Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has discussed his decision to make three changes from midweek against Bayern Munich at the Allianz in the Champions League.
With Greg Taylor, Luke McCowan, and Adam Idah proving ineffective in the first half at Easter Road this afternoon, Rodgers substituted the trio at halftime, reverting back to the team that started against Vincent Kompany’s side.
Celtic found themselves 2-0 down at the break, with the Hoops far below the level of midweek against Bayern, where they shocked the whole of Europe.
It was a sign that the Irishman’s squad rotation affected Celtic negatively; however, he wasn’t willing to criticise the three changes he made ahead of the game, with Taylor, McCowan, and Idah contributing some big moments so far this season.
Rodgers said: (Record Sport), “Again, those guys have scored really important goals for me this season and they’ve performed well.
“I’m having to manage guys like Jota coming back. Jeffrey Schlupp too. So there’s a recovery in that and you’re trying to manage the game time of players.
“But I’m not going to criticise the three guys, because they’ve been very important players in our squad this season. Listen, it’s football. It’s sport. We were brilliant during the week.“
The whole of Celtic’s squad has contributed big moments this season, and although Rodgers was right to substitute the trio at halftime, the Hoops came into the game after the break only to be denied a late equaliser through Daizen Maeda by a shocking VAR decision.
Alan Muir, on VAR, judged the ball to have gone out of play before it reached Maeda in the build-up, despite referee Steven MacLean and the other officials on the pitch deeming the ball still to be in.
It was a lesson for Rodgers to learn from. With two changes made ahead of the game, he attempted to keep the team fresh from Tuesday; however, he likely won’t make the same mistake this Tuesday against Aberdeen at Celtic Park.
