Move over Welsh: Rodgers must finally unleash Celtic’s “hungry” 6 ft 4 gem with Scales – opinion

Give the young centre defender a chance to make an impression on the pitch.

This weekend, Celtic will focus on the Scottish Premiership as they get ready to welcome Kilmarnock, who are currently in fourth place, at Parkhead this afternoon.

Throughout the week, the Hoops’ lead at the top of the table was reduced to simply goal differential as their opponents tied them for the same amount of games played and points.

It is impossible to ignore the reality that Brendan Rodgers’ team is very much in a race for the championship, which makes each and every game crucial to their hopes of winning the league.

The goals of Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda helped the Bhoys defeat St. Mirren 2-0 in their most recent match, securing a spot in the SFA Cup quarterfinals.

Away from the attack, Rodgers could strengthen his team by pushing Stephen Welsh, who opened the game, aside so that Gustaf Lagerbielke could be released at the beginning.

The form of Stephen Welsh this year
During the 2022–2023 season, the 24-year-old defender only made four appearances in Premiership games under Ange Postecoglou; however, this season, he has already played five games under the Northern Irish manager.

With his lack of strength in physical duels and passive defending, he has been a pretty underwhelming player at the centre of the Hoops defence.

The aforementioned table illustrates how, in his five league games for the team, the Scottish defender has not intervened to stop many opposition attacks and has instead been outmatched by attackers on the deck.

While 27 members of the team have made at least one tackle for the team, 17 Celtic players have averaged more interceptions per game than Welsh players.

In the team’s most recent Premiership game against Hibernian, the 24-year-old enforcer began but did not show much. During his 66 minutes on the field, he failed to make a single tackle, block, interception, or clearing and lost five of his eight duels.

Rodgers should be willing to bench the academy graduate, who has made 66 competitive appearances for the first team, as these figures indicate that he did not contribute much to his team’s defensive efforts.

Why it’s time to let Lagerbielke loose

The Sweden international was permanently signed from Elfsborg last summer, but he hasn’t had many chances to show off his skills this season.

The teenage defender has had a 650% increase in value on FootballTransfers despite seeing little playing time at Parkhead. If Rodgers regularly inserts him into the team, especially ahead of Welsh, he may discover a new talent.

In September 2023, he made his final appearance in the Premiership against Motherwell, and he last started in the division at the beginning of January.

This season, the 23-year-old has made six league appearances for the Hoops, including four starts. In his 403 minutes on the field, Celtic has not allowed a goal, with the lone goal allowed during those six games being after he was substituted against Motherwell.

Given the small sample size, you could attempt to claim that this is all coincidence, but his individual numbers indicate that he was a major contributor to the defensive victory in those six games.

The 6 foot 4 behemoth was significantly more active defensively in his Premiership games for Celtic earlier this season than Welsh has been for the Hoops, as the table above shows.

Along with his previously mentioned 0.2 tackles and interceptions combined per game, the Scottish defender has also averaged 1.2 clearances and 2.6 ball recoveries.

This indicates that, on average, Lagerbielke is considerably more adept than the Bhoys academy graduate in stopping and neutralising opponent assaults throughout a game.

Moreover, Rodgers characterised the “hungry” colossus as having won an incredible 87% of his ground duels in the Premiership this year—a greater success rate than any other center-back in the team has had.

In terms of both his physical and defensive qualities, it is also remarkably better than Welsh’s dismal ground duel success rate of 25%, indicating that Lagerbielke would be a huge improvement over the 24-year-old washout.

Because he may provide more to the squad than the Scottish lightweight can, Rodgers should eventually let him go from the start in 2024.

The season has seen the rise of Liam Scales Lagerbielke is a right-footed defender who might provide balance to Scales’ left foot when playing out from the back for Celtic.

Having played 23 league games so far this season, the Ireland international—who spent the 2022–2023 season on loan with Aberdeen—has established himself as a consistent starter for the Scottish powerhouses.

With a duel success rate of 65% across those 23 games, he has been a powerful force at the centre of the Hoops defence, winning 70% of his ground clashes and 63% of his aerial contests.

This illustrates how, similar to Lagerbielke, Scales can outmanoeuvre opponents in the air and on the deck thanks to his physicality and positioning, but Welsh has been outmatched in ground duels by forwards.

In the Premiership this season, the 25-year-old enforcer has also produced more tackles and interceptions per game for Celtic than Welsh and Lagerbielke put together.

According to the table above, Scales, who has completed 88% of his passes attempted in the Premiership, was likewise excellent in the top division’s most recent matchup versus Hibernian.

Before Adam Idah’s stoppage-time winner from the penalty spot, he kept Hibs from testing Joe Hart’s goal with six combined clearances and blocks. He won 80% of his duels.

Now that Lagerbielke and Scales have shown themselves as a duo this season, Rodgers needs to unleash them against Kilmarnock this afternoon in order to create a formidable tandem going forward.

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