riley has become such a force at Celtic he is now one of Brendan Rodgers’ most important players.
His goalscoring threat is now a potent weapon for Celtic as are his assists. Already this season O’Riley has scored six goals and created three in just 12 appearances.
If you compare that to last season where it took him 54 games to score four and create 14, O’Riley’s numbers are going to be frightening this season. [Transfermarkt]
In other news, ‘That’s how I seen it’: Steven Naismith seems to suggest Celtic player conned the referee at Tynecastle