Chris Sutton has said that Brendan Rodgers could use Mikel Arteta’s example to assist Celtic in Europe. The Irishman said that he will play his football in Europe amid criticism that his team should have shut up shop in Dortmund.
Speaking in his Record Sport column, Sutton believes that Celtic should be adaptable in game despite continuing to set up to attack.
“It’s not tough to understand why Rodgers would consider taking the risk at kick-off of trying to impose that on to Borussia. He clearly felt Celtic’s football could be better than Dortmund’s press. And vice versa. You can argue the rights and wrongs of that with hindsight.
“What can’t be argued is that, very quickly, it was apparent Celtic were not able to impose themselves and, indeed, the polar opposite was taking shape. That’s the moment when you have to address it because being adaptable in-game is crucial.
“Listening to him afterwards, I got the impression Rodgers did see it, but the players had lost their way in that painful first-period demise and the slide was irreversible, but someone had to sort it.”
Rodgers would have wanted his side in at the break but with the score sitting at 5-1, the game was already gone. Sutton opines that Brendan should consider looking at how Mikel Arteta dealt with adversity in the recent draw against Man City in Manchester.
“I’ll use an example of Arsenal. Most of us would agree they are an aggressive, offensive team who are easy on the eye when things are working for them. But Mikel Arteta and his players seem quick to understand when a tide is turning against them. The most obvious example came this season when going down to 10 men against Manchester City.
“At that point, Arsenal changed their plan. They got ugly at the Etihad. Simply put everyone behind the ball as they devised in-game that it was their best chance to get a result. They were 30 seconds from winning by keeping out City a full half of football.
“My point is that Celtic, when the waves started crashing against them and it became clear Borussia were in the mood, just kept doing the same things and kept doing them progressively worse. Players have to act sharper and smarter. Get streetwise, be mucky, break the game up, stop the opponents. Don’t just keep making the same mistakes.”
Celtic face Atalanta and RB Leipzig in their next two UCL games, two games that see them take on ‘Top 5’ league sides. These will be the games that Sutton is referring to. There is clear evidence from Rodgers’ time with Leicester City that he can set his teams up to go into games, frustrate and punish their opposition. The benefit to getting this result out the way is that team will be hungry to prove that it was an aberration.
Sutton will be part of the Sky Sports punditry team for Celtic’s trip to face Ross County on Sunday afternoon. The Champions will be looking to bounce back from their disappointing evening in Germany.
