I’M SO HUNGRY ... CAN YOU HEAR MY DEMBELE RUMBLE?
Griffiths tips new Bhoy Moussa to run riot ... and help him too
Leigh Giffiths won’t take the huff just because he has been shunted out of position for new man Moussa Dembele.
That’s because the Celtic striker – with 40 goals to his name last season – reckons Brendan Rodgers’ summer recruit will only make him more lethal.
Griffiths and Dembele only played alongside one another for an hour or so in last week’s 2-1 friendly victory over Slovenian outfit Olimpija Ljubljana.
However, the pair showed more than enough to suggest they could strike up a deadly partnership in Celtic’s pursuit of a sixth successive league crown.
Former Fulham hitman Dembele played right through the middle while his new Parkhead team-mate had a deeper role coming in from the right.
The system worked a treat with Dembele the battering ram and Griffiths the finisher, slotting two stunning goals ahead of Tuesday’s crucial Champions League clash with Lincoln Red Imps.
Last season’s Player of the Year is thrilled to finally have a foil to work with up top and he is convinced the pair will run amok this season.
Griffiths said: “We have the big man up top now. We haven’t had a big target man in recent seasons.
“I played off him the other night and it gave me a bit more freedom to get on the ball, which I enjoyed. It allowed me to make things happen.
“But Moussa has certainly shown what he can do already. Moussa has a lot of good assets. He is strong, fast and holds people up.
“He also has a real eye for goal and will score lots of goals here, I am in no doubt about that.
“We have a lot of pace in the team and can all hurt teams. It just comes down to who the manager picks.” Griffiths had a one-to-one with Rodgers last week as the boss explained his vision for the Celtic frontline. The 25- yearold bought into i t ins t ant ly and went on to prove 24 hours later why he is top marksman in Scotland. But the Celtic ace admits his new role wil l also mean helping the likes of Scott Brown to track back, a task he is happy to turn his hand to.
Griffiths said: “The gaffer spoke to me at length the day before the game.
“He said he’d watched a lot of my goals and with a lot of them I had drifted out to the right side and cut in with my left foot.
“It is not as if I am playing wide again. I am still a striker but I am a bit deeper than Moussa.
“It gives defenders a headache because they have to think, do they come with me or stay with Moussa?
“If they go with one then it means the other will get a lot more space to do some damage.
“I know playing in this role also brings a bit more responsibility and I need to fill back in defensively as well now.
“I need to do both sides because that is what the gaffer wants.”
Rodgers has yet to make wholesale changes to his squad nearly two months
into his reign, although the way he wants his charges to play is starting to show.
The new gaffer is looking for his side to push up the pitch and hassle teams into giving the ball back, which means everyone will have to put in a shift.
Griffiths, whose brace followed run- outs in a win over Sturm Graz and draw with Celje, said: “The manager wants us to press high and if we do that we will get a lot of the ball.
“You have seen that in most of the games.
“The amount of times myself and Moussa pushed up with Stefan Johansen and Broonie and it caused them to boot the bal l forward and allowed our defenders the chance to win it back. We were then able to start again.
“My first goal came from their square pass, which we won because we pressed them so high up the pitch. The mentality of the gaffer is for us to press and to win a lot more of the ball.”
Celtic will go out all guns blazing in
Tuesday’s second qualifying round first leg but Griffiths warned not to expect a goal blitz against the Gibraltarians. Moving a step closer to the group stage is the main thing and Griffiths said: “People will expect us to go over there and trounce them. “But as long as we go to Gibraltar and get a positive result then I am sure we will finish off the job.
“That is all that matters at this stage. We are still finding our feet.
“We are getting there but in these qualifiers it is all about getting through. We know we will build things up and get better and stronger the further we can go in the competition.
“Just now, we need to find a way to win. We must be professional but we also need to show them respect. That is the most important thing.
“We can’t take them lightly or just think we need to turn up to win because if we go out with that attitude it could come back to bite us.”
Moussa has certainly shown what he can do already. He has a lot of good assets