Celtic left counting cost as van Dijk’s £13m boots prove far too big to fill
CELTIC banked £13million for Virgil van Dijk, but sometimes a footballer’s true worth does not emerge until after he has gone. The deal concluded with Southampton for the Dutch defender on transfer deadline day was good business in anyone’s book, but it has left Ronny Deila with an organisational headache which worsened the longer this top-of-the-table Premiership clash went on.
Van Dijk has been Celtic’s defensive leader for two years and also the occasional scorer of a golden goal, such as his stoppage-time winner on this very pitch as the Dons threatened a league challenge last November.
Pittodrie would not have been Deila’s first choice of location to road test a new defence and, with Tyler Blackett toiling on his debut and Dedryck Boyata struggling to cope with his first dose of heightened responsibility, things are not about to get any easier for the Celtic manager.
Aberdeen were good but Ajax promise an even greater test in Thursday’s Europa League opener in Amsterdam. Deila now faces a decision on whether to use this big European night to break in Jozo Simunovic, signed as a direct replacement for van Dijk from Dinamo Zagreb, yet left out altogether here.
Craig Gordon gave a few minutes of his time to speak to reporters after Scotland’s defeat to Germany on Monday night and conceded that, up to that point, he had not even met his new Croatian team-mate.
On that basis alone, it was perhaps sensible that Deila should phase the introduction of his new recruits, with Blackett starting at left-back as Charlie Mulgrew partnered Boyata in the middle and the experienced Mikael Lustig returned to bring a steadying influence at right-back.
It was Lustig, absent since sustaining an injury in the first leg of the Champions League qualifying defeat to Malmo, who saw most of the early action as the Dons sought to utilise the pace of Jonny Hayes on the left flank.
The Swede defended diligently enough but, on those occasions when Hayes cut back to arc in a cross, danger was evident in front of Gordon. Blackett, having not featured for Manchester United this season before making his loan move, could be excused some rustiness but there was an evident lack of concentration as, more than once, Kenny McLean broke the lines and threatened a headed goal.
As well as the commanding physical presence he brought to the Celtic rearguard, one of van Dijk’s key functions was as firestarter for forward manoeuvres. In his absence, Celtic need someone else to build the play and the job appears to have been assigned to Boyata.
Reared at Manchester City and a part of Belgium’s most recent international squad, the 24-yearold has the tools to do the job but, with Aberdeen hungry and alert, there was a need for distribution to be crisp and accurate.
Boyata was not helped by Tom Rogic’s tendency to stand flat-footed while awaiting a pass, but some extra precision on the balls forward might have stopped the Australian’s pocket being picked by Ash Taylor and Andrew Considine as Aberdeen hunted a breakthrough.
If Boyata was the man with a mandate to build from the back, his partner showed him how it is done with the piece of quality that opened up the game. Mulgrew’s piercing left-foot pass that sent Leigh Griffiths in behind was of vintage standard and forced Considine into the muddle that saw him concede the penalty.
Celtic survived a penalty scare of their own when Craig Thomson waved aside home allegations of a Mulgrew handball, but the referee was stricter when Graeme Shinnie tumbled under the attentions of Boyata.
Whether the Belgian did much more than stand his ground is debatable but he might equally reflect that there was no need to get so tight to Shinnie as he hovered on the goalline. Aberdeen had finally found parity.
Lustig’s performance only served to reinforce the impression he is the most capable defender currently on Celtic’s books. Combative and decisive, he departed a bruised figure having endured a kick in the head from McLean and coming off worse in the tackle that saw Hayes shown a straight red card. The Swede accentuated his class by commiserating with the Dons player before being replaced himself.
And so a back four of Efe Ambrose, Boyata, Mulgrew and Blackett were left to see out this game. You would get long odds on that lot starting against Ajax in midweek but, equally, you would expect the goalkeeper to do a better job behind them than he managed at the winning goal.
Niall McGinn’s cross travelled a long way before Paul Quinn applied the finishing touch deep in the six-yard box.
That Gordon should fail to take responsibility at the crucial moment might be the most concerning aspect of a damaging day for Deila and the Celtic title defence.