A very proud Brendan Rodgers gave his assessment of Celtic’s ‘outstanding’ 5-0 victory over Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup fifth round at Celtic Park last night…
Q: Brendan, a convincing win into the quarter-final, how pleased were you with that from your team today?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, listen, these games over the years have proven difficult, you know, and can be if your attitude’s not right and your mentality’s not right. I thought we were outstanding in the game. I mean, I should give credit to Raith, because they came here, and Barry’s team will always work hard and will always fight. And if you think, you know, they beat Falkirk, they’re a good side to get to here.
“I felt the team were exceptional today. We made nine changes, but the fluency, the fluidity in the game and the quality of our goals. But before that, the hunger in the team, the pressing in the team, and that takes work. And for a team that are playing every two or three days for the last three months, to have that will and desire, that makes me very proud.”
Q: Talk to us a bit about Daizen Maeda, he got his hat-trick today, and his 50th goal for the club as well?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, he’s been great. And again, as I’ve said before, if you’ve done any depth of analysis of this player before he arrived from Yokohama, you can see he’s a striker. You see he’s a goal scorer, wherever he plays along the front line. He’s done that in Japan, he was playing more central and you see his numbers. But not only that, if you watch all the goals he’s scored there, the different types of goals, he may not be your traditional up-and-down number nine who can’t move and just hits the ball and is a goal scorer in the box. He’s a guy that’s mobile, can make runs, his movement’s good, he can finish, and he’s proven that.
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“He’s a wonderful reference for our team, the value that we put in hard work, pressing, mentality, and he’s getting goals with it regularly now. So, yeah, so pleased for him, really happy for him and for the team.”
Q: It feels like he’s in the form of his life, but how big a miss is he going to be for you on Wednesday night against Bayern?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, he will be, naturally, but I can’t overthink it. It’s just that he’s not available, but he’s ready for the next games after that.”
Q: How is Paulo Bernardo?
Brendan Rodgers: “Hopefully, he’s OK. I just spoke to our medical head, so he was telling me he doesn’t think it’s bad. It was a bit more precautionary, really. Felt a slight twist on the tackle, but hopefully he’ll be OK.”
