Arne Engels

He's irritated me every pre season game so far..

Just hasn't looked arses one bit. Think he's been shocking..

Needs some fire in the belly or something. Does enough whinging, needs to channel it in to positive aggression..

Bit whimpy and shitebaggy. Like a spoilt wean..

He isn't a starter at all for me moving forward, unless he can show something consistently. Nygren is miles ahead..

 

Nygren instantly looks levels above.

 

He struggles massively with the pace and physicality of the domestic game here. No idea what his role is and he doesn't look at home in that midfield or a Celtic shirt in general. When teams camp in for a 6-0 scudding at
CP he can look great , but as soon as it gets to tough , fast , away ground battles , or the Huns , or big Hampden ties or anytime he's pressed , he struggles.

 

He seems like a bit of a shitebag generally on the pitch. Hasnt got an ounce of fight or aggression in him at all.

 

He’s basically a runner. A little bit of size and legs for Europe. That proved to be useful last season, but not 11 million pounds useful.

 

I know most disagree with me but I still think McCowan is better

 

It's pretty obvious he's not a starter at the moment but has shown about as much fight and desire to get back into the starting 11 as he shows in a 50/50

 

How brutal is that for the 11 mill man. Frightening..

I'm no even one of Engels haters either but he really needs a kick on, by a fair bit..

 

Well aye, but I'm also of the opinion that McCowan is criminally underrated. So it's not to say I think Engels is total *.

Needs to do much more from open play though

 

See i don't rate McCowan as a starter for us. Think hes a bit weak and doesn't have the legs..

Does have quality though in the final third..

 

A bit weak, aye, I can give you that.

I think he covers ground well enough though and tries his heart out. Certainly in Scotland he's a more effective attacking midfielder than Engels or Bernardo and by a long way.

He's never really been given a good crack at Europe so hard to judge there.

Nygren may be the best of both worlds though so I'm not screaming for McCowan to start at the moment. Just don't think he should be last off the bench.

 

I still don't know what his strengths are supposed to be. Some people say he's a strong runner but I must be missing that part. He, more often than not, goes through a game doing absolutely * all of note.

 

Definitely rate McCowan far more than Bernardo, that's not even close for me.

At his best Engels is comfortably better, but McCowan is far more consistent.

 

I think he was at his best in the role he played against Bayern, particularly in the home leg, where he played a bit deeper. Thought he was very effective.

He could definitely play better and needs to, but I get the impression that a lot of people are quick to jump on him, simply because of the price tag.

 

It’s nothing to do with the price tag, it’s to do with the fact he is nonexistent in games on a regular basis. More often than not he’s an empty jersey.

 

It’s not true though. He contributed plenty last season and wasn’t an empty jersey in the majority of his appearances.

People expect him to be a superstar because of the price tag, and even go to the lengths of dismissing his contributions because “they were just penalties”.

I think he’ll come good. He’s young and a bit lacking in confidence. Gets in his own head at times I think.

 

He does a lot of wee niggly fouls and puling people back instead of actually bursting his * to run back and win the ball. Alot of moaning as well. It's all to distract from the fact he's actually hiding on the pitch. Needs to step up.

 

Think we really need to see him in a run of competitive games this season. See how he develops.

When the team was motoring at the start of last season he looked pretty good. Then around December the teams form tailed off and become very inconsistent. And I thought he mirrored that.

Dont think as a player hes shown hes capable of lifting the team or players around him by grabbing games by the scruff of the neck yet. He tends to perform well when the rest of the team is performing well. And become pretty anonymous when the team is not performing well.

At his age though I think what he really needs is time.