Brendan Rodgers has revealed that one substitute this afternoon is far and away the best player he has coached in keeping the ball, and that’s why he was desperate to bring him on in the second half against Hibernian after a tough 45 minutes for the Hoops, where they struggled to keep the ball.
With Rodgers making five changes during the game, he heaped praise on one Celtic player in particular, who he believed helped change the game in Celtic’s favour with his ability in the final third, a real game changer.
Rodgers said: (The Celtic Way), “We were losing too many balls on the right side. So in order to push them back, you’ve got to retain the ball and James Forrest is one of the best players – probably the best player I’ve ever worked with in my career at retaining the ball on the side.
“People will look at it now and go, it’s because of maturity. No, no, he was doing that when I was here in 2016. The best player in receiving the ball on the side of a pitch when it’s tight, left side or right side, to keep the ball. And then that allows you to sustain the attack. So too often we gave away in the first half.
“But like I say, he can look after the ball, create opportunities and like I said, he’s pressed for the third goal. It was fantastic.”
Forrest, yet again, looks back to his very best against Hibernian this afternoon with his through ball for Kyogo’s first and his sublime chip simply something else.
The Celtic winger has attributes that most wingers would dream of, with his ability to keep it simple at times, incredibly making the right pass almost 9 times out of 10, while also being able to create chances.
If any young player wants to learn the role, watch James Forrest.
At 33 years old, the older he has gotten, the wiser he has become in managing his runs in games to maximise fitness and effectiveness.
For a world-class coach like Rodgers to reveal that Forrest is the best player he has worked with in his career at retaining the ball on the side is huge praise for a player who will go down as a Celtic legend.
