Celtic midfielder, Matt O’Riley, has been really struggling to capture the form that made him one of Brendan Rodgers’ most dangerous weapons in the first half of this season.
The Danish international was superb as he raced to become the club’s top goalscorer with eleven goals in 38 appearances.
O’Riley has also weighed in 14 assists this season which has helped to keep Celtic in touching distance of Rangers at the top of the table. [Transfermarkt]
However, in this second half of the season, O’Riley has just not been at his brilliant best for Celtic which is leading some people on social media to suggest that his head was turned in the January window when he was linked with a move to Atletico Madrid.
But that is not the case according to Paul John Dykes of A Celtic State of Mind.
Matt O’Riley is fatigued at Celtic
Discussing the poor form of O’Riley, Paul John rubbished claims that O’Riley’s head has been turned and revealed the real reason the 23-year-old midfielder is not performing for Brendan Rodgers.
Dykes said (A Celtic State of Mind), “I think he’s getting that hard time, even though he is clearly not firing on all cylinders. And it doesn’t look like an injury, it looks like fatigue.
“I think Matt O’Riley looks fatigued at this moment in time. Under normal circumstances, he would be rested, but we cannot afford that because the lack of quality in the midfield at the moment doesn’t afford us the luxury of resting Matt O’Riley.
“And I’ve been hearing that he was ill all week. Probably never trained as much as he normally would have done.
“So his preparation for the game was impeded. And his performances, for me, they’ve come under the microscope.
“Because it’s easy to do that I think if there has been interest in a player because it’s the old the they’ve turned his head and all that.”
With the international break coming up, hopefully, O’Riley gets the opportunity to put his feet up and rest instead of going away with Denmark.
Whilst I love seeing our players earning caps for their country, O’Riley will be a pivotal player if Celtic want to win the league and I would rather see him sacrifice a couple of caps for his country than trophies for our club.
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