Matt O’Riley opens up on unimaginable pressures at Celtic

The Celtic Star

·12 November 2024

Matt O’Riley opens up on unimaginable pressures at Celtic

Former Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley has opened up on the pressures of playing for the Scottish Champions…

Matt O’Riley of Brighton & Hove Albion celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion FC and Manchester City FC at Amex Stadium on November 09, 2024 in Brighton. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

The Danish Internationalist completed a £25m+ move in the summer after an incredible individual season, which concluded with Brendan Rodgers’ side winning a League and Cup Double.

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A number of clubs were in the running for O’Riley’s signature but it was the Seagulls that managed to get the deal over the line.

Speaking to Brighton’s official podcast, O’Riley paid tribute to Celtic modern day legends Callum McGregor and James Forrest when discussing the pressures of playing for the club.

Matt O’Riley celebrates scoring our third goal during the Scottish Cup Semi Final against Aberdeen and Hampden on April 20, 2024 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“Respectfully, the pressures of playing at Celtic are for most people unimaginable.

“It is not easy to win every game of football regardless of who you are playing against.

“If you have got 11 men behind the ball who are well organised sometimes it is difficult to score.

“The longer the game goes on, the anxiety bulids up in the crowd. And you just need to learn to be able to accept that but also just somehow block it out and stay focused.

“To do that every single game is really tiring, you know – mentally and physically – to sustain it as well.

Callum McGregor instructs team-mate Matt O Riley during the UEFA Champions League match against Atletico Madrid at Celtic Park, Wednesday October 25, 2023. Photo Andrew Milligan

“Anyone who is able to play at Celtic for a long time, like James Forrest and Callum McGregor, to have that kind of relentless mentality .. it is genuinely tiring.

“I have so much respect for them to do it over and over again, 60 games a season.”

The mentality instilled in O’Riley from playing at Celtic will bode well for the midfielder, who presented as being humble and hardworking. It was pleasing to see O’Riley come off the bench to make his Premier League debut against Manchester City as he netted a late winner against Pep Guardiola’s side.

O’Riley, McGregor and Taylor

Ange Postecoglou signed O’Riley for £1.5m in the January of 2022 with the MK Dons youngster helping Celtic overtake Rangers in a memorable midweek Glasgow Derby win and then hold onto the top spot for the next two seasons, leaving Celtic with three league titles, two Scottish Cups and one League Cup.

Matt Corr’s wonderful new books, Celtic in the Thirties, Volumes One & Two are both out now on Celtic Star Books and you can order a signed copies by clicking on the links below…

CELTIC IN THE THIRTIES, VOLUMES ONE & TWO BY MATT CORR – OUT NOW! Order your signed copies below…

Celtic in the Thirties by Celtic Historian Matt Corr is published in two volumes by Celtic Star Books. OUT NOW!

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Matt O’Riley opens up on unimaginable pressures at Celtic | OneFootball