What Oliver Abildgaard will bring to Celtic: Dynamic midfield difference-maker profiled

Arriving on a season-long deal from Rubin Kazan late on deadline day, Albildgaard was the ninth player brought in by Ange Postecoglou in this summer’s transfer window.

Albildgaard also becomes the club’s third signing from the Russian side in the last year, following in the footsteps of defender Carl Starfelt last summer and, more recently, winger Sead Haksabanovic.

What will he bring to Celtic? Here, we analyse Abildgaard’s data from his time in Russia and take a closer look at his playing style to assess what he will add to Postecoglou’s midfield...

Player profile

Abildgaard came through ranks at Aalborg BK in his native Denmark and went on to make a total of 91 appearances for the Superliga side before moving to Rubin Kazan in February 2020.

Initially joining on loan until the summer, Rubin Kazan signed Albildgaard on a permanent four-deal in June that year. Since then, he has been a key cog in their midfield, making 62 appearances.

The 26-year-old, linked with Premier League big-spenders Nottingham Forest earlier this summer, also has one cap for his country to his name, turning out against Sweden two seasons ago.

A natural left-footer, Albildgaard has played most of his career as either a central midfielder or a defensive midfielder while he has also played on the left of midfield a few times and filled in at centre-back.

Last season for Rubin Kazan, Albildgaard was used in the number six role in their 4-3-3 formation or in a double pivot in their 4-2-3-1.

The above heatmap for last season shows him most active at the base of the midfield with a slight leaning to the left side.

At 6ft 4in and just under 13 stone, Albildgaard is a towering presence in the middle of the park. He has an athletic build, decent pace and good strength.

The above pizza chart can help build a clearer picture of Abildgaard’s profile. The chart uses Wyscout per-90-minute data converted into percentile ranks to compare him with other central defensive midfielders and central midfielders (minimum 1,00 minutes played) in last season’s Russian Premier League. It covers attacking, possession and defending metrics.

There is only one place to start here, with Abildgaard’s defensive section. His defensive duel volume (6.91 per 90) and success rate (59.86%) were around average for a central defensive midfielder or central midfielder in the Russian Premier League last season but it is his aerial and positioning numbers which are extremely impressive.

He was very active in aerial duels and boasts the top rank for his aerial duel success rate, winning an incredible average of 70.99% of them per match. He also boasts the top rank for positioning, a combination of shots blocked and possession-adjusted (PAdj) interceptions. He averaged 1.36 shots blocked per game and a huge 10.75 PAdj interceptions.

Looking at his possession section, Abildgaard's rank for carries, a combination of dribbles and progressive runs, is around average. He has a similar average rank for the volume of general passes and his pass completion %. He ranks quite low for dangerous passes, a combination of through passes and key passes, but is in the 77th percentile for his progressive passes, attempting an average of 7.54 per game, indicating he is capable of linking defence and attack well.

In his attacking section, he doesn’t appear to offer too much of a goal threat but does rank above the 50th percentile for touches in the box.

Defending

As seen in his pizza chart, Albildgaard was one of the most effective midfielders off-the-ball in the Russian Premier League last season.

The above graphic from Wyscout highlights his defensive strengths further. Last season, Albildgaard clocked a total of 16.06 recoveries per 90, more than any other midfielder in the Russian Premier League.

With winning the ball back quickly and high up the pitch a key component of Celtic’s system out of possession, the ability to counter-press effectively is vital for any player coming into Ange Postecoglou’s midfield.

Albildgaard excels in that regard too, making the second most counter-pressing recoveries for a midfielder in Russia's topflight last season (8.96 per 90).

Albildgaard reads the game very well, able to shuttle across to close down opponents with quick and aggressive defensive actions.

Here, we see an example of his ability to break up opposition attacks. As the opposition left-winger starts to drift inside, he takes up a good position, and body shape, to cut off the space inside. This allows him to stick out a leg and stop the winger in his tracks when he moves inside.

The next example highlights his excellent reading of the game. Initially moving to lock on to the player directly in front, Albildgaard reads the intention of the player the on the ball and quickly moves across to cut off the passing lane, winning possession back for his side.

This example shows Albildgaard using his physical capacity to stop a dangerous counterattack. Following the breakdown of a Rubin Kazan attack on the edge of the box, the opposition starts breaking through the middle of the pitch.

He has good pace over distance though, and here he sprints back, catching up and then matching the ball carrier before sticking out a leg to cleanly win the ball back.

As also seen in his percentile rank chart, Albildgaard is very good in the air. His height gives him a big advantage, but he also times his jumps well and has a good leap, as shown below.

This aerial prowess in midfield is something that was lost with the departure of Nir Bitton at the end of last season. Albildgaard looks more effective than Bitton in the air though, while also offering more in other ways too, particularly in terms of his energy and mobility to get around the pitch.

Passing

Effective out of possession, Albildgaard is also excellent at progressing the ball and linking defence and attack.

He is relatively calm in possession and able to protect the ball well thanks to his good close control and upper-body strength. When pressed, he has the ability to drive away with the ball to escape pressure.

He will often get on the ball in deep areas of the pitch and use his fine range of passing to switch the angle of attacks with accurate diagonal balls.

We can see a typical example of the kind of raking long balls that Albildgaard can produce above. Here, he drops the ball over the top of the full-back with a nice, lofted pass that gets his team-mate in behind the opposition.

Here we can see another example of his fine long-range passing. This time from even deeper in the pitch, Albildgaard arrows a precise diagonal ball over the defence which finds his teammate in a dangerous position just inside the box.

Although most of his work in possession is done in deeper areas, backed up by his low rank for more dangerous passes such as key passes and through passes in his percentile rank chart, it is likely he will get more opportunities to play these kinds of passes in a Celtic team that dominate the ball, and territory, more than Rubin Kazan.

There are examples of him showing a variation in creative passes in and around the opposition box too while at Rubin Kazan, such as the above through ball with the outside of his boot which was just slightly overhit, so this might be an area of his game he can build on further in a more ball-dominating side.

Goal threat

Although breaking up play and progressing the ball are his main strengths, Albildgaard looks like he could still offer a threat in the opposition half.

The above shot map from Wyscout shows Albildgaard’s shots in the last calendar year. He is not a high-volume shooter and when he does shoot, it is often from low-quality positions at distance, although his one goal in the last year did come from outside of the box.

His efforts on goal are primarily with his stronger left or with his head. That ability in the air, as we have seen in his aerial duel strengths, might well be something he could add in an attacking sense at Celtic.

With Celtic’s set pieces being on point so far this season, Albildgaard will certainly offer another good target to aim for from set-piece deliveries.

We can see an example of how he can be effective in the opposition box from set-plays above, getting on the end of a great dead-ball delivery by one player who will be a familiar face for Albildgaard at Lennoxtown, Sead Haksabanovic.

Here, the towering Dane is able to free himself towards the back post, getting a run at the whipped delivery from Hasabankoic to direct a powerful header across the goal that hits the post. 

Conclusion

Ange Postecoglou looks to have landed the out-and-out defensive midfielder that he has been on the lookout for all summer with the signing of Albildgaard.

A very effective ball-winner with a fine range of passing, the Danish international’s presence and power in the middle of the park will offer something different from every other Celtic midfielder.

Bringing a skill set currently missing from the engine room, his physicality could well be key in season-defining games this season, even if the two huge games in the next few days come too soon for him.

The one type of player fans have been calling for, Albildgaard feels like the final piece of a now very much complete Celtic midfield jigsaw.