Popular football pundit Chris Sutton says it is ‘very difficult’ for Oliver Burke to play as a centre-forward after Celtic suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss in the first leg of their last 32 clash against Spanish side Valencia on Thursday night.
Goals from Denis Cheryshev and Ruben Sobrino gave Valencia a healthy lead, and Celtic now face a monumental task of winning the tie in the second leg at Mestella.
Burke, who joined the Hoops in the January transfer window on loan from West Bromwich Albion, came under strong criticism from Sutton. The former Celtic striker was unimpressed with the Bhoys’s performance, and he chose to criticise Burke by stating that the attacker had been “found out” and that he “didn’t know how to move”.
“Celtic are very predictable. They have only one way of playing, and that’s out from the back. They have a big centre-forward in Burke, and didn’t utilise him. It’s very difficult for Burke,” Sutton said.
“They are trying to mould him into a centre-forward. It’s okay domestically, they get away with it. At this level, you get found out. They didn’t have that focal point. He didn’t know how to move at times, with the greatest of respect to him.
“You need a proper centre-forward. Do they have one? I don’t think so. It’s a massive problem. Celtic don’t have a recognised number nine. That isn’t good enough for a club of this size.”
The young forward has scored three goals and created two more in eight appearances for the Hoops since joining the club in January. However, the gulf between Scottish football and European knockout matches is huge and Burke certainly suffered according to Sutton.
Sutton has hit the nail on the head perfectly as Celtic’s European hopes are once again hanging by a thread. While the Bhoys have once again been dominant domestically, time and again they just shrink in European games.
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