Arne Engels

Correct, looking like daylight robbery atm, the age excuses are pathetic, 21 is not super young in modern football, he's not 17/18, big Vic was bossing Xavi, Iniesta and Alex Song in midfield at 21 for us

I don't see any outstanding attributes, his set pieces are consistently pish with the odd decent delivery here and there, even then, he's one of the only 6ft+ players we have who should be in the box attacking the ball rather than taking set pieces, folk speak about his athleticism and build yet he's not using it all, getting bullied off the ball, still no goal from open play, his shooting is brutal, his tackling non existent, not breaking up play, not taking chances, passing is basic due to playing it super safe or just poor when he does try something more adventurous, hides a lot amongst the opposition, I'm really struggling to see the apparent potential within this lad, he's lacking in so many departments, as I said, can't see any outstanding features at all which is criminal for a player who has cost as much as he has, whoever scouted him can't be trusted again

 

He's not playing well enough to start. It's no more complex than that. We've had 3 really poor games recently, Kilmarnock, Hearts and tonight. Him not performing has been a big part of it. We have options, no using them is poor management.

 

The completely objective decision tonight was to start Bernardo ahead of Engels. The reality is he delivers much for the team at the moment.

It's nowhere near curtains for Engels but he needs to be taken out for the benefit of the team at the moment. He's contributing absolutely nothing.

 

Callum McGregor went to Notts County at his age and scored 15 goals and was the best player in that league. Came back here at 21 and scored about 5 goals in his first 5 or 6 first team appearances for this club, huge goals in qualifiers , MOTM performances . His ability was clear for all to see . Engels is a similar age as Cal was then and has shown very little in a Celtic shirt. He has been here 4 months played almost every game and it is still a mystery as to what type of player he is , what his attributes are , what he will excel at and offer us moving forward. The only thing I can think of is he is a 6, and needs to just play that holding role . Was a DM in Germany by all accounts . BR is on record saying he wants him to be an attacking player and a goal threat and offer more in the final third. I can't see it he very rarely gets in to those positions and hasn't scored a goal from open play and doesn't even look like scoring goals here.

 

Wasn’t good. But McGregor was rank too but no one will hear that. He’s a class player and we will see that soon. Seems when the midfield is off it’s off. The 3 of them were dreadful and PB needs to start next game over any of them.

 

Brugge number 15 basically nullified him all night, very disappointing.

 

I don't see any great defensive attributes from him either to play as a 6, * knows where he's best at

 

Exactly what i thought.

 

He was the worst of the 3 in midfield last night. None of them were good though. Should be dropped for Bernardo and then have him trying to come on and make an impact to regain confidence. He is still very early into his time and something that I think is huge, is that he didn’t have pre-season with us. He was thrown in straight away. Plenty time for him to prove himself.

 

McGregor, whilst being far from his best, was miles better than Engels

 

Needs 6 months in the gym, he gets bullied. No doubt he has ability but needs toughened up.

 

Maybe hes homesick or struggling to settle, young player, new country, big price tag, its possible.

 

Being fair he also pocketed Hatate until the later stages of the game and was easily man of the match in the game for me last night and exactly the type of centre midfielder I think we need to complement what we have.

Engels for me is not doing enough to justify starting just now over Bernardo. When he first came in the team he looked all action but now just seems a bit lost as to where he should be. I said it in another thread last night was probably the first time this season I thought, I wish O’Riley was playing since he left.

I actually think the midfield of their team was their big strength all three were very technically sound players, who moved around and switched positions effortlessly. When you added in Tzolis coming in front he left regularly to run through the middle we were often outnumbered. I thought both our starting full backs last night had poor games, Taylor in particular but Johnston wasn’t his usual self either.

Taylor inverting in the CL doesn’t give us that extra man really as he more often than not just turns back with the ball and gives it to Trusty inviting their press. Trusty as guilty too of not being more direct with his passing.

When we missed out the messing about on the ball and got at them with balls in behind their full back we at least got up the and also looked dangerous at times.

For all I thought for an hour Brugge were the better team, chances in the game were pretty even both had a big chance they failed to take ours was Kuhn off the throw in and their’s was Skov Olsen back post. They had a couple of hits from around the edge of our box, Schmeichel made a good save from one and Hatate and Bernardo both had good shooting opportunities from the edge of theirs which narrowly went past either post.

Right at the end we should have scored when Hatate and Bernardo made a mess of it on the edge of their box Yang was in with a simple pass to their right.

 

Yep, he'll come good

 

I think he needs taken out the team for a while for his own good. He looks like a young guy struggling to settle and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the club.

When he first came in he looked good, but I think everything happened so fast at that point he hadn't had time to unpack, much less think about things. Now he has time he looks * scared on the pitch. I still think he'll come good, but he needs time and keeping playing him just now is only likely to drain what little confidence he has left. I'd genuinely be looking to give him as much of a break as possible until the new year to get his head straight.

 

I agree. If McCowan and Barnardo weren't there it might be an argument that given our dominance in the league, we can justify giving minutes to a young player to improve him. And Kuhn is a good example of a player just needing a bit of time to come good.

But Bernardo and McCowan are also both young, both need minutes to improve, and both simply contribute more than Engels at the moment. I think they need to start getting the nod.

The most frustrating thing about Engels is that he doesn't seem to dominate against poor opposition in unglamous games with a low block defence. Nor does he come to life in the big champions league games with open midfields and more space behind. I'd have more faith if he at least did one of these things and the second could follow in time, but he just doesn't seem to get involved regardless of the team.

 

I like a lot of his game but has a huge amount to work on, he reminds me of Stuart Armstrong. Armstrong was cleaner technically from what I’ve seen

 

What is happening with Engels actually reminds me a lot of when we first signed Scott Brown under Gordon Strachan. We paid big money at the time and mid season he wasn’t hitting the heights. This ultimately led to a midfield of Hartley and Robson being established, far cheaper less fancied players but better for the overall team.

Brown too lost his swagger and needed time to settle into the team and he came from Edinburgh.

Bernardo should be starting ahead of Engels for now in big games but there will be plenty of game time for both between now and the end of January. By the end of the season I am confident we will see a much improved player.

 

That's a brilliant comparison tbh, it's very similar. We really struggled to figure out Brown's best position for the first year or so, just couldn't see where he was a natural fit. Looked brilliant in fits and spurts but generally was a bit lost.