A disappointed Brendan Rodgers reckoned that his side had enough opportunities to have won the Scottish Premiership match against Motherwell at Celtic Park yesterday afternoon, and pointed to a lack of freshness after players returned from the international break as a possible reason for the below par performance from his Celtic side. Speaking to BBC Sportsound shortly after the final whistle
“We are disappointed because we had enough opportunities to win the game. Motherwell defended well but We had over 80 per cent of the possession so we had enough of the ball but did not create as much as we would have liked but still the opportunities, we had were good ones. We need to see big moments through.
“Penalties are decisive moments in the game and are something we have worked on so we need to start bringing that into matches. We are disappointed to miss the first one but David scores the second one well and we were on top after that and controlled the rhythm of the game in their half which is good because when you score you expect the team to come onto you. However, we gave away the corner and sadly we could not defend it.
We defended when we had to in the game and counter-pressed well because they have decent speed at the top end of the pitch and we defended that well. When the ball drops in the six-yard box we have to deal with it better.
On dropping four points at home to St Johnstone and Motherwell in matches Celtic were expected to have won and should have won The Celtic manager told BBC Sportsound: “Yeah, these are games should win, that we are expected to win but we have to earn that through quality and that little extra bit of finesse in the final third of the pitch and we did not have that today. We got into some really good areas but did not have that final pass or touch to help us score.
“Maybe that little bit of freshness after the international break was not there but that is no excuse as we had enough of the ball and arrived in the areas we wanted to but we have to show more,” Brendan Rodgers said.
The Celtic manager also spoke to Celtic TV and in his post match interview with the club’s own channel he had this to say: “We weren’t clinical enough but the players gave everything and the commitment and drive to get the goals was there. But that decisive moment from the corner was the big moment.
“It’s one of those that Motherwell are here to defend and they’re sat deep and we’re playing the game in the final third of their field. We have to be better than that. They put in an extra man (on the corner) but we should still deal with it.
“They have seven in the box and the ball arrives into the six-yard box and it drops and hits their guy and trickles over the line. It’s one we have to better in that moment whether it’s a loss of organisation or whatever, you have to see that. Corners for and against are decisive and they can win or lose you a game.
“It’s very easy (to bounce back), it’s something that we will get in and recover. It’s a very honest group of players and they are disappointed we haven’t picked up all three points. That’s something we have to be better at and there’s no time to dwell on it, we have to come in tomorrow and recover and get our plan ready for Tuesday.”
Some comments from Celtic supporters…
“We have seen all this before in 2018, Celtic moved backward after Ange moved, and Lawell and Rodgers will make sure we drop down to the level of Rangers to make it look competitive, being doing it for years. Any Celtic team getting beat 6-0 in Europe is not good enough at the management and board level, and if you accept the excuses for that then you will accept the excuses for today. Motherwell scored their goal in open play, Celtic got 2 pens and missed one and scored one, Rodgers thinks we should have won the game.”
“The amount of misses in front of goal is astonishing for professional players , any 12 year old would be putting all these chances away , definitely lacking quality up front , taking Kyogo and Palma off were very questionable decisions.”
“He needs to have a look at himself on this one, with one eye on Tuesday when we haven’t got a chance if we can’t beat Motherwell at home, complete embarrassment. We have a team with too many projects and not enough first team ready players and let’s be honest Taylor and Ralston aren’t good enough as our fullback.”
“His subs today was up there with Lennon in his covid season, taking our two best player off when we need a goal. Leaving Yang on for so long and bring Tilio on so late, the boy done more than Yang and Johnston put together. Season gone by we can look that’s the game we knew we were going to win the league, but today was the day we know we are not winning it.”
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