Ange Postecoglou reveals why Celtic star hasn’t gotten chances

Celtic’s defence was viewed as a huge weakness last season as the Hoops leaked goals left, right and centre. One of the biggest reasons behind that was the fact that Christopher Jullien spent the majority of his time out of action due to injuries. The Frenchman is one of the most expensive signings in the history of the club and was viewed as their best defender not too long ago.

The situation seems to be very different now though. Celtic signed Carl Starfelt last summer while bringing in Cameron Carter-Vickers from Tottenham Hotspur on a season-long loan and the two have struck up quite a partnership.

Stephen Welsh has served as the third choice behind them and even though Jullien has returned from his injury, which kept him out of action for more than a year, he has not gotten much of a look in till now.

Jullien has made only one solitary appearance since returning to fitness, off the bench.  Ange Postecoglou has now given his reasoning behind not playing the Frenchman. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, the manager told Celtic TV:

“Chris is training hard and is available. We’ll see how the last couple of games go. It’s obviously been a challenge for him and Stephen Welsh to be fair. With Cameron and Carl doing well, particularly in this last period where we haven’t had any midweek games.

“My feeling has always been in terms of rotation that most parts of the field you’re pretty comfortable to rotate. But defensively you need understanding and cohesion and it’s harder to give guys game-time so that’s, unfortunately, the situation Chris has been in.

“In terms of the future we’ll sit down at the end of the year like I will with all the players and we’ll chart a way forward. With all of these things, we’ll end up doing what’s best for the player and what’s best for the club.”

Postecoglou reveals why Celtic star hasn’t gotten chances

Postecoglou seems to prefer going in with the same centre-back pairing in most of his games, like the majority of managers. That is why Jullien and Welsh have not gotten to play much recently, with Carter-Vickers and Starfelt forming a formidable duo in the heart of defence.

One has to wonder what the long-term future of Jullien is at Parkhead. He cannot be happy with the amount of time that he has gotten this season.

This article was originally posted here

Start a Conversation

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *