THE MOOY DONE GOOD
Postecoglou: Modest Aaron’s a top talent
When Aaron Mooy was Liel Abada’s age he was plying his trade at St Mirren.
When he was as old as Jota or Matt O’Riley are now, he had returned to Australia in a bid to reignite his career.
That’s why, after watching his young team- mates in the Champions League in midweek, he half-joked about not being as good as them as a youngster.
But Ange Postecoglou is having none of that.
When Mooy returns to Paisley today, 10 years after leaving the Buddies to sign for Western Sydney Wanderers, he’ll have Premier League, Champions League and World Cup experience behind him.
Not bad for someone who says he wasn’t that good at 21.
Postecoglou knew exactly what he was getting when he signed the former Brighton and Huddersfield Town midfielder in the summer transfer window.
He believes Mooy was just as talented as Celtic’s current crop – but had to go on a different journey to realise his potential.
And at 31 he’s now using his experience to help nurture the likes of Abada and O’Riley at Parkhead.
Postecoglou has used Mooy sparingly this season but with every appearance his influence feels greater.
The manager is convinced that over the campaign the Aussie will have a crucial part to play in any success Celtic have.
Ahead of the clash with St Mi r ren this af ternoon, Postecoglou responded to Mooy’s comments after the 1-1 draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek.
He said: “Aaron is being more than a little modest.
“To be fair to him, he had to overcome hurdles as a young player. He came to the UK at a young age and it was hard for him to break through.
“He had to go back to Australia to relaunch his career – and that is not easy. He had to show real determination not to see it as a backwards step.
“But he got to the Premier League and he has been to a World Cup. Everyone has a different journey.
“So I think Aaron was as talented as some of the guys we have here but he’s had different challenges. The footballer and person he is today is because he
showed that resilience, those tough times. You get some young players who have a meteoric rise – but they also don’t understand how to handle setbacks when they inevitably come.
“He had those lessons early on and used them to get the maximum out of his career.
“We have made a lot of progress as a team but still have a very young group of players who have a helluva lot of development ahead of them.
“My job is to keep pushing them to be the best they can be.
“And having someone with experience like Aaron in there helps with that.
“We’ve taken our time to get him in the team so he can make a contribution. He’s getting stronger and after the international break we have something like 11 games in 30-odd days.
“He will be an important part of that period.
“His fitness levels are getting to a point where we wi l l be comfortable with him starting games and f inishing them strongly.”
While Mooy is gradually forcing himself into Postecoglou’s side, Scotland full-back Greg Taylor is a permanent fixture.
He’s expected to replace Liverpool star Andy Robertson in the national team for this week’s Nations League fixtures against Ukraine and Republic of Ireland.
Given his current form for Celtic, both domestically and in the Champions League, that won’t faze the 24- year- old. New £ 3million defender Alexandro Bernabei, signed in the summer to fight Taylor for his jersey, can’t get a look in right now.
The Celtic boss reckons if Taylor continues to improve he’ll be at the same level as Robertson and Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney.
He said: “From the first day, Greg has embraced what we are trying to do. He wanted to improve himself and caught on pretty early that there was more in his game.
“He’s really starting to see the fruits of that. Greg could easily have settled into life as a regular at this club but he is more ambitious than that.
“He wants more and feels very strongly about representing Scotland. He has some world-class players c ompe t i n g in
his position but is determined to get to that level.
“His performances have improved and he has done well at Champions
League level.
“But the key is to keep pushing. If he keeps that mindset then he can get to whatever level he wants.
“Greg has been determined to embrace everything we are doing here both in a football and a cultural sense.
“Even though he is 24, he is one of the loudest in our environment.
“He wants to be the best he can be and when you do that I think you can change people’s perceptions.”
Taylor won’t be at the World Cup in Qatar later this year but Mooy could be, along with a host of other
Celtic stars. Postecoglou admits it will be strange losing players to a major tournament halfway through a domestic season.
Ahead of the latest break for international games, he said: “It is going to be unusual.
“Every club manager will tell you the same – we just don’t know how it will play out. “Having been to a World Cup myself as a coach, I know it is a pretty intense environment.
“You are mea su r ing yourself against the very best and there are high stakes in every match. Usually afterwards you need a little bit of a break to come down from that sort of experience. “So we have to make sure our planning around that is decent. “It’s a great regret that Scotland didn’t qualify but in some ways it saves us a headache as a few more might have been away.
“The flip side is I know just how amazing an experience it is for players. They usually come out of it feel ing good abou t themselves and ready to use the experience to improve as a player.”