Many Celtic fans have been talking about Diego Laxalt after the club’s 2-0 loss in the recent Old Firm derby.
The Hoops lost the Old Firm derby by a 2-0 scoreline on Saturday. Connor Goldson scored in the first half and then scored again in the second half, potentially denting Celtic’s hopes of winning their 10th Premiership title in a row this season (as per BBC Sport).
Laxalt, who had arrived on loan from Milan in the summer transfer window, made his debut in the game on Saturday. Many Celtic fans gave their opinion about the Uruguayan’s performance against the Gers and Lennon’s decision to hand him his debut in the fixture.
What did Celtic fans make of Laxalt’s performance in the Old Firm derby?
Laxalt shouldn’t be playing today, all over the place
— Adam Lynch (@AdamLynch27) October 17, 2020
Were you happy with Laxalt's debut?
Yes
No
I honestly thought he had a mare. Same as the rest of the team. We look so slow and flat it’s unreal. Something is definitely not right.
— Cmon-the-Hoops (@the_LEGEND1976) October 17, 2020
Very poor. All over the place going backwards. Gave away some ridiculous ball. No better than Taylor
— Eoin Moynihan (@Moynihan_4) October 17, 2020
He certainly looked like a player that hasn’t played a game since July. Only celtic would get him. The whole team looked lost today. Lennon out. Sick of his bizarre line up and tactical decisions. Thought Welsh was solid enough though.
— Jamie (@2024jamie) October 17, 2020
Laxalt was on the bench for Milan in every game for them in all competitions at the start of this season prior to his move to Scotland.
In the 2019/20 campaign, he was loaned out to Torino in the first half of the campaign but he returned to the San Siro for the second half of the season. He had made four Serie A appearances for Milan last season.
Some other Celtic fans also began talking about Laxalt’s performance on Saturday and they believe that it is unfair to criticise him following his first appearance for the club.
He wasn’t great. Although it’s his first game with Celtic so we’ll give it time. He launches the balls into the box a wee bit too hard I thought.
— TheCelticWay (@TheCelticWay87) October 17, 2020
1st game in months. Unfair to judge. Showed a bit of quality but also defensive frailty, but as I said unfair to judge. Others I expected more from ie Ntcham posted missing
— Gordon (@Stormtrooper73) October 17, 2020
A lot of these Celtic fans believe that while it wasn’t the best performance from Laxalt, it would be unfair to criticise him since it was his first game for Celtic.
The Uruguayan, currently 27, picked up a Whoscored rating of 6.45 in the game on Saturday. As a result, he was the club’s sixth-best performer. He completed the joint-highest number of dribbles for Celtic (two).
It shows that while it wasn’t an overly impressive performance from him, he was still trying to help the team score. Celtic fans can only hope that he improves from here and potentially helps them win their tenth Premiership title in a row this season.