Callum McGregor appears to have increasingly become a lightening rod of criticism over the past year, and I have been an active and willing participant. This column explores one component of his play which I believe has been symptomatic of larger issues.
Since the November 27, 2024 draw versus Club Brugge, I have been noting Celtic’s relative struggles when faced with opponents who man marked and let our center backs have the ball within our building out from the back and progressing the ball from the defensive third to the attacking third. McGregor’s passing profile within Celtic’s defensive half is the main focus of this analysis.
The first graphic shows simple directional tendencies for his passing. I’ve added his 6 league games under Wilfried Nancy within the graphics, with an explanation for that rationale within the analytical conclusions section below.