Alistair Johnston of Celtic acknowledges the fans following the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD1 match between Celtic FC and SK Slova…Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images
Alistair Johnston explains differences in his game from MLS days as Celtic benefit from improvement
Alistair Johnston has become Mr Consistent for Celtic alongside Callum McGregor this season.
The Canadian full-back has dramatically improved this term for the Hoops both in his position at right-back as well as in a leadership role on and off the pitch.
The 26-year-old has even been handed the captain’s arm band when McGregor has been rested or when the skipper is subbed off to grab a breather.
Johnston has been pleased with his form – four goals and five assists in 17 outings – and he has always been professional since he arrived last year under Ange Postecoglou.
Alistair Johnston of Celtic in action during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD1 match between Celtic FC and SK Slovan Bratislava at…
Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images
And that is one element of his game where he has shone and come on leaps and bounds from his early days in the MLS.
Asked in an interview with OneSoccer as to how much he feels he has improved since his early career, Johnston admitted it is a question he has found himself thinking more and more about in recent days.
And he looked back on his early career in the States at Nashville and then Montreal as good grounding for helping him start well before he would travel to Glasgow to work with Postecoglou and then Brendan Rodgers and develop as a defender.
“I was actually just thinking about this a couple days ago,” he said when asked how far he has come and the differences in his game from then until now.
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Where Alistair Johnston feels his game has improved at Celtic since MLS
“You know I’m from where I started when I came into the MLS, I was still learning the position.
“It really felt like I’d only just started playing right-back my senior year of college so I got drafted by Nashville I only played the position for about three or four months.
“So that first little bit was really just about learning how to be a pro and and learning from, we had a great we had a great group at Nashville, just in terms of how to be a pro what does a normal day look like and how to fit into a pro environment.
“And then to take that into consideration I was also just learning my position and then I’m getting called into to the national team pretty quickly after that. So there’s a lot that happened in that period so I did a lot of growth but I didn’t really have a lot of time just to sit back and really kind of process what was going on.
“Now I’m a little bit older, 26, getting up there in the in the football world, but now I can see it.
“And I’m really enjoying this stage of my career in terms of physically feeling strong but also it’s that mental understanding. I’m really getting to the point, especially at my position, where I’ve been seeing so many different pictures now.
“Whether it’s been playing a back three, back five, as a wing-back, back four, inverting as a full-back, I’ve seen a lot of different pictures. And it’s given me a lot of comfort and confidence that no matter who we’re playing against, I can tell what they’re doing I know what I need to do, what’s actually most effective against that.
Johnston feels he is hitting his stride at Celtic and praised his coaches
“And when you hit that it’s definitely a good feeling.
“Often you hear about that from NFL quarterbacks I find is that it’s kind of that inverse relationship is as they get older their body starts to deteriorate. But at some point there’s that magical moment when their mind is super strong because they’ve seen all defenses, but their arm is still strong and their body and that’s when they kind of hit that magical period.
“For footballers it probably comes a little bit earlier as you know the legs start to go probably at an earlier age.
“But no, I’m definitely feeling like I’m getting into that position and stage of my career and it’s kudos to all the coaches that I’ve worked with, the players that I’ve worked with because they just passed on so much great knowledge that, you know, I was trying to be a sponge and and pick all it up as much as I possibly can.
“Hopefully I can continue to do that and hopefully the legs can hold on for another you know 5 to 10 years and and give me another really good end of my career or kind like going to the peak here.”
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