There was much for Celtic to be proud of in their performance in the 1-0 loss to Valencia in the Europa League.
Despite going out of Europe, the team stood up to the Spanish side. The defence played well, Scott Bain was terrific and Jonny Hayes turned in possibly his best Celtic performance yet.
However, for the second week in a row, one aspect of the team did not work out. That is Brendan Rodgers’ decision to play Oliver Burke as a striker.
Understand manager’s decision
In a way, you can understand the logic of the Hoops’ boss. Burke is so quick, he can win the ball then hold it up, bringing in players from the wings and midfield to push forward and attack.
However, it just didn’t work. Burke didn’t look at all comfortable in the position, and it was no surprise that he was replaced in the 73rd minute by Mikey Johnston.
Better suited to wide areas
There is no doubt Burke has plenty of talent, but that is far better suited to the wide areas. There, he can showcase his incredible pace.
Perhaps the only problem with that, is that the Hoops have two wide players in Scott Sinclair and James Forrest who are almost always first choices in the team.
The Hoops boss then must find a way to get Burke into the side. But it can’t be up-front again, the day for that experiment is over.
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