How Luis Palma can make Celtic’s left-wing position his own

Luis Palma seems to have found his groove in a Celtic shirt over the last three games, with his performances earning the acclaim of fans and supporters alike, as well as praise from his manager Brendan Rodgers.

Commenting on the Honduran’s impact and the expectation for new signings to hit the ground running, Rodgers said to the STV that: “Luis is settling in very well. These guys are coming from different climates and cultures.

“People feel the need for them to be perfect right away. I don’t, it’s all about adaptability.

“If they feed into the club’s winning mentality, they’ll improve here.

“You see with Palma, he’s getting better game by game. He was excellent today (against Kilmarnock) and scored a very good goal.

“He was dangerous. He played his part in a very good collective performance.”

 

 

Here are a few reasons why the Honduran could have just secured that free spot on the wing for himself.

Quality finisher

One thing Palma has shown in the early stages at Celtic is that he knows how to find the back of the net whenever he has a sight of goal. He may lack real pace but he makes up for that with his ability to pick up pockets of space in the opponent’s back-line, something that is key when defences are organised and well set-up in Scotland.

Both of his domestic goals this season have been fantastic long-range finishes, with him picking out the keeper’s far corner against Motherwell, and following that one up with a powerful drive high into the net against Kilmarnock.

His goal against Lazio, although disallowed for offside, was also a cute finish and showed the quality that he can provide in pressure moments.

Yang still looks raw

South Korean winger Yang Hyun-jun is currently the other player in contention for that free spot on the wings. Although he has shown flashes of skill, Yang hasn’t offered as much as the Honduran in his appearances so far.

He still looks raw, and whilst showing the drive and attacking intent, he looks indecisive whenever the attack reaches its final stages and there is clearly more development needed in the youngster’s game. He looked out of his depth against Lazio whilst Palma looked to have a bit more quality at the highest level which will have him as the preferred option for those high-pressure games.

 

Which option works best?

As previously mentioned, Yang has impressed in bursts but the starting appearances he has made have been a bit more revealing with his inexperience being on show.

The other winger Rodgers has opted to use in Liel Abada’s absence has been James Forrest who has made plenty of appearances from the bench as well as starting at the Tony Macaroni Arena against Livingston. Despite being a club legend, Forrest is missing that turn of pace which made him such a good player in the first place.

With all of the options currently available at the club’s disposal, Luis Palma has shown the necessary qualities needed to nail down that starting berth and the most recent performances indicate he is beginning to hit form, so allowing him the room to further develop his game would be a wise decision to make for Brendan Rodgers.

JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE