Celtic’s interim manager Martin O’Neill got off to a dream start on Wednesday night with a commanding 4-0 win over Falkirk at Parkhead in front of the home support.
The Hoops had lost their previous two matches in the Scottish Premiership, to Hearts and Dundee, before Brendan Rodgers tendered his resignation from his role on Monday night.
O’Neill and his interim coaching team got a brilliant response out of the first-team player against Falkirk, with Johnny Kenny being one of the stars of the night.
Why Johnny Kenny is undroppable for Celtic
The Ireland U21 international has started the last two Premiership matches after Kelechi Iheanacho suffered a hamstring injury early on in the win over Sturm Graz in the Europa League last week.
Kenny failed to make much of an impact against Hearts on Sunday, but he stepped up with two goals from five shots in 66 minutes on the pitch against Falkirk, per Sofascore.
On top of his goalscoring exploits, converting from close range on two occasions, the Irishman won five of his nine duels and won three fouls for the team, per Sofascore, acting as the focal point in the number nine position.
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With Iheanacho’s injury and Celtic’s lack of depth in the striker position, Kenny’s impressive performance against Falkirk should mean that he is undroppable for the time being.
The former Shamrock Rovers star is not the only Hoops ace who should be considered undroppable after Wednesday night, though, as Marcelo Saracchi was just as good.
Why Marcelo Saracchi should be undroppable already
The Uruguay international was brought in for experienced left-back Kieran Tierney, and barely put a foot wrong throughout the 90 minutes on the pitch.
Despite assisting Celtic’s goal, Tierney had a difficult afternoon against Hearts last time out. He lost three of his four aerial duels and failed to make a single tackle, per Sofascore, which is why the left-back position may not be guaranteed to him.
Saracchi came in against Falkirk on Wednesday and showed the defensive quality that was lacking from Tierney’s performance against Hearts, as he impressed for O’Neill.
Minutes
90
Tackles won
4
Interceptions
1
Ball recoveries
12
Ground duels won
7/11
Aerial duels won
3/3
Key passes
2
Crosses completed
3/6
As you can see in the table above, the Boca Juniors loanee made four more tackles and won 75% more of his aerial duels than Tierney did in his last outing at left-back.
On top of his impressive defensive work, with ten duels won and 12 ball recoveries, Saracchi also created two chances and had two shots on target, one of which was parried out to Benjamin Nygren for the third goal on the night.
It was a brilliant all-round display from the energetic full-back, who showed that he can contribute at both ends of the pitch. He has the bite, tenacity, and patience to provide quality defending, whilst also having the ability on the ball to make things happen in the final third, which is why he was just as good and influential as Kenny.
Saracchi, who earned an 8/10 player rating from 67HailHail, is now undroppable because his performance was one that the Hoops lacked when Tierney was in the XI against Hearts on Sunday, albeit that was away against the league leaders.
O’Neill, should he still be in charge next time out, should consider the left-footed star an undroppable part of his team, along with Kenny, because of his sublime showing in and out of possession.