3 major problems that Celtic must solve next season

Left-back choices 

These have often been difficult areas to fill for Celtic over the years and it’s no different now. There was a period where it looked as if we might have a good strong position for this season, but a lot has changed since.

At left-back, Greg Taylor has suffered a lot of criticism, sometimes because of weak defending and an inability to play a decent final ball into the penalty area for the forwards. He was benched when Diego Laxalt signed on loan but has started recent matches.

To be fair, Taylor has fought his way back into the starting line up again, partly by working hard, perhaps partly as Laxalt has been struggling of late. He played well against Motherwell, possibly one of his better games.

He wasn’t under much pressure defensively but his forward play was much improved, his interplay with midfield and forwards was good and he did fire some very good balls as crosses at times during the game. It was in fact a surprise when he was one of the players taken off during the game.

Laxalt looked a terrific prospect when he arrived as a last minute loan signing back in October. An Uruguayan international from AC Milan sounded ideal. Since then we’ve possibly seen why he is out on loan and hadn’t been featuring much in Italy.

Laxalt is definitely skilful, strong and aggressive in tackling. He can defend and go forward well. He is however prone to error and being caught out of position, regularly misplaces passes and his final ball is probably worse than Taylor’s had been previously.

Laxalt has given a few frustrating fouls away allowing the opposition a good set play opportunity, something the Celtic defence don’t want to be facing currently. He did however contribute significantly in some games, the late goal against Hibernian and Saturday’s last minute clearance off the line, for example.

Celtic do still have Andrew Gutman from 2019, out on loan in the US. He remains a signing that’s hard to understand as a deal and hard to see leading anywhere for the Hoops after this long.

Taylor probably edges it for selection on current form, but with Laxalt in on loan and likely to be £5m+ to buy, neither seem to be the answer going forward.

All across the defence there are issues and frailties, a lack of cover and a huge rebuilding programme needed. For whoever the manager, there will be a lot to do this and next season.