Anthony Ralston's Celtic resurgence analysed - and how he compares to Jeremie Frimpong and Kieran Tierney

With Ange Postecoglou’s recent comments suggesting Greg Taylor may be out for until next year, who plays at left-back is an obvious question.

Boli Bolingoli’s selective usage is now regarded as a bit of a mystery and his absence from Saturday’s squad, let alone the starting lineup, could suggest he's not in the manager's plans.

But on the opposite flank, Anthony Ralston has endeared himself to plenty of Celtic fans with his displays this season.

Statistically, he has not only been good but, in most respects, he has been excellent. Given his age and performance levels within Postecoglou's system, it's little wonder there's talk of a new contract.

For all of the following radars, Ralston is compared with others using separate attacking and defending metrics. The first comparison is with James Tavernier, who had a very good season at right-back for Rangers last term, and continues to resist the challenge from young Nathan Patterson.

Ralston compares quite well in pressing in relation to both attack and defence and, while he has not offered the same volume of passes into opponents’ boxes, his open play xG assisted is double what Tavernier's offered. The average quality (not shown in the radar) has been about 20 per cent higher as well. His passing metrics have generally been better and his goal threat respectable for a full-back.

On the defending radar, Ralston stands out in all of them except the volume of pressures and counterpressure regains, though his pressure regains have been much higher despite the lower volume. Ralston has tackled and intercepted more, been more effective in winning tackles, defending against dribbles and also been better in the air.

Next up is a comparison of Ralston so far this season with the 2018-2019 iteration of Kieran Tierney. Tierney played left-back and fought injury for a decent amount of the season - and nobody is advocating for a £25 million move for Ralston to the English Premier League.

Probably unsurprisingly, Tierney’s 2018-2019 campaign offered superior crossing and, similar to Tavernier, aspects of his pressing were better.

Otherwise, Ralston’s performance so far this season compares pretty well. Another distinction also similar to Tavernier is the disparity in average pressure distance, which suggests Ralston hasn't been as actively engaged in pressing in advanced areas.

One recent criticism regarding Ralston has been his struggle at a European level so far this season. Here are his radars versus his peers in the Europa League competition so far:

Here we see some of Ralston’s relative defensive weaknesses amplified when playing at the higher level, but his attacking profile remains excellent. He's been a goal threat and done very well in offering quality chances to team-mates. The one red flag in attack has been his relative decline in passing accuracy when being pressured.

In defending and pressing, Ralston has continued to offer a higher number of regains, done well in aerial defending and intercepted and cleared at a high rate. However, he’s had more trouble defending one-on-one against dribblers, been less efficient in winning tackles and also been somewhat less efficient in regaining possession from his pressing actions.

Lastly, we have Jeremie Frimpong from last season at Celtic compared to Ralston so far this season:

Once again Ralston more than holds his own in attack and, in this instance, has been broadly superior defensively.

Perhaps Josip Juranovic may be a better option at right-back when, and if, Taylor returns from injury but until that point Ralston appears to be a more than adequate option in the meantime.

Perhaps he will be unable to continue performing at this level, or maybe he will struggle to develop further at a European level. However, he will be turning just 23 next month and has had only four months in Postecoglou's system.

Is it realistic for Celtic to retain two European level players for each position? Perhaps that can be an ambition for the future but, for now, Ralston will continue leaving everything on the pitch every game.