Nir Bitton: A Player Who Was Just Coming Into His Own And May Yet Have Something.
I think Nir Bitton is almost criminally under-rated. As a midfielder he’s one of the best passers of the ball in the squad. He is cool and calm in possession and he had skill and aggression. Nir Bitton is also younger than most people realise; he’s 26 years old.
What throws them is that he’s already been a Celtic a while, since the summer of 2013. He’s made over 170 appearances for us in that time; he’s been a fine servant, and because he signed a contract extension he still has two years of his current deal left.
It is without question that he can do enough to earn another.
Brendan likes him a lot. He’s one of the players who the manager trusts implicitly, and one he had big plans for before a knee injury shattered them in February. The big man has been out ever since; six months and counting. Gone, but not forgotten.
One of his strengths is his versatility. His natural game is as a midfield playmaker, which is an area where we badly need someone with his skill-set, but he’s also been played as a ball-winner in the engine room. What’s most interesting, of course, is that the manager has also deployed him in the centre of defence, in a move I find interesting for a number of reasons which deserve an article all of their own; suffice to say, the manager is taking his cue there from Guardiola whilst at Barcelona and the other coaches from that finishing school, who believe that midfielders deployed at the centre of defence make excellent “build from the back” teams.
Javier Mascherano is clearly the sort of template the manager had in mind, and the tactic is doubly useful in a team like ours which frequently comes up against sides who play with a lot of personnel behind the ball. Those who wondered if Kris Ajer was being properly deployed at centre back should take note; he started his career in the midfield.
It’s pretty plain that he is not in the defence just because he’s better than Simunovic. He’s there because he’s the closest identikit player to Bitton.
The big Israeli definitely has a part to play.
Whether it’s enough of one to merit a new deal is something we’re going to find out in due course.