Celtic dropped 2 crucial points at Easter Road today as Tom Rogic continued his early struggles in 2022 this afternoon.
Today promised to be so much more. The 0-0 stalemate was a huge disappointment given the fact we rested so many key players against Bodo/Glimt on Thursday night. The idea of course being that they were more than up for the challenge of Hibs this afternoon.
One of those wasn’t necessarily Rogic. He was given a 45-minute outing in Norway on Thursday after a 23-minute cameo vs Dundee last weekend. Again he was entrusted as playing a key role in the number 10 role providing support to Daizen Maeda at Easter Road this afternoon.
However, what has been flying under the radar has been Rogic’s poor performances in recent weeks as he drops below the standards expected. Ange has been giving him regular opportunities too. His displays in recent weeks against Raith Rovers, Bodo/Glimt, and Dundee have been far too quiet.
Today in Edinburgh, however, Rogic produced perhaps his worst performance of the season. Despite operating in the midfield this afternoon, Tom only managed 27 touches in total before being hooked before the half-hour mark [WhoScored].
Outside of Daizen Maeda, Rogic also had the least amount of passes today with 16. To put that figure into perspective, it’s only 5 more than Joe Hart.
Tom Rogic struggling for Celtic form at the most crucial period of the season
It was interesting to even see Tom in the starting line-up given how poor he was in Norway on Thursday. Considering it followed poor performances against the likes of Raith and Bodo/Glimt at Celtic Park, you would’ve thought Matt O’Riley was the obvious option.
And it’s fair to say it backfired on Ange too. Rogic failed to seize the game in the manner you would expect. Loose passes and poor decision-making from the Aussie cost us badly. And the truth is it was a surprise to see him last as long as nearly an hour.
That’s not to say that Rogic was the only underperformer this afternoon. Far from it. In fact there were a host of key players who didn’t put in the performances expected. The likes of Jota and Reo Hatate, for example, were rested for this one on Thursday night. They were nowhere near the levels required.
Daizen Maeda was another who is starting to give us some concerns given the lack of product he’s producing as a Celtic striker. You could certainly see how badly Giorgos Giakoumakis was missed in Leith today.
But Rogic’s performances have been gradually declining ever since February’s 4-0 win at Motherwell. Normally, you could just brush it off as a rough patch. But we’re now at the business end of the season, and we can’t have too many more displays like this if we’re to take the title.
Hopefully, he bounces back ASAP. With St Mirren at Celtic Park to come on Wednesday night, the time for poor performances are over.
In other news, Celtic can’t coast much longer, midfield problem; 3 things we learned as Bhoys draw vs Hibs
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