The rise and rise of O’Riley as He bids to reach the top
Celtic’s midfielder has it all – talent, intelligence and determination. Here his former coaches chart his progress
MATT O’RILEY is the classic example of a player who gambled on himself and saw the wager pay off handsomely. Having spent eight years in Fulham’s academy, he flirted with the Cottagers first team until 2020. He then took the brave decision to walk away. The midfielder declined a new three-year deal and took the seemingly inexplicable decision to sign for League One outfit Milton Keynes Dons in January 2021.
Barely 12 months later, O’Riley was turning out against Real Madrid in the Champions League for Celtic. The 22-year-old has come a long way in two years since he chose to seek regular first-team football and was then shrewdly snapped up by Ange Postecoglou for just £1.5 million in the winter window of 2022.
O’Riley has already amassed four under-21 caps and has even been called up to the full Danish international squad. He has yet to make his debut appearance for Kasper Hjumland’s “A” team but one thing is for certain, a cap is most definitely coming.
Here, some of his former coaches chart the rise and rise of a potential Scottish football superstar.
Dan Micchice is the Player Development lead coach at Everton and was O’Riley’s England under-16 coach from 2015 to 2016 where he kept some esteemed company in the Three Lions side.
“Russell Martin deserves a lot of credit for where Matt is now as he took him to MK Dons and gave him the platform to play regular first-team football. As we all know, you can have potential but until somebody actually gives you that chance to play then you will never know how good they really are.
“When I had Matt at under-16 level with England these youngsters all have potential. Fulfilling that potential is another thing altogether. In our England group, he was alongside the likes of Jayden Sancho and Phil Foden and he more than held his own in that exalted company.
I remember a game Matt played against Holland in France and he was absolutely exceptional. He was in the midfield alongside Oliver Skipp who is at Tottenham now as well as Callum Hudson-Odoi. Foden was on the right and Sancho was on the left and Matt controlled the game. At those age groups with England you want to see youngsters make the most of their talent and it is wonderful seeing the likes of Matt perform so well on that stage.
“He has a calmness about him and the way he wants to play the game and that’s at his own pace. He likes to put his foot on the ball and slow it all down and has a real appreciation for retaining possession rather than force things. In British football, it can all be about tempo and intensity but Matt is a rather elegant young player.”
Former Celtic and Scotland midfielder Peter Grant was O’Riley’s coach at Fulham.
“He was a determined young man who obviously trusted his talent and had a lovely left foot. There were a lot of things he had to learn. When I watch Matt playing for Celtic this season I think back to the conversations we had about his game back then. I now see him implementing a lot of that stuff, like how you position yourself and what areas to defend when you do not have the ball.
“He has been remarkable since he stepped inside Celtic Park. He even adapted to that deeper role in Callum McGregor’s absence with no fuss whatsoever. Matt has been a revelation at Celtic really.
“Matt always had the raw talent. He just needed the consistency of matches and I won’t lie I did worry about him physically. When he was on the ball he was more like a quarterback or a kicker in American football and everything would go through him. He had all the attributes needed. Off the ball he just needed to work on his game awareness, midfield players running off him and picking up the right areas where people can’t get the ball into.
“He never puts a tackle in because he is an interceptor and that’s what you need to be in the modern day game as tackling is slowly but surely being phased out. When Matt intercepts the ball he has an uncanny knack of picking the right pass. He just doesn’t win it and give it away. He’s intelligent enough to take that extra touch and play a simple pass. You have to tip your hat to him for that.
“He has a lovely left foot and he has always seen the game in pictures all throughout his career. He could see clever passes, the reverse passes, he could see everything when his team had the ball. When it flipped over and Matt’s team were defending then it
was slightly different. I played him in midfield on his own in order to pick up all these other things.
“I was probably the grim reaper for Matt because I would always tell him how poorly he did against the ball. I always worked with him on his game awareness. I could see it plainly that he could play. As a midfield player the job does not stop when you have the ball. I worked on body positions when he didn’t have the ball. I geared training sessions towards those things to help him and the other guys improve their game.
“When he trained he always did to his maximum and every top quality athlete does that in order to try and be the best in training. Matt did that every day when I coached him at Fulham. I am delighted that he is reaping the rewards that his talent deserves.”
Former Scotland defender Russell Martin was the first manager to offer O’Riley a chance at regular first-team football with MK Dons. Now boss of Championship side Southampton, Martin knew immediately that he was coaching a diamond whose rough edges just needed smoothed out.
“I could see right away that Matt was a brilliant footballer. He is an absolutely outstanding technician. Let me tell you something about Matt: his mentality was straight out of the top drawer. At MK Dons he was every manager’s dream.
“He was the consummate professional in his preparation. He was really into that and the recovery side of the game. He was a real student of football and was genuinely interested in how he could take his game to the next level and be the best he could be.
“He is physically a beast too. I said when he first signed for Celtic that he would be one of the best players in the Scottish Premiership and I am delighted for him that he has proven that statement to be correct. He’s
grown into his role at Celtic and adapted to Scottish football so well. It is not hindsight or being clever after the event, I always knew he would.
“Matt can play in both a deeper or higher role but I believe he is at his best when he plays that bit higher up the pitch because of the quality of his final pass and finishing. I am convinced that Matt will play at the very top levels of the game. I loved working with him at MK Dons and I am even prouder to say that he still keeps in touch which says everything about him as a person as well. “
Jesper Sorenson is the Denmark U21 coach and the man who gave O’Riley his first taste of international football. “I have followed his career and I wanted him to play in the Danish national team if he wanted to. Luckily now he has made it all the way up the Danish ‘A’ team. That is all down to Matt’s determination. His mentality is spot on and he is always looking for ways to improve himself.
“He is a mature guy and he is making good moves in terms of his career progression and development. Even this early on he looks like a player who has played over 100 games for Celtic.
“He is smart and that also makes up for his lack of speed which he might develop. He is not a fast player but he is fast in his head and that helps him out a great deal. He is a good passer and a good assister but he has recently shown his eagerness to get into the box and he can score goals. I fully expect him to score goals for Celtic this season. I am happy that having had a talk with Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers that he has improved that ratio already.
“I sensed an ambition in him from very early to play for the Danish national team. He wanted to get there and he wanted to show that he could play international football. I often disappointed him and I substituted him or I left him out of games and I didn’t start him in the first game that he joined up with the U21s squad against Belgium. I really understood how ambitious he is and the willpower that he had.
“He is doing so well now for Celtic and I expect that he will be subject to offers and there will be lots of rumours linking him to clubs higher than the Scottish Premiership. Signing for Celtic has been a wonderful move in terms of his career trajectory and his development. I know Matt has signed a new four-year contract at Celtic but I would be surprised if he stays in Scotland for another four years. He will be interesting a lot of clubs right now.
“Matt is now firmly on the radar of the Danish national coach Kasper Hjulmand and I know him very well and we have spoken about him many times. He is definitely a player for the future when it comes to Denmark.
“I believe Matt can go far in his career. He has been good at making excellent decisions so far in his career that has led him to playing at a high level so soon. That is a good thing and will no doubt help him go even further.”