{"id":259584,"date":"2025-10-29T22:44:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T22:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/259584\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T22:44:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T22:44:08","slug":"peter-grant-states-what-he-finds-mind-boggling-about-sebastian-tounekti-and-michel-ange-balikwisha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/259584\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter Grant states what he finds ‘mind-boggling’ about Sebastian Tounekti and Michel-Ange Balikwisha"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Celtic have issues all over the pitch, but one problem with the attacking line is a lack of balance. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s proven by how Celtic<\/a> are stacked on the left flank because it could be argued that up to four players can play down that side. <\/p>\n

Summer signings Sebastian Tounekti<\/a> and Michel-Ange Balikwisha<\/a> certainly prefer that role, as does Celtic\u2019s PFA Player of the Year Daizen Maeda<\/a>, and the currently injured Jota<\/a>. <\/p>\n

That leaves the right flank void of quality and depth in quality, as Peter Grant<\/a> has a bone to pick with the likes of Tounekti and Balikwisha. <\/p>\n

\"SebastianPhoto by Visionhaus\/Getty ImagesSebastian Tounekti and Michel-Ange Balikwisha\u2019s positions on the pitch for Celtic<\/p>\n

Speaking on Go Radio, Grant spoke about how Tounekti and Balikwisha prefer to play on the left-hand side of Celtic\u2019s attack.<\/p>\n

But the Hoops hero said it\u2019s \u2018mind-boggling\u2019 that the new pair don\u2019t want to play on the other side, even though they are right-footed players. <\/p>\n

Grant thinks a player, of any level, should be able to play on the right-hand side, as a right-footer, but that\u2019s clearly not the case here. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe wide players, that surprises me,\u201d said Grant. \u201cBoth of them (Tounekti and Balikwisha) are right-footed, and they can\u2019t play on the right-hand side, which is incredible. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe amount of right-handed players who don\u2019t play on the right-hand side now is quite incredible. I find it incredible. It\u2019s too easy to pass the ball now. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut to have right-wingers who can\u2019t play on the right side. I find it mind-boggling. No matter what level you play at.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s different now. They all like to step inside. But Celtic have inverted fullbacks, so there is no space in there. If teams are playing against you, they want you to come inside.\u201d <\/p>\n

Barry Ferguson on what Brendan Rodgers said about Tounekti and Balikwisha<\/p>\n

Celtic have a few versatile players<\/a> in their squad, including Maeda, who this season alone has been used across the front three, and most recently on the right flank before he got injured. <\/p>\n

Barry Ferguson admitted that he simply can\u2019t understand why players can\u2019t play everywhere on the pitch, as he noted how Brendan Rodgers stated that Tounekti \u2018doesn\u2019t want to play on the right.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cI hear so many managers saying, \u2018oh, he doesn\u2019t like playing there,\u201d stated Ferguson. \u201cI am like, what?!\u2019 If you are told to play somewhere. If I am told to play somewhere by the manager, I am playing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think somebody asked Brendan in the presser, and they asked him about Tounekti. He said, \u2018he doesn\u2019t like playing on the right.’\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Celtic have issues all over the pitch, but one problem with the attacking line is a lack of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[74259,140188,140189,403,99],"class_list":["post-259584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-michel-ange-balikwisha","tag-peter-grant","tag-sebastian-tounekti","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}