Calmac: You can’t cut out the middlemen
Kyogo’s dazzling runs may grab headlines but everything good about Hoops starts with solid defensive foundation of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt
CALLUM McGREGOR looks behind him and sees a defensive rock in Cameron Carter-Vickers.
He glances forward and sees a blur of movement and imagination in the shape of Kyogo Furuhashi.
And while the rest of this Celtic team isn’t too shabby either, their captain is adamant that Carter-Vickers’ solidity at one end and Kyogo’s star quality at the other are key to a season that could yet end in a Treble.
Ange Postecoglou and his men took another giant step towards that with an easy 3-0 win at Tynecastle on Saturday to book their place in the Scottish Cup semi-finals, with Kyogo and Carter-Vickers joining Aaron Mooy on the scoresheet. It may have been a rare goal for the American but his ability to stop them going in at the other end gives players like McGregor the platform to play.
And the Celtic captain was effusive in his praise after a victory that was a lot more straightforward than many predicted it would be.
McGregor said: “He’s outstanding. He and Carl Starfelt, to be fair. And when Yuki (Kobayashi) came on, he was strong as well.
“In our system, the two centre-backs have the hardest job because they’ve got to start the play and be involved in everything.
“On the flip side of that, they’re one on one defending all the time. So they’ve got to be strong and defend their line. They’ve got to be quick.
“It’s a really tough position and when he plays it he makes it look easy. Let me tell you, it’s not easy.
“It’s the same with big Carl. We understand that gives us a big platform to how we want to play.”
While Carter-Vickers’ work may go unnoticed, the same can’t be said for Kyogo’s.
The Japanese whirlwind scored his 26th goal of the season with a sensational near-post flick and McGregor believes he’s not finished tormenting Premiership defenders this season.
He added: “He’s so good, he’s so sharp. He’s alive every time we go forward. His running – he makes one run, two runs, three runs. And he never seems to get tired.
“When the ball turns over, he’s pressing. He’s definitely right up there with one of the best that I’ve played with.”
Having played with the likes of Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard, that’s quite a compliment.
“Different styles, different players,” he admitted.
“Obviously Moussa was more of a target man player who would get goals. Odsonne had a bit of both.
“Kyogo is just pure pace and clever runs.
“The way we play football is really simple and he’s always disciplined to be in the box at the right time and finish off the moves. You can see why he gets so many goals. Those are special numbers. Our job as players is to give him the platform.
“He does a lot of unselfish running for the team as well. He helps us and we have to try to repay that with assists for the goals he wants.”
McGregor was delighted with the win in the capital, and in particular the flying start that saw them take the lead after just two minutes, taking the sting out of the Hearts support.
The midfielder reckoned that was vital.
He said: “To score early gives you an advantage. It takes the impetus away from the crowd.
“We spoke about that beforehand. Cup ties here are
always difficult. Any time you come here, even in the league, the crowd likes to get involved in the game.
“We wanted to try and take ownership of the game as early as possible.
“During the first couple of minutes, we really took the game by the scruff of the neck, got control of it, got a goal and continued to probe right up until half-time when we got the second.
“It might have looked comfortable but I think the only reason for that was how we treated the game and how we applied ourselves to it.
“Ultimately we played our football which got us in front and then we go two up just before half-time which then takes the sting out of the game a little bit.” Celtic have the other half of the capital next, when Hibs visit Parkhead on Saturday.
Then it’s the international break, although for many of the squad there will be no let up as they fly off to represent their countries.
“You want to keep playing when you’re in a good moment,” McGregor insisted.
“Guys have international games and the ones who don’t will have a little breather.
“When we come back we’ll have that 10-week period before the season finishes.
“It will be good to freshen some of them up as well and for the guys away with their international teams, we just want them to play well and stay safe then come back fit.”