Big Match Build Up: The Key Man

It has to be Johansen for me. If you'd have told me that 4 or 5 months ago I would have asked what you were smoking but the reality is that he is really important to how our attack functions and ultimately I believe that this will be where the game will be won.

We are most likely going to have most of the ball, we have the better players so I would be very surprised to see Rangers come out of the traps all guns blazing. Our game last weekend really highlighted to me just how important he is to our ability to create chances. He harrasses and pressurises backlines, he has this ability to drift into space in front of the opposition backline or into the channels. He can certainly pick a pass and the whole teams play seems to flow through him.

He has this incredible engine and as such is also a vital component in our pressing game. With Guidetti at the weekend and Commons filling in with him not in the team I really noticed his absence.Commons is a talented footballer but in the system we played at the weekend we had to carry both him and Guidetti (who offered nothing at all) which meant that we couldn't apply as much pressure to the Ross County defence as we should. When we've seen Ronnys Celtic at its best has been when we exert a huge amount of pressure on opponents defenders resulting in mistakes and costing them goals.

Dundee Utd suffered a heavy defeat at Celtic Park when we pressed them high up the park (chances, free kicks,corners and even a goal as a direct result of pressure applied) and against Motherwell the goal we did score was from a successful forward press. We should have scored more that day but when chances do flow they flow through the work of Johansen and the way he leads our midfield and forwards in suffocating the opponents with relentless pressure. He does so much of the dirty work so that others can bask in the limelight but he is so important to the success of this team.

For me he is our secret weapon and I do think if we play him alongside Forrest and the Thumb as an attacking unit it would leave the likes of McCulloch and McGregor exposed.