Emilio Izaguirre

Had a fine game, especially when you consider he hasn't played much and the strength of the opposition.

 

I actually think his short passing is better than KT's. He played very well last night so much better than in Europe last year (although so was everyone else too)

 

They targeted him at first and he dealt with nearly everything. Great backup.

 

Having two of the best left backs in Scotland is brilliant, where I am genuinely gutted for KT, I would have hated for Emilio to run down his contract without getting a game.....hope he enjoys the opportunity - based on last night I am

 

He coped well, my only criticism is that on more than a few occasions he just wellied it up the park and not looking for a team mate.

 

This might seem crazy, but does anyone else think he'd make a decent CM/CDM alongside Brown?

He's got some great attributes to play there, he's tenacious and nippy, he's strong in the tackle, he's composed under pressure in general and with his passing which is pretty decent, got great aggression and hunger, he's a sturdy player with great strength and power. Possibly a bit like Gary Medel in stature in the middle of the park.

I'm just thinking once Tierney gets back fit it would be a shame to see Izzy out the side again because he's showing he's still got a lot to offer and I think he could be transformed in that position.

My only worry would be at times he can get a bit over heated and become a hothead in regards to lunging into challenges (See Ajax last season) or just getting involved in some personal altercations and getting silly bookings, but overall I think he'd be an interesting option for the middle of the park.

Would much rather see Izzy in there I think over Armstrong, Henderson and McGregor.

 

He's not a centre mid in a million years Wanyama.

Centre mid is the hardest position on the park to play, players don't convert to playing there that easily.

 

What attributes do you think he lacks to play there? Does Brendan not want his CMs/CDMs to have decent pace, movement, mobility, aggression and energy? Izzy gives you all that as well as being good on the ball, just saying I think it'd be interesting to try especially domestically where he can learn the position there.

 

Positioning for a start..

 

Positionally I think he would be all over the place.

I also don't think he's a good enough passer to play in the middle of the park. He still plays some dodgy ones and tends to go long quite a bit and you get a lot more time on the ball at left back than in centre mid.

I don't think he has the temperament to be a holding midfielder and don't think he'd be good enough in terms of creativity going forward. Basically just dont think he'd bring much in a central role. I'd say the same about Tierney as well, couldn't really see him being the same level of player if he was played in the middle of the park.

He's still a very decent left back and I love the fact we have a player of his ability as a back up, considering for years we struggled to have one decent left back, nevermind two.

 

hopefully he can do the same against Barca

 

Been excellent since his return to the starting 11

 

Aye, arguably the most important attribute.

 

They really did. He had 2 1v1's with Hazard to deal with early on and won both and all round had a very good game. As much as I love Tierney and hope he is our left back of the next decade I am happy Izzy is getting a chance to sign off his Celtic career ( as I am guessing he won't be offered a new deal when this one finishes at the end of the season) with some big games and he is responding brilliantly so far.

 

Looks like a completely different player defensively. He was faultless last night. They were saying he should of got closer to their man for their goal but I think that's really being harsh.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...tml?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

 

hope he signs again and stays, would be fantastic to have 2 quality left backs fighting over the jersey for another couple of seasons at least.

 

Yeah, really hope he stays on. Don't think we could really get much better back up than Izzy. Played well since coming back into the side, would even play him further up the pitch if Sinclair was to ever get injured when Tierney was back.

 

Must be difficult for players who want game time but have someone as good and as consistent as KT
in front of them.. i think goalkeepers are a special breed in that respect, they seem to accept much longer
periods out of the first team.

i wonder if Izzy could play on the other side of the pitch (or KT for that matter) Really happy having both of
these guys in the hoops and hope Izzy stays with us. He just has to look at Griffiths and know that he is not
the only player itching to get back in the first team.

I think next month will see more players get game time but hopefully the manager can keep them all happy

 

Defo no, you'd be hanging the guy out to dry with that proposal. Mulgrew could do it as he had the positional sense and understood the CB role but Izzy is TOTALLY different as he isn't an old style solid left back his preference is to get forward and his natural desire to try and get ahead of a lot of the game would leave us totally exposed.

That's just one reason of a total 10 on why this would be mad trial.