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It was a promise made on his first day back at work. More than that, it was a way to sell his renewal to Celtic who still needed to be convinced.
Brendan Rodgers is going to bring them the one thing Ange Postecoglou couldn’t do: a team with goal compatibility on the European stage. With one game to go in the Champions League crusade this season, the Northern Irishman already has work to do. A crushing defeat at the premiere Contributed to this on Tuesday afternoon in De Kuip.
Two days later, however, Rodgers is in good spirits, pondering the next step for a team that’s building on the field, combining an organization of green new recruits with established former activists. Two of those new guys, Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm. , learned painful lessons against Feyenoord, either seeing red and acting according to their age when Rodgers asked them to behave like men.
Rodgers said: “You know the strategy here. You bring in young players, expand them and take them to a level. Some of it is national and European and they make mistakes. “
“Unfortunately, it’s when they succeed at that level, when they’ve matured and experienced, that you lose them. But that’s the way it is. It’s part of the dance, they’re going to make mistakes.
“It’s anything that with experience we can improve more and more. “This does not call into question what we seek to do, it is simply the nature of the project. You can have an organization of very young players, it’s just a matter of level.
“Red Bull Salzburg went to Benfica and won 2-0 with a lot of young players, so that’s what we aspire to: maximise the players we have and just organise. That will make the difference if the style needs to bring them young. Players can also make mistakes, but young players want to follow this learning curve.
Goalkeeper Joe Hart, the most experienced player in the group, also took his percentage of responsibility for the first goal in the 2-0 setback. But now there is no time to heal the wounds, Rodgers is preparing to take his side for another road trip, this time tomorrow in Livingston. He said: “The Champions League is a point of confidence. You are in yourself at home because you know the point and you are dominant. You go to Europe and play opposite to another player point.
“First of all, when you’re behind it’s not so easy to get back into the game. And second, the other groups tend to be more confident. That’s what I liked the other night. We didn’t fall apart.
“Mentally we didn’t suffer damage and we kept fighting. We blocked and covered the spaces with two men less. It’s a huge challenge.
“The only thing I need to see is to stay here, no matter how the game goes, your brain never breaks. “
Rodgers has been to the neighbourhood enough times to know what awaits him in Glasgow, but said: “The consequences of the game here can get a little interesting!
“But when you turn up the balance and common sense, the players have been implemented to the maximum. That is the reality. With what we had, the players were in the game.
It is possible that Rodgers was simply satisfied with his own role in Celtic’s functionality, as the tactical plan he had presented worked perfectly before Hart let one of his gloves slip. He whispered it, but there was more pragmatism than when he first took the lead.
He said: “Yes, you have to face the opponent and some of the forces he has.
“I would love to say, ‘Let’s play against any team at this level,’ and you can score goals. But you can also lose a lot of goals. My goal is to win and we were in a smart position until the break. “, pretty close to the best functionality away from home compared to a very smart team, and then we had this setback before the break.
“Giving up was a bad purpose, no matter how you look at it. We never lose a purpose at that distance.
“But we are responding to it. We fell back in the second half, but then we had the first ejection. You can understand why, but it’s a bit difficult. I don’t think it’s a given if you’re back in Britain. . At the moment, if you pass with the crampons upstairs, there is danger that can occur in Europe.
“But from a strategic point of view, we looked at it. We have to be aggressive, we have to be offensive, of course, but we also perceive that there will be times when we will have to protect in a slightly different way.