Celtic

Celtic: Dykes issues criticism of Diego Laxalt

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Celtic pundit Paul John Dykes has recently criticised the club’s loan signing Diego Laxalt for his recent performances.

Dykes was hosting the latest episode of the ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues involving the Bhoys. One topic of discussion was the performance of Laxalt this season. Dykes believes that while the Uruguayan has been a very reliable ball-winner, he has declined in recent weeks for the Bhoys.

Has Laxalt declined in the last few weeks?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Laxalt had joined Celtic on loan from Milan in the summer transfer window. Since joining the club on a temporary basis, the Uruguayan has been playing quite regularly for the Bhoys. He has made 13 appearances in all competitions under Neil Lennon this season (as per Transfermarkt). Lennon has previously described him as a ‘brilliant’ player.

Dykes believes that Laxalt’s delivery in the final third hasn’t been good enough and he made his criticism very clear about the 27-year-old.

He said: “Going back to another point – he’s gone off the boil. Laxalt has gone off the boil. He’s good ball-winner, you could see that record for the UEFA Europa League game, the first game – he wins 13 tackles. That’s great, but when he finds himself in that final third, his final ball has not been that impressive.”

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TIF Thoughts on Dykes’ claim about Laxalt…

In the initial few games for the Hoops, Laxalt had picked up pretty impressive ratings. He was very good against Milan, Lille, Hibernian and even Motherwell. More recently though, he has picked up rather disappointing ratings against the likes of Milan, St. Johnstone and Lille (as per Whoscored).

He has been the club’s joint-third best tackler in the league season, winning 1.5 tackles per game but Laxalt has played only 0.3 key passes per game for the Bhoys (as per Whoscored).

This clearly shows that Laxalt’s performances indeed have dropped and he needs to improve his final pass too. So Dykes’ criticism for the Uruguayan is pretty justified.

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European Football Writer. Contributed for FootballItalia, Manchester United, Manchester Evening News, Calciomercato, GFFN and more.