Christie, Christie Burning Bright

It seemed like Christie had no Celtic career. Then a freakish run of injuries forced Rodgers to play him in central midfield. For a brief period, Celtic blossomed. Then severe injury curtailed Christie’s season once again.

But when he burned, bhoy was it bright.

For this end of season Report Card there is no 2017/18 data to compare. Therefore, I will focus on where Christie ended up in comparison to the midfielders and attackers in the squad (12 players had over 900 minutes in these positions).

2018/19 Appearances

Christie’s 38 appearances are the 9^th highest in the squad highlighting his increasing importance to the team.

He has never previously appeared in more than 7 matches for Celtic in a season since joining in September 2015.

Mainly used as an attacking player early in his Celtic career, even a “false 9”, Christie’s breakthrough came with injuries in central midfield. This allowed him to play as a box to box “number 8”.

2018/19 Ball Progression / Creativity

For the purposes of comparison, I have ranked Christie against the other midfielders and forwards that have completed over 900 minutes.

The stand out stat for Christie is that he has, by some distance, the highest Expected Assist (xA) rate of the squad.

I do need to point out that 14 of the 72 chances Christie created were from set piece passes (free kicks and corners). The leading chance creator per 90 is Griffiths (3.59) and his figures are similarly boosted by being a set piece taker.

However, not only is Christie the only player to have an xA over 0.4, the next highest is 0.36 (Griffiths).

He has delivered the 2^nd most Chances Created overall with 2.66 per 90m.

But Christie is impacting the play further back. Of the midfield and attackers, he has the 4^th best Pass Pack rate and 3^rd best Pass Impect (scores how many opponents you take out per 90m).

He ranks only 6^th in Passes Per Chance but as you can see with over 45 passes per 90m, he is involved in the overall play much more than most of the attackers therefore his ratio of chances to total passes will be higher.

In addition, he ranks higher than some wingers for both dribbles and crosses.

What we see is an all-round creative talent.

Scoring Threat

18/19 saw Christie achieve a career best 11 goals in total, including 1 penalty.

Overall, he had the 5^th best goals per 90m and xG per 90m rates in the squad.

He gets plenty of shots off, with 3.11 per 90. Despite nearly half of those being from outside the box, he is accurate with 45% of them. Given that, and his xG compared to actual goals scored, suggests he can improve his shot selection.

He ranks 4^th in Pack Receives measuring his ability to makes space for, receive and control forward passes that take out opponents.

Again, Christie is demonstrating an all-round ability to get into dangerous position, take shots and finish. There are rough edges of course.

Defending

As an all-action midfielder, defensive duties are key as well.

Christie is involved in a lot of challenges. He is second only to Brown in interceptions, challenges won and possession recovered. Only Brown and Hayes have higher overall DASR% rates of midfielders / forwards.

But he also loses a lot of challenges and possession in defensive actions. This is a key development opportunity. His tenacity, energy and commitment are exemplary. Sometimes less haste and more precision are required within the central midfield maelstrom. Losing possession here can be fatal especially centrally.

He also commits more fouls than anyone apart from Rogic amongst midfield / attack. His Missed Tackle and Dribbled Past rates are similar to Ntcham and Rogic in that central position.

Christie’s 100-mile-an-hour style is reflected in the sheer volume of opposition engagements. He can improve his decision making around challenges though to try and reduce those lost.

But, again, for the most creative squad member with double digit goals, this is indicative of making an impression all over the pitch.

Overall Attacking Threat

It will be no surprise to see that Christie ranks 3^rd in the whole squad for Scoring Contribution and xSC. Indeed, his xSC of 0.822 is more aligned to a forward’s expectations. He is underperforming against that significantly suggesting a lot more output to come.

He is also 3^rd in terms of Scoring Contribution per Minute with a goal or assist every 133 minutes.

He only ranks 8^th in SC per Possession given his relatively high possession rate.

Summary

For me, Christie’s metamorphosis from attacking bit part player to vital box to box all-rounder is THE most exciting development of the season.

No other player contributes to such a degree across the Defending, Creating and Scoring domains. He truly is an all-rounder.

Given his relative youth and inexperience still in this role at Celtic, there is hopefully much more to come. Not many players spend 3 years trying to establish themselves at Celtic before exploding into life with such vibrant intent.

With the confidence of a League Cup Final winning goal behind him as well as a stellar role in the defeat of RB Leipzig, Christie must be a player to build the team around into the new season.

Who’d have thought that a year ago?