Celtic's failure to sign a holding midfielder may also cost them the full potential of one of their best strikers. There is a clear gap in the Hoops midfield, with the club failing to replace £22million departure Arne Engels, who joined West Ham.
There is no greater gap in the Celtic side than that of the midfield, with no true enforcer and no one strong enough to confidently carry the ball through deep positions to the opposing box.
At the top end of the pitch, Celtic are struggling a way to find a way to get the best out of both Kasper Hogh and Camilo Duran, with the latter often having to start out wide, even when Hogh is not in good form, which is currently the case.
“He has played in a number of positions for us, and I think his best position is either centre-forward or just off centre-forward," O'Neill admitted in his most recent press conference.
“It’s up to us now in the next few months to develop ways. That’s what we’re there for, to develop ways to get the very best out of him. That doesn’t mean the whole team should just be making plans for just one player.
“It was never the case way back years ago when one of the great players, Henrik Larsson, he never came into my room to ask where he was going to play or what he wanted to do. As long as he was starting.
“It’s up to us to try and divise a way to try and do that. So that the rest of the season, after the international break, we try and win football matches with the best players on the field.”
Why Can't Celtic solve the attacking issue?
Interestingly, the attacking issue may well be caused by the midfield issue. The obvious answer, beyond Hogh being dropped, is for Celtic to play two up top, offering both Hogh and Duran the chance to play in their natural positions.
But that won't be possible because of the lack of strength the Bhoys have in midfield. Any combination of Callum McGregor, Mika Baur, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Oliver Sorensen or Joel van den Berg is not going to be able to survive as a midfield two, and O'Neill knows it.
That limits the ability O'Neill has to change systems, especially when he knows Celtic do not have enough strength in the midfield under the current system. All roads may lead back to one central issue.
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