KIERAN TIERNEY CELTIC RETURN: HOW WILL HE IMPROVE THIS CURRENT TEAM?
- By LIAM McBRIDE
- Jun 12
- 4 min read
Kieran Tierney has rejoined Celtic on a five-year deal running to the Summer of 2030.
The 27-year-old returns to Glasgow after six seasons away from the club, spending the majority of his time with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. While his stint in North London started promisingly, he soon fell out of favour in the 2022/23 season and failed to win his place back for the Gunners.
With Kieran Tierney Celtic Have a Number of Options
Returning to Paradise, Tierney is full of gratification. He spoke on Celtic TV saying,
“Everybody’s known for a few months, and just to be here with the Celtic strip on again feels amazing… My ambition is for Celtic to be as successful as possible, retain our place at the top and continue to win trophies.”
So, just how much of a game-changer will the left-back prove to be?
Low Blocks
Low blocks. They are a familiar sight in Scottish football. Week on week, the Champions will try to break down the most stubborn of defences who are content on stifling the game and escaping without a hammering.
To say that Celtic struggled against deep defenses could be a case of recency bias. After all, at the start of the season, they picked up 43 points from an available 45.
Yet, If we split the 2024 part of the league season from the 2025 part, the point-per-game tally fell from 2.77 to 2.1.
Of course, many factors contributed to this. Firstly, the league was out of sight by January. Moreover, end-of-season fatigue was likely present. However, without a doubt, a massive reason was the lost dynamism Celtic failed to replace in their team.
When the Hoops scored early there was no issue, the floodgates would open. However, when they struggled to break the deadlock in the opening stages, the remainder of the game would become a struggle.
When Kyogo left in January, he wasn’t in the greatest of form. In 29 games, he managed just 12 goals. Yet, even in the moments when he wasn’t scoring, his pestering movement consistently kept the opposition defence on red alert and moved their backline around.
Against defensive teams this is vital. While Idah came in and scored to a sufficient standard, his lack of off-the-ball movement weakened Celtic as an overall unit. At times Maeda moved to striker, which gave the Bhoys that intensity once more, however as a consequence they then lost that in the wide areas.
The arrival of Tierney will bring back the intensity of movement albeit from a different area of the park. His overlapping nature will unsettle defences and stretch the game. As Johan Cruyff famously said, “When you have the ball, make the pitch big; without it, make the pitch small.”
Moreover, he will give opposition defenders more to think about. In wide areas, Tierney will engage in one-on-one situations and run in behind when space becomes available. We remember countless goals like that, whether it was Odsounne Edouard’s opener in a derby day demolition…
League Griffiths’ away strike in Anderlecht…
Or Stuart Armstrong’s fifth goal in the famous 5-1 victory.
The European Stage
Tierney will also offer Celtic something more on the continental stage. As cliche as it has become to say, it remains true, Greg Taylor simply isn’t cut out to defend at the highest level. All too often, the Celtic left-hand side became an area that opposition teams isolated and played in behind.
No team did this more than Club Brugge in last season's 1-1 draw in the Champions League. Andreas Skov Olsen had a field day, cutting in on his left foot time and time again, without any defensive resistance coming his way. Moreover, under pressure, Taylor’s lack of pace has become an easy ball over the top for under-pressure defences.
With Tierney’s pace and power, it will take a player with considerable speed to be able to isolate his area in transition. Unfortunately in previous years that hasn’t been the case.
Moreover, the potential left-hand side partnership of Maeda and Tierney really excites. While it may not own technical ability of the highest level, in terms of pace and power, there will be few partnerships that can match.
Midfield Balance
There are no issues with inverted fullbacks. It’s like anything in football, it comes down to your personnel and whether it maximises their potential. With the current Celtic squad, an overlapping fullback should provide more balance and dynamism.
Quite often last season, and none more so than in the Scottish Cup Final, Taylor was placed the left-hand 6 position, which is where Reo Hatate or Paulo Bernardo would typically play. In stuffy games, that would mean for the midfielder to get on the ball, they would have to drift out wide and pick up the ball in a left-back area. We saw this time and time again in the cup final.
Again, it’s not to say that there is anything inherently wrong with this. With pacy and powerful midfielders, this could work a treat. Yet, Bernardo and Hatate’s strength comes at their feet, and finding the ball in central areas and linking up from there. Next season, having Tierney in that position will be much more beneficial.
Moreover, unless your team is incredibly well drilled at quick rotation and positional play, an extra man in the central areas can cause a crowded effect and be counterproductive.
Injury Reality
There is a caveat though. A backup of sufficient quality will be necessary. Recent history tells you that Tierney will be injury-prone. So, Celtic will need to manage him, and shouldn’t look to pick him for thirty-eight league games a season.
Many of his injury issues have come in the Premier League and La Liga. It goes without saying, two of the highest ranked leagues in Europe, are much more physically demanding than Scottish Football. Yet, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Whether Mathew Anderson will be given a chance at back-up after an impressive pre-season last time out remains to be seen.
A few weeks ago, the Hoops were also linked with making a permanent move for Jeffrey Schlupp. Only time will tell.
Images Copyright Free on https://tactical-board.com/uk
