Matt O’Riley has been playing for Celtic for just over a year now and has revealed how he has dealt with crowd frustrations.
The 22-year-old hasn’t been as a permanent fixture in the team since the winter break due to the form of Aaron Mooy and return of captain Callum McGregor but will be hoping to have a strong end to the season.
O’Riley will need to be patient but knows his chance will come again in midfield as the Hoops approach the so called business end of the campaign.
Having now been at the club for a while, he knows the expectations from Ange Postecoglou but admits that it was a challenge when he initially came into the club after making the switch from EFL League One side MK Dons.
The midfielder wasn’t too used to misplaced passes being met by such a groaning reaction which he has now adjusted to as well as the size of crowd.
He is a top talent that will only continue to develop but admits that he draws inspiration from two sporting legends which he looks up to that allows him to focus on his game.
The two figures he chose were tennis legend Novak Djokovic and basketball hero LeBron James who both have a focused winning mentality.
“Novak Djokovic is someone I really enjoy hearing speak. He speaks a lot about mindfulness,” said O’Riley as quoted by [Football Scotland].
“He’s been so many match points down but he just seems to look the same all the time
“I think it comes from the number of times he’s been in those big situations. The top athletes are very good at that.
“LeBron James is another who is always very focused and stays as present as he can. If he’s not then it’ll distract him from what he needs to do.
“When I started playing at Celtic and the fans were pretty much 60,000 every week, I wasn’t used to it.
Reuters/Carl Recine
“When you missed a pass you heard the whole crowd go, ‘Arrrggggh’. You can sense the anxiety.
“I can’t control the fans. But if I see it from the point of view of, ‘Matt, all you can do is play the game’, I’m usually better for it. That helps.”
That ability to adapt quickly is important for any player who makes the move to the Scottish champions.
The demands and expectations at Celtic are very high and it’s important a player knows that and sets his game to that standard.
