Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that the loss of key players Stuart Armstrong and Patrick Roberts has contributed to the team’s poor start to the season.
By the Hoops’ high standards it’s been an underwhelming start to the new campaign, and Rodgers feels that the departures of Armstrong and Roberts this summer, as well as the sale of Moussa Dembele, has effected the team.
“When you lose the players we have then it will make a difference,” he told the Scottish Sun. “It’s not just Moussa, there is a collective.
“There are Stuart Armstrong’s goals and his running ability and we had Paddy Roberts leave too. We’ve struggled a little to create opportunities and the speed of our game has something to do with that.”
OPINION
Rodgers is correct, Celtic have missed Armstrong’s energy and goalscoring ability from midfield, while Roberts’ pace on the wing has been a loss as well, although the 21-year-old was less involved in his final season at Parkhead. Even though Dembele was probably the most talented player that Celtic lost, you could argue that it’s Armstrong they’re missing the most. The Scotland international is a ball of energy in midfield and was one of the team’s most creative forces over the last few years. His ability to arrive late in the box and score important goals was vital for Rodgers’s team over the last few campaigns so obviously they’re going to miss him. The real problem is that none of these players were adequately replaced by the club, and now they’re suffering through a poor start to the season as a result. It will be interesting to see if Celtic go out all guns blazing in the January transfer window as they look to make up for a lacklustre effort this summer.