Celtic pundit Paul John Dykes has slammed Diego Laxalt’s performance in the club’s loss to Ross County.
Dykes recently hosted the latest episode of the Celtic State of Mind podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues involving the Hoops following their loss to Ross County in the Premiership. Dykes talked about Laxalt’s performance in the defeat and he believes that the Uruguayan’s Celtic career has nosedived and he can’t do the simplest of things on the pitch.
Do you think Laxalt was dreadful against Ross County?
Yes
No
Laxalt had arrived at Celtic on loan from Milan in the summer of 2020. He had spent the first half of the 2019/20 season on loan at Torino, but returned to Milan for the second half of last season. He had started his Parkhead career while being a regular for Celtic, but he hasn’t been a regular part of the side in recent weeks (as per Transfermarkt).
Dykes talked about his performance against Ross County and he feels that Laxalt’s Celtic career has fallen off a cliff.
The pundit said (7:13): “We spoke about Diego Laxalt, the regression of that player. Yeah, we were disappointed when Taylor went off. He was quite involved in the second half but I wouldn’t let that mask the fact that his Celtic career has nosedived.
“It’s fallen off a cliff. For anyone who doesn’t think that a player like Kris Ajer is AC Milan class, I just beg you go and look at that player – Diego Laxalt on the park tonight. Because the simplest of things in terms of crossing the ball, is beyond him. I know he comes from a really good stock and he’s got this calibre about him, he’s got a great reputation, but he’s dreadful.”
TIF Thoughts on Laxalt…
Laxalt had come on for Greg Taylor early on in the game against Ross County and in the outing, the defender picked up a rating of 7.02.
The Uruguayan played as many as three key passes in the game – the third-highest on the pitch. He completed four dribbles and also took a couple of shots on goal. He also made the highest number of interceptions for the Hoops side (as per Whoscored).
He was the club’s highest rated player in the game too. So perhaps, Dykes’ criticism for Laxalt is unjustified and the Milan loanee didn’t have a bad game at all.