How Cameron Carter-Vickers' Celtic performances compare to last season

The American defender was once again colossal at the back for the hoops, despite a spirited effort from the Paisley side.

Although comfortable winners in the end, there were occasions where Ange Postecoglou’s side were put under pressure during the last-16 tie at Celtic Park.

However, the visitors were met by the commanding presence of Carter-Vickers who was again more than a match for the physical threat offered by the Buddies' attack.

Match data from the weekend’s game from Wyscout highlights just how impressive Carter-Vickers' latest showing in green and white was.

He won 80 per cent of his defensive duels (4/5) while he excelled aerially, winning 78 per cent of his aerial duels (7/9). He also won 67 per cent of loose balls contested (4/6) and one of his two offensive duels.

The former Spurs loanee contributed three interceptions and made two clearances too, only committing one foul in the whole match.

The 25-year-old also had a productive night in possession. He completed 88 per cent of his forward passes (30/34) and 80 per cent of his passes to the final third (4/5), both of which are above his average in all competitions this season.

His long pass completion of 80 per cent (4/5) and overall pass completion of 96 per cent (91/95) were also above his average in all competitions. 

His imposing display was summed up in one word by his manager post-match.

“Outstanding. As I’ve said we had to work hard for it today and part of it was going to be a bit of a battle, particularly with the way they play and Cameron was outstanding,”

‘The Fridge’, as he is affectionately referred to by his Celtic team-mates, has been an ever-present at the heart of Celtic’s defence since his arrival, initially on loan last season, before then being signed permanently last summer.

But how does this recent fine form compare to his loan performances last season?

The above radar from StatsBomb, which shows his league data from last season (yellow) as well as this season (green), can help shed some light on this.

In terms of minutes on the pitch, Carter-Vickers has so far played 23.8 90s in this season's Scottish Premiership, compared to 35 league 90s across last season, so this difference in sample sizes should be noted.

The end of this season will offer the chance to get a more complete picture but that said, they can still start to show several areas where Carter-Vickers has consistently impressed across both seasons, as well as a few notable differences this season compared to last.

His passing percentage, the percentage of all passes attempted that were completed, has been remarkably consistent in both seasons (93 per cent for both) while his xGBuildup, a metric that attributes the xG value of the final shot to all players involved in the entire possession, is also similar (0.99 last season, up slightly to 1.03 this).

Of course, we would always expect to see Celtic centre-backs score highly in the possession-based metrics, given how much they dominate the ball.

However, the radar also points to a slight change in Carter-Vickers' performance on the ball with his volume of long balls, both pressured and unpressured, dropping compared to last season.

Long balls aren’t always a bad thing, as seen in the recent league win away at St Johnstone where Celtic got plenty of joy going longer than usual down the right wing. However, generally short, quick passes are the default for Postecoglou’s system.  

In that context, the data potentially points to Carter-Vickers’ becoming more refined in that aspect of his game compared to during his first season.

Looking at the defensive metrics on his radar, we can also see several areas where the powerful defender has remained at a similar level, as well as those where there are some subtle differences too.

He has certainly been less active in terms of his defensive work with volume defensive metrics such as possession-adjusted tackles per 90, possession-adjusted interceptions per 90 and aerial wins per 90 all down. As is often the case with these types of charts though, they say as much about the team’s playing style as they do about performance, especially for centre-backs.

Given how much Celtic have dominated domestically, even more than last season, it perhaps not a surprise that Carter-Vickers has just not had to get involved in these kinds of actions as readily.

One defensive metric where we can see a slight drop-off that can’t quite be put in the same context is his tackled/dribbled past percentage, the percentage of times a player makes a tackle when going into a duel vs getting dribbled past.

Here, Carter-Vickers has dropped from 89 per cent to 75 per cent. Although not a huge drop-off, it is still noteworthy. He has also fouled at a higher rate, albeit only very slightly.

In terms of pressures, there is also a drop, from 5.66 last season, to 4.03. However, this is consistent with Celtic’s overall drop in pressures this season compared to last (100.05 pressures per 90 this season, 116.53 per 90 last).

The final defensive metric on the radar is where Carter-Vickers truly stands out though, his aerial win percentage.

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Already impressive last season at 74 per cent, this is the one area of his game that he has taken to an even ‘higher’ level.

This season he has won 85 per cent of his aerial duels, unmatched by any other outfield player in the Scottish Premiership.

Remarkably, this has been even more impressive recently though. As pointed out by TWC editor Sean Martin in the data round-up from Celtic’s last Scottish Premiership outing, the 4-1 win away at St Johnstone, Carter-Vickers has now been beaten just once in the air during a league match since Christmas Eve last year.

Although there are a few differences between this season and last, ultimately it is his performance in key metrics such as this that has made Carter-Vickers one of the first names on the Celtic manager’s teamsheet since his arrival.

The fact his recent performances are now leading to him being discussed in the same bracket as Virgil Van Dijk, a player who would go on to become the world’s best defender after his spell in Scotland, shows exactly the level the American has managed to reach during his two seasons in Glasgow.

There is no doubt Carter-Vickers has the potential to follow a similar path to Van Dijk. Celtic fans will hope they get the chance to enjoy seeing another elite-level centre-back in the hoops for some time to come yet though.