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This Celtic Central Defensive Partnership Will Keep Getting Stronger. We Must Keep It.

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Looking at the way the team approached the game the other night, you recognise that if we’re going to be attacking in that manner that we need top class players at the back. Fortunately, we have a pair of central defenders who are developing into that category. Carter Vickers was secured on a long term deal last season. We need Jenz signed up next.

Watching the two of them, it is impossible not to recognise that this as good a central defence as Celtic has had in many years, since perhaps as far back as O’Neill’s team, although any back line which had Van Dijk in it was going to be special.

Little by little, Carter Vickers has grown into the role and taken full advantage of the platform that this club has provided him.

He had been a wandering player in his teens and early 20’s, never really getting a chance to settle anywhere. Now, at Celtic, he’s found a home and regular games and the adulation of the crowd. But he needed a proper partnership.

I like Starfelt. I think he’s been a strong signing and I was gutted when he got injured at the start of the campaign.

But Jenz has more than stepped into the role; he has made it his own to the extent that it’s the big Swede who now has a job on his hands to convince the manager that he belongs in this side.

I don’t believe that this will daunt him; nor should it.

But the central defensive pairing of Carter Vickers and Jenz is good enough that we should be trying to keep it together as long as possible. These two have an almost telepathic communication, and there were times watching them the other night when it seemed as if they’ve been in the same team for years.

At other times it did look like something new and still in the development phase.

Having Starfelt as the backup speaks to the strength of this squad.

But he’s clearly now the odd man out of the three.

It is critical that we follow up on this in the summer, and bring Moritz Jenz to Celtic on a permanent deal, so that we can continue to grow this back line. If these two get another season together you will see them both – and thus Celtic – at their very best.

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  • Jim says:

    For me Van Dijk and Jason Denayer are the best two players we’ve had in those positions in recent times. Both world class.
    CCV is close to the level of Denayer and hasn’t been getting there ‘little by little’ – he’s been rock solid from day one at Celtic.
    He reads the game so well that he doesn’t need blistering pace and he has exceptional strength.
    What I’d like to see him develop is his distribution. It is very safe, which is good, but slow and predictable.
    It could be quite painful to watch him and Starfelt last season, although Starfelt was starting to slightly improve.
    I’m not sure yet if Jens is as good a defender as Starfelt, but he has greatly improved our speed and quality of passing from the back.

    • David says:

      I was right onboard with everything you said until the very last point. He is fine passing side to side, but forward passes often go astray. Him giving the ball away are the the reason we lost 3 goals, I think, in CL. Fine in SPL where you may not get punished, but there is a load of work to do.

  • David says:

    I couldn’t disagree more. I think Jenz is an awful centre half. Not only is he slow over the ground, but his positional awareness and decision making are lamentable. Starfelt is the far more accomplished of the two. Jenz is decent backup, but TBH Welsh looks a more accomplished player. Depending on the fee, I would wonder if it would be better to look elsewhere…..

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