Despite being signed to strengthen Celtic’s options at right-back, Josip Juranovic has mostly been deployed on the left-hand side of defence by manager Ange Postecoglou.
There are a couple of reasons why the 26-year-old has been played out of position. Firstly, Greg Taylor’s shoulder injury meant Postecoglou was forced to look at other players in the squad, and the Hoops boss opted for the summer signing instead of the out of favour Boli Bolingoli or the inexperienced Liam Scales.
Secondly, the form of Anthony Ralston meant Juranovic wouldn’t have been guaranteed a place in his favoured role, so a compromise was settled upon. Fans on Twitter are, though, not completely happy with the Croatian’s performances on the left flank:
I think Juranovic is wasted at left back, play Taylor or scales. Juranovic should b played in natural right hand side but that wud mean a formation change imo to allow Ralston to play RB, with juranovic further fwd.
— Paul (@Paulmctumshie) January 16, 2022
Juranovic is a quality player but he looks so awkward at left back there’s no natural passing ability to it. You can tell he’s class but mist passes look forced because he’s right footed.
— Conroy (@P_60NRY) January 16, 2022
I like Taylor, brings a lot to the table and I think JJ is a waste at LB we don’t get the best out of him and we don’t have a good balance to the team. Anyone saying different have the anti-taylor blinkers on
— JUNGLE BHOY (@lionsroar67) January 16, 2022
JJ is a right back
— Michael (@MICKLE_M) January 16, 2022
While I do rate Juranovic, I think there might be a bit of the way to go to be as defensively capable as Maldini pal, Juranovic just looks uncomfortable there 🤷🏻♂️
— matthew 🏴🇯🇵 (@mxtt188) January 16, 2022
Taylor will start when everyone is fit, although Scales has come on in leaps and bounds in recent weeks. Juranovic is ahead of Ralston at right back
— Niall Collins (@Colliniho) January 16, 2022
It should be pointed out that Juranovic has not played that badly at left-back but, before he arrived from Legia Warsaw, he had been picked to play there just four times in his entire professional career. You have to think that he could offer a lot more on the right-hand side, where he is more comfortable.
