Brendan Rodgers has reiterated his desire for real ‘quality’ in the Celtic squad after watching his Bhoys team lose to Lazio 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League.
Celtic are guaranteed to finish bottom of Group E after the Tuesday night result, failing to qualify for the last 16 of the tournament and not attaining a parachute into the UEFA Europa League.
A double from Ciro Immobile in Rome sealed the Bhoys’ fate after a competitive first 80 minutes. Celtic searched for an opener but couldn’t find that cutting edge in the opposition half despite decent possession.
For Rodgers, it’s all about having a higher standard of player in the team and coming off the bench.
Brendan Rodgers on Celtic, Lazio and Europe
The Celtic boss said [BBC]: “It’s the overall quality. We need to have our very best players available going into this competition.
“What makes the difference is that bit of experience and genuine quality, especially at the top end of the field. That’s something we can hopefully resolve over the next couple of windows.
“This group has gained more experience and shown they can compete in some games – but we need to add quality. That’s the glaring thing that stands out.”
It’s not the first time that Rodgers has talked about having more quality in the team. Over the past two weeks, he’s referenced the desire to bring that in over the next two transfer windows on multiple occasions. He’s making it very clear the club needs to take action in the transfer market.
Reflecting on the match itself, the Celtic boss told the club’s official website: “We’re very disappointed, I thought we managed the game well. In the first half we were slow with our passes that were too safe but there were still one or two opportunities. But we didn’t keep the ball well enough high enough up the pitch.
“In the second half we were much better. We progressed the game through and as the game wore on, we looked the stronger team arriving at the last 20 minutes. We started to get into some really good positions and it looked like a really good away performance, but we gave away two disappointing goals really.
“It’s that physicality in the game towards the end, you’ve got to be strong and you’ve got to do that sort of dirty work. We looked like the team that was getting to the aggressive areas on the field, so I was disappointed with that.”
Celtic now have a trip to St Johnstone at the weekend, with nine games remaining before the winter break. One of those comes at home to Feyenoord.
While it’s meaningless in terms of European progress, fans will be desperate to see the Bhoys reverse a trend of 15 Champions League games without a win. The players must prove they can deliver what the support craves.
In other news, Chris Sutton delivers damning verdict as Celtic crash out of Europe with defeat to Lazio.
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