Pundit issues explanation for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's Celtic omissions
Pundit Michael Stewart has had his say on why Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is not seeing regular playing time for Celtic this season.
It has been a tough campaign so far for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who Celtic re-signed in the summer after he came in and did a solid job last season.
But the former Arsenal midfielder has not been given the chance to make any sort of impact this season, with only six appearances to his name this season, and only three of those have come in the Premiership.
The experienced midfielder has started just twice in the league, and there is no sign of him getting more opportunities any time soon. 'The Ox', as he known, will be disappointed to have stuck around at Parkhead only to watch from the bench, especially with the Bhoys struggling so much in midfield against better sides in Europe.
Callum McGregor is struggling in those big games, failing to close the gap quick enough when the ball breaks from defence to midfield, but still O'Neill insists on him regardless of the opponent, while even young loan player Oliver Sorensen has been given he nod ahead of Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Questions are now being asked of Oxlade-Chamberlain's regular omissions, and Premier Sports pundit Michael Stewart has made his own attempt to explain it.
He said on The Scottish Football Social Club podcast: "For me, personally, it falls into same category as Rangers with Derek McInnes. O'Neill and McInnes feel to me like two managers who are loathe to make changes.
"When they have got a bit of a rythmn and winning games, it's like, 'we are sticking with that team'. For Celtic, when you look at the frontline that was so devastating against Hearts, I know Kasper Hogh came back in at the weekend, so he then doesn't want to change the mideild too much.
"Where he is making changes, it's almost like, 'right, I've made one there, I'm not making anything else'. There are a limited number of changes. And midfield in particular, I can understand why there are questions about can Oxlade-Chamberlain not get more minutes, because [Callum] McGregor, [Mika] Baur and [Benjamin] Nygren have played a lot of games. Clearly that's their main midfield."
He added: "You get to the point at some stage they are going to have to [rest him], otherwise the load will eventually cause a problem."
That final part is certainly sure. Celtic are in the midst of an ultra-busy schedule, and at 33 years of age, there is going to come a time when he has to be rested. The question is whether O'Neill turns to Oxlade-Chamberlain or another.
