Nicolas Kuhn change explained as Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers ranks James Forrest best EVER in key area
The Hoops made it 30 games unbeaten in Scotland against Hibs as they now look towards the Champions League
Brendan Rodgers watched Celtic go 30 games unbeaten in Scotland with a win over Hibs - but urged them to tighten up ahead of a Champions League trip to Zagreb.
The Hoops extended their lead at the top of the Premiership with a 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Arne Engels, Kyogo Furuhashi and a Joe Newell OG. But Rodgers’ wasn’t satisfied with their defensive display as the Hibees racked up NINE shots on target. Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel was man-of-the-match against the Hibees and Rodgers knows they can’t afford to give away chances in Croatia on Tuesday night.
It’s a massive week for Celtic with Zagreb in Europe then the Premier Sports Cup Final against Rangers at Hampden next Sunday. The manager was pleased with their offensive display and yet another three points domestically. But he wants to see improvements in midweek.
Rodgers said: “Obviously, I’m delighted with the win. It’s been a tough week so to get a victory and a clean sheet was great. Our attacking play was very good. We scored good goals and created more chances. But defensively, for our standard, it was nowhere near it. It wasn’t at the level I’d expect or want.
“But sometimes that’s to do with the changes you make and that’s on me. But the defensive side, which is our starting point, wasn’t good in the first half today.
“Is it fair to say we can’t give up that many chances on Tuesday? Yeah, but if you’ve watched us this season, we haven’t been. That’s not been the case. Our main principle has always been our pressing and that’s why we’ve conceded a low amount of goals But today we were just that little bit late to press, we weren’t quite there on duels and if you lose out on that - teams can hurt you.”
Rodgers now faces a huge seven days with Zagreb up next - where Celts can all but book at least a play-off spot in the Champions League with a win - then a Glasgow derby at Hampden with silverware up for grabs. And Rodgers believes his side has the mental strength to make it a successful week.
He said: “It’s part of the process here. To get through today was bit for us, we had to work hard for it after a tough game in midweek [v Aberdeen]. So now we’ll recover and the opportunity is fantastic for us. We’re really excited by it.
“We’ve got three games left in the Champions League and we know what we want to achieve. We’ll have a freshness on Tuesday night and we know we can be really competitive at that level so I’m looking forward to it.
“What a team needs to win, win, win is mental strength and a big load of character. And that’s what this team has. When you’re not quite on it from a defensive perspective like today, you need to have that resilience.
“That’s something we’ve evolved and built up since I’ve been here. That allows people - when they’re not quite on it - to stand up and get you the victory.”
Rodgers replaced Nicolas Kuhn with James Forrest at half-time against Hibs and he created Kyogo’s clincher near the end. The Hoops gaffer praised the veteran winger’s impact.
He said: “We were losing too many balls on the right side so to push them back you have to retain the ball. James is probably the best I’ve EVER worked with in my career at retaining the ball on the side.
“People will say it’s maturity but no, he was doing it when I was here the first time in 2016. He’s the best player at receiving the ball when it’s tight and keeping that. That allows you to sustain attacks.
“We gave it away too often in the first half. James’ press for the third goal was fantastic and it was a brilliant finish. Kyogo takes a wonderful first touch then delays before the finish.”