Against Hibs in the first game of the new season Ki not only marked his man of the match performance with a stunning goal but again sprayed nearly 60 passes, long and short, to colleagues. Only 2 failed to find a fellow Celt.
The versatility of Ki’s passing suits Celtic’s current MO as he can hold the ball and pull in the opposition midfield towards him before moving the ball on. This creates the space for others or as we saw against Hibs he can launch spectacularly accurate 40 yard passes which stretch opposition defences.
With Kayal and Brown playing the midfield enforcer role this leaves Ki very much in the position of being the pivotal figure in moving the ball forward. In doing so it minimises any notion of playing long balls from the back. In many respects Ki’s role is not dissimilar to that of Paul Lambert in both his dortmund and Celtic days. Equally Ki has passing qualities every bit as good as Paul McStay’s.
As players like Ki turn in consistently good performances backed up by the stats mentioned above there will always be speculation about interest from other clubs. But at the start of another season it is hoped that Ki cements his place in the current Celtic side and he maintains the exceptionally high standards he has set over the past few months.
