Former Celtic winger Steve Guppy has revealed how hours of lonely practice sessions during the Covid lockdown helped Alistair Johnston become Canada’s answer to David Beckham.
Guppy played a key role in helping coach rookie college draft Johnston to his first team debut in the MLS at Nashville FC. And the Englishman - a key man in Martin O’Neill’s revolution at the turn of the century - has told for the first time how the lessons he learned during three separate stints under the Irishman have fast-tracked Johnston’s progress at Parkhead.
Guppy, said: “Crossing the ball is something I don’t think people work on enough. Little details make all the difference. Many years ago, when I was at Wycome Wanderers, I was a non-league player. Martin O’Neill got the job and he obviously brought in John Robertson and Steve Walford.
“John Robertson was one of the greatest wingers we had ever seen in England and Scotland. Steve Walford was an excellent full-back in his own right as well. They helped me with my crossing and they gave me little details which were like lightbulb moments. Then it was down to me to practice.
“That’s what I’m hoping happened with Alistair, where those little nuggets were passed on to him and I think it has made a difference. Too many players hit the first defender when they cross. And then don’t actually think about the reasons why. That was something we tried to install in Alistair.
“Let’s get a little formula of what you need to do every time you cross a ball - almost like on autopilot. Alistair is not really one who will take a player on but if you give him time he’s very similar to David Beckham.
“Don’t get me wrong, David Beckham was a fabulous player. But David Beckham wasn’t great at beating players either. But if you gave him time and he had a chance to cross he almost went into autopilot.
“If you watched him cross there was a little pattern of things he did. And that’s what we saw in Alistair as things developed and he got a little more confident. When he had the time it was almost like a chain of events would unfold that we worked on in training. Alistair was such a quick learner that he was then doing it in games far quicker than most. So he’s gone from strength to strength and found himself at a massive club like Celtic? I guess we shouldn’t be that surprised.”
A wet-behind-the-ears Johnston first arrived in Nashville in 2020. And it was then that Guppy realised the club had a special talent on its hands.
Speaking to the Celtic View podcast he said: “Often these college players take a little while to adapt to the MLS because it’s a big jump up. He had a bit of luck on as we had a couple of right backs who were more senior than him but who fell out of favour or got injuries.
“So he got put in the firing line as it were and he took to it incredibly well. He was a very quick learner, and very hard-working. He was a really solid defender who smells danger, was very good at one versus ones - and he can also play centre half, right back or wing back. While he was very good at that, moving forward we wanted to try to help him create a bit of a weapon. And right foot crosses were something he took to very, very quickly.
“I’ve not seen much footage of his games with Celtic but I’m hoping that he’s really showing that because his right foot crossing ability is very good.
“That gave him a weapon which makes him stand out from others. That’s what got him into the Canadian national team. On his debut or second game for them he put in a great cross to the far post for the forward to score and I think that helped him to claim a place in the Canadian squad.
“Obviously we had to go through Covid and on my phone now I’ve got loads of videos he sent me of him on his own down the local park, crossing balls. Then we would go about critiquing them and offering advice.
“That was a really good adventure to try to improve his crossing and, through his hard work, he’s now getting the rewards he deserves. Training down the park was extreme because Covid changed everything. But I’m sure there were plenty of other players who didn’t do the work.
“Covid was just a period when they sat at home and did nothing. But Alistair had that burning desire to achieve, to try to become as good as he could be. Obviously he wanted to get in the first team first and foremost at Nashville which was no mean feat. But, from there, once he got into the Canadian national team I think his head was turned at the prospect of potentially playing in Europe one day. He wanted to sample that and he had tunnel vision on that. He had a clear pathway in his own mind.
“Playing for the Canadian national team at the World Cup put him on a platform. But a lot of hard work had to go in before any of that happened. I guess that’s what I’m trying to emphasise. He’s a very good all-round player and it sounds like, around better players, he’s gone onto the next level. Crossing is something I hope he continues to work on because we worked on it religiously every morning. Before every training session he was out early crossing balls.”
