Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

Too many changes today but folk would have moaned if we didn't rest players so can't win

 

Brendan Rodgers has ranked Falkirk as the best side his Celtic team have come up against this season.

The Bairns may have come out on the wrong end of a 5-2 scoreline but they had led the Hoops until the 70th minute after which things fell apart. Ross MacIver had smashed them into an early lead and after Paulo Bernardo equalised, Finn Yeats restored it

Rodgers made a string of changes in the second half and they had a big impact on the game with sub Nicolas Kuhn scoring two and Adam Idah, who had started, smashing in a double too. But the Northern Irishman was full of praise for John McGlynn's side, who he reckons were better than Rangers or any of the other Premiership sides they've faced

He told Premier Sports: "Got to give immense credit to Falkirk. I've really enjoyed watching and analysing them because in terms of a football idea, the game, what John's doing...they're probably the best team that we've played this season in terms of how they want to work the game, how they want to work the ball. So they can be really proud of how they done.


They pressed it really well, they were aggressive. They came with the 4-3-3 to try and disrupt and in the end they got a very good first goal."

Asked by Michael Stewart if it was good to see Falkirk having more of a go than Premiership sides, he added: "Absolutely, it's great. If it happens more when I have my starters playing that would be fantastic. I think their attitude to the game is very, very good. John has brought that to Raith and Falkirk and will get his rewards for that. But it's never easy

 

I'm sure he factored the strength of the bench into the decision to make 8 changes to the starting 11. When we are spending 9m on a back up striker, 6m on a centre half, and have a Barca left back on loan, it feels sensible to give them game time. Bernardo deserved a start. Ralston is usually solid though looked off it today.

If all it did was show us that Welsh and Palma should be nowhere near the starting 11 it was worth it.

 

If you have 2 defenders needing rested due injury, you don't just change the other 2 willingly. That was madness playing that back 4 today.

Introducing players who haven't played a lot/at all needs to be spread out over multiple games, not all at once. There is zero excuse for it, and Brandan actually held his hands up himself for it in his Premier Sports interview.

 

Everyone in the stadium knew his starting 11 was all wrong today - he should have been changing things much quicker than the 60 minute mark. Put your hands up Brendan and tweak much earlier. Nothing to be ashamed of. You got it wrong but rectify the situation much sooner. Playing against better teams you will need to react much quicker than the 60 minute mark.

 

Maybe a few too many changes, but the midfield and front 3 should have been more than enough to win that game comfortably. Too many players were miles off it, both usual starters and the guys who came in.

 

Fine result. Definitely needed the subs as started with too many changes. Hard for a team to perform when for so many it was their first start. Even those that have been playing who started struggled. Felt sorry for Valle for instance, not a great start for him.

Worked out in the end, so no real harm done, positives in players rested and good to see Rodgers acknowledge he overdid it.

 

Thing is, if Maeda starts instead of Palma, Valle would have probably looked a lot better.

 

Fair enough.

Took the blame on his shoulders - despite several players turning in hoaching performances, so deserves the credit for changing it in the manner he did, and at the time he did.

Excellent in-game management.

 

Probably. Strangely thought Palma was quite good first 15 mins, then he fell off a cliff. Thought Valle started really poorly and got a bit better as the game progressed but not much, just didn't look like he knew what to do.

My point with Valle is even though he wasn't great it's not really a game you can judge him on, but still might affect his confidence going forward. Not great for him at all.