Celtic’s defeat to Borussia Dortmund is still a sore one for the fans to digest.
Whilst the win over Slovan Bratislava at Celtic Park gave the supporters reason to be optimistic for the upcoming Champions League campaign, the defeat to the Bundesliga club delivered a healthy dose of reality to the Hoops fans.
Celtic got battered at Dortmund in a bruising 7-1 defeat and it has left some fans looking forward to the Atalanta fixture with an air of trepidation.
The current Europa League holders have enjoyed a draw with Arsenal and a win over Shakhtar Donetsk in their two opening league games and will be a tough nut to crack for Celtic.
So to get only their second-ever win on Italian soil, will Brendan Rodgers change Celtic’s approach for the trip to Atalanta?
Jim Duffy was asked this very question and what he said might not go down well with much of the Celtic support.
Duffy tells Celtic fans Brendan Rodgers won’t change for Champions League
Duffy suggested that the Celtic boss could try a different formation to his usual 4-3-3 set-up but has warned the Hoops support not to expect Rodgers to change his attacking style.
Duffy told Superscoreboard, “You can’t just buy players for those European games. They have to be able to adapt and play the way that Brendan Rodgers wants to play.
It’s a different style from a Martin O’Neill team, there’s no doubt about that. It’s a different era, but the way Celtic play is slick, inter-passing, the movement is all-important.
“There’s a couple of little things we spoke about it, and I said, Brendan won’t change it for the 4-3-3, but I just think he could just go as a 4-1-4-1, even if he’s got the same group of players, just to make it more compact.
“Even if he plays the likes of Maeda up as an out-and-out striker, because he does that for Japan, and you could then play an extra midfielder in there to make it more difficult for those good teams.
“You can still press, you can still do your job, but you have a wee bit extra security, just a wee safety blanket if you can, and that doesn’t, you don’t need to sacrifice your style.
“Brendan’s not gonna sacrifice his style. So any Celtic fan that comes on here and wants him to change dramatically, that’s not gonna happen, and he’s made that clear, and he’s made that statement that if he said if he’s going to go down, he’s gonna go down and do the things he wants to. That is the way he wants to play. That is his philosophy.
What Brendan Rodgers has said about Celtic in the Champions League
Now the Celtic boss will be fully aware that he will need to make his team harder to beat and that he can’t afford another heavy defeat against Atalanta.
But despite that, Rodgers has refused to bow to pressure to rip up his tactics and set up defensively.
Speaking after Celtic’s defeat to Dortmund, Rodgers said, “What do we do? Sit back, have 15% of the ball and probably lose 3-0 or 4-0? We’ve seen it with teams who come to us and sit and play five at the back, 5-4-1, with no chance to attack.
“Or do you play how you play but know that you have to sharpen up on mistakes and make quicker movements to close space – all those things are a learning process.
I’d much rather do that and go down with my own vision than by someone who’s never coached a game in their life. I respect the opinion but I don’t listen to it, I never have.”
In many ways, Rodgers has to be admired for his stance on Celtic’s tactics for the Champions League in the face of much public scrutiny.
The Hoops boss has shown great strength of character. Let’s hope the Celtic team have learned from the Dortmund humbling and put on a better show against the Serie A side.
Because having another night of watching the Champions League from behind the sofa is not many Celtic fans’ idea of fun.
