How Luis Palma might claim the left wing spot for Celtic as his own.

Over the past three games, Luis Palma appears to have settled into his role as a Celtic player. His performances have won plaudits from both fans and supporters as well as his manager, Brendan Rodgers.

Luis is integrating very well, according to Rodgers, who also discussed the influence of the Honduran player and the need for new recruits to start playing right away with the STV. These guys come from various climatic and cultural regions.

“People think they should be flawless straight away. I don’t; it all comes down to flexibility.

“They’ll get better here if they adopt the team’s winning mentality,” the coach said.

“As you can see, Palma is improving game every game. He scored a fantastic goal today (against Kilmarnock) and played outstandingly.

He posed a threat. He contributed to a really strong team performance.

Here are a few explanations as to why the Honduran could have easily claimed the vacant wing berth for himself.

Superior finisher
One thing Palma has demonstrated in his short time at Celtic is his ability to score everytime he has a shot at goal. Although he lacks true speed, he more than makes up for it by being able to find openings in the opponent’s back line, which is essential because Scottish defenses are well-prepared and organized.

His two domestic goals this season have both been magnificent long-range shots, with him finding the far corner of the goalkeeper’s net against Motherwell before launching a strong shot high into the net against Kilmarnock.

Even if it was disallowed for offside against Lazio, his goal was nonetheless a nice finish that demonstrated his ability to perform under pressure.

Yang continues to have a rough appearance.
Yang Hyun-jun of South Korea is the other player vying for that open slot on the wings right now. Yang hasn’t provided as much as the Honduran in his appearances thus far, despite flashes of skill.

 

Even though he has drive and attacking purpose, the young player’s game still appears to be in its infancy, and whenever the attack is in its latter stages, he appears uncertain. He was out of his element against Lazio, while Palma appeared to have a little bit more quality at the top level, making him the go-to player for those games under pressure.

Which choice performs best?
As was already said, Yang has shown promise in spurts, but his inexperience has been more apparent in his early-season performances.

James Forrest, who has started games at the Tony Macaroni Arena against Livingston and made numerous bench appearances, is the other winger Rodgers has chosen to deploy in Liel Abada’s absence. Despite being a club legend, Forrest lacks the turn of speed that initially made him such a good player.

With all of the options currently available to the club, Luis Palma has demonstrated the skills required to secure that starting position, and the most recent performances suggest he is starting to hit form, so Brendan Rodgers would be wise to give him the space to improve his game.