Celtic have avoided any early season drama and are comfortably through to the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round where they will face Norwegian champions Rosenborg next week.
Linfield didn’t put up much of a fight in either leg but the Hoops went about their job professionally and in the home encounter, with style. They knocked in four goals against the Northern Irish side, giving a busy Celtic Park plenty to cheer about.
Another massive highlight for fans in attendance was the opportunity to see Olivier Ntcham make his competitive debut. One of the best feelings you can have as a football fan is seeing your club make a major signing then see him perform well in his first few matches.
Ntcham shone on the night, displaying that he is certainly not a signing for the future despite his young age. He’s arrived at the club to compete for first team places.
Here are THREE reasons why fans should be excited despite the Frenchman having only made one appearance so far…
His range of passing
Linfield came to Celtic Park to sit in and defend and so it was natural to see Olivier Ntcham get plenty of possession and time to find teammates on Wednesday night. However, he still impressed with almost everything he did with the ball, showing technical ability to move the ball about the park with speed and accuracy.
Whether passing in short bursts to his midfield teammates or spraying long balls out to the flanks, he looked capable, regularly finding his man. He also did it with an urgency that has been lacking from Celtic at times, even over the last 12 months under Brendan Rodgers.
When the likes of Nir Bitton are in the team, possession can appear to be a little laboured and while that patient approach may pay-off in matches, supporters want to see a more immediate and incisive style of passing, which Ntcham certainly delivered on in his first outing.
If he can maintain that standard into the start of the Scottish Premiership season then the Hoops have a winner on their hands.
He loves a shot at goal
Olivier Ntcham was desperate to impress on Wednesday, clearly looking to give the 50,000+ fans in attendance a debut performance to remember. He wasn’t shy about having a pop at goal, on numerous occasions shaping to shoot and fire one off. While none of these really troubled Roy Carroll, one of his deflected efforts did lead to Scott Sinclair’s opening goal, which made the tie a formality just four minutes in.
If he is to replace the likes of Stuart Armstrong or Callum McGregor in the team long-term, that duo scored 24 goals between them last season, then he’ll need to pitch in with his fair share of goals and his willingness to get forward and have efforts from distance is certainly a sign he understands that.
His physicality and technical ability looks sound, so adding an attacking threat to his game could make him a real hero in his spell at Celtic Park.
His eagerness to be involved in everything
Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of Olivier Ntcham’s debut for the club was his eagerness to be involved in absolutely everything Celtic did. Off the back of that performance you’d be forgiven for believing he is a player much older than he actually is due to the mature, composed and fear free way he want about playing in front of such a massive crowd for the first time.
Even Moussa Dembele needed a period of transition when he first arrived at the club but Ntcham looks ready to go at just 21 years of age.
Whether coming deep to take possession to driving forward into pockets of space with the ball at his feet, he looked every bit the ‘box-to-box’ midfielder he was advertised as coming into the club.
The Hoops scored three goals while he was on the pitch and he was involved in all three in some capacity, perhaps a sign that he’s going to be massively influential not just in this European qualifying campaign but all season in the Scottish Premiership.
