Celtic fans might be surprised to read what former Hoops defender John Hughes has now said about one winger at the club.
Brendan Rodgers and his flailing side are preparing for a tricky trip to Motherwell on Sunday and quite frankly, the Scottish Premiership clash in Lanarkshire is a must-win.
Too many draws have become a theme this season for Celtic but more worryingly, the sheer drop-off in performances over the course of 2024 are hampering the club’s title defence.
Rodgers is failing to get the best out of his first-team squad who are struggling to break teams down and lacking the intensity needed to be in the hunt for a league crown.
Celtic have drawn two of their last four games and that has allowed Rangers to usurp the Parkhead giants at the top of the table – an inconceivable turn of events given where the Ibrox side were under Michael Beale at the beginning of the season.
At risk of sounding like a broken record, Celtic desperately need a convincing performance as well as three points against the Steelmen to breathe life back into their season.
It certainly can’t be, in any way shape or form, similar to last weekend’s dire display against Kilmarnock who ultimately deserved their point.
Killie got after Celtic in the second-half and preyed on the team’s inability to shift the ball with speed, precision and purpose from goalkeeper to defence to midfield.
And Hughes, speaking to the Daily Record, completely understands that Celtic are lacking confidence at the moment and that is why they are content to play the less riskier passes.
But Hughes has backed Rodgers not to change his style and suggests the onus is actually on the players to be much braver when building out from the back against a press.
In turn, Hughes says, Celtic will be able to get the ball quicker to Matt O’Riley, Kyogo and Luis Palma who are the attacking ‘magicians’ in the side.
John Hughes on Celtic’s playing style
John Hughes said of Brendan Rodgers: “He’ll want them to keep playing from the back. When you are playing against these low blocks, you need to be the protagonists and build from the back. It’s not easy. I watched Man City the other night and they found it difficult against Brentford.
“You see them passing it back and forth and back to the keeper, there is method behind this, but sometimes it takes a bit of bravery to make the killer pass when it’s on. When confidence is a bit low, then there’s always the temptation to take the safe option.
“But Brendan will be telling them to be brave. You need to pick those passes to allow the magicians in the side – the guys like Matt O’Riley, Kyogo and Luis Palma – to get at teams at the other end.”
Hughes labelling Palma as a ‘magician’ may raise a few eyebrows amongst the Celtic support. The £3.5m winger has shown he can be a threat for the Hoops but his form has rapidly declined of late.
As per FotMob, the Honduran hasn’t scored a goal since December 13 and has registered just one assist in his last seven games in all competitions.
Palma was also subbed off at half-time against Kilmarnock after being marked out the game by Lewis Mayo so Hughes might want to reconsider what he has just said about the former Aris man.
Palma is certainly a good crosser of the ball but there’s a lack of intensity to his game and he’s not one to take on a full-back one-on-one and beat him nine times out of 10.
He is just one of many Celtic stars who need to seriously step up their efforts over the course of the next 12 league games if the club are going to defend their Premiership title.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
