The opportunity for Celtic to exhibit their genuine selves in the last ten games of the league season is something that Brendan Rodgers is looking forward to every bit of this season.
There have been sporadic errors during Celtic’s Scottish Premiership title campaign—five draws and two losses—but now is the moment for sharp thoughts and potent performances.
Even in games that were ultimately won, the players have given far too passive performances.
In order to rectify that, Rodgers sent a clear message to his team prior to their most recent 7-1 annihilation of Dundee at Celtic Park.
Brendan Rodgers looking for ‘physical’ Celtic
He has informed his team that they would no longer have the luxury of coasting through games.
“That is what the message was before the game the other night, ‘you are now in a period where you just cannot be in your comfort zone,'” the Celtics manager stated [Daily Record]. For whatever reason, you can obviously be a player, but going forward, you should never be.
“Comfort zone, in my opinion, because it requires physicality. In your comfort zone, you are typically not exerting yourself physically or working hard. Although there have been gaps in our progress thus far, we are still very much in control of what we want to accomplish.
These days, you have to be present and focused, and I believe we witnessed an example of that the other night. The aggressiveness, the quickness, the touch, everything from the beginning. We want to see that for the remainder of the season when our football plays like that.
“Despite the result, everything felt really good during the game. The players never felt comfortable, and the fans were amazing and really pushed the team.” aggressive, focused, swift, lively, and superior in our objectives. And we’re looking for performance at that level.
Time will tell whether or not this really is a new Celtic attitude taking hold. Sunday’s match away to Hearts at Tynecastle is going to tell us a lot about where this team is right now.
However, the messaging from Rodgers is strong. Hopefully, it’s not bluster and more of a reflection on what he is sensing from his squad.
Celtic definitely still have a chance to retain their title if they are willing to battle for every inch of the championship.
