Aaron Mooy: How quiet Australian is making big noise at Celtic
- Published
Aaron Mooy's delicate lob put Celtic 3-1 up against St Johnstone
The questions to Celtic midfielder Aaron Mooy after another goalscoring performance were varied and elaborate. The answers were not. The Australian reserves his eloquence for the pitch.
The 32-year-old has come to the fore in recent weeks, having become a fixture in the Scottish Premiership leaders' midfield.
Sunday's delightful lob over St Johnstone goalkeeper Remi Matthews was Mooy's sixth goal in eight appearances and Celtic's third in a 4-1 win.
Given how quietly he slipped into Celtic Park when he arrived in July following a stint in China, it's perhaps fitting that his rise to promise has been a stealthy one.
"I sort of knew what I was going to do in my head when the ball came," he said on BBC Radio Scotland when asked about his goal. "My first touch was good. Once I took the first touch, I knew I could lift it over him."
But it's not just goals. Mooy has the second most assists of all the central midfielders in the league with six and his combined goals involvement of 10 also ranks second.
With 26 chances created, 694 successful passes and 39 duels won, the former St Mirren player is enjoying his return to Scottish football.
"Now I'm playing a bit more regularly, I'm just trying to do my job, what the manager asks of me," he added.
"It's a good team to play in, it's enjoyable, we play good football. There's lots of movement. When I have the ball, there's lots of people making runs. That's what I like. I like to play the ball in behind sometimes. It's an enjoyable place to play."
'Laid-back veteran showing how it's done'
Mooy first came to these shores in 2010 and scored twice in 30 appearances over two seasons in Paisley.
A return to his homeland followed with spells with Western Sydney Wanderers and Melbourne City, before time back to the UK with Huddersfield Town and Brighton and Hove Albion.
Two years in China with Shanghai SIPG followed before he was reunited with his former Australia coach Ange Postecoglou at Celtic.
"He's a very laid-back man," said Mooy's former St Mirren team-mate Steven Thompson. "You've got to earn Postecoglou's trust. Once you do that - and Aaron certainly has - and he can rely on you on the pitch, you'll find yourself playing."
Mooy has, more so since the World Cup. His inclusion in Qatar has made him a tournament veteran for Australia and younger midfielders such as Matt O'Riley and David Turnbull are finding it difficult to get into the starting line-up.
"He's at an age now that he can take in information and distil it and get across and act upon it on the pitch," said former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner.
Postecoglou agrees and may have given O'Riley, Turnbull and new signing Tomoki Iwata some food for thought.
"There's no doubting the quality's there," said the Celtic manager. "He obviously hadn't played for a quite a while when we picked him up, but there's a quality footballer there and it's always been there.
"He's still got a lot of football in front of him. He's a fantastic footballer."
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