Chris Sutton slammed the Celtic defence in their 2-0 loss against RB Leipzig on Thursday night and said Brendan Rodgers’ men were “devoid of ideas, of leadership”.
After losing to RB Salzburg they gifted RB Leipzig a win at the Red Bull Stadium with some shocking defending.
They actually started off well, with Odsonne Edouard having the best chance of the first quarter.
But two goals in the space of five minutes, gifted to the home side by some terrible defending, did for Celtic tonight though, as Sutton pointed out at half-time.
.@btsportfootball RB Leipzig 2-0 Celtic… two poor errors defensively… big second half coming up live on BT.. next goal so important ?? Your thoughts??
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) October 25, 2018
And it didn’t get any better in the second-half with Sutton saying on the BT Sport coverage of the game (BT Sport, 7pm), “There are ways to lose football matches and this isn’t one of them. They seem devoid of ideas, of leadership.”
He said he was “angry” that Rodgers had seemingly given up on the game in the second-half, and that there was no reaction from his Celtic side.
“I expected more in Europe this season,” he said on the final whistle.
I’m sorry changes or not there are ways to lose a game and that wasn’t one of them… RB Leipzig 2-0 Celtic. Average age Celtic 24.4.. average age Leipzig 22.5.. 7 full internationals plus £21.5 million in transfer fees! The bar has been lowered if that’s acceptable..
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) October 25, 2018
COMMENTARY
Chris Sutton’s verdict is pretty damning but bang on the money. Looking at the line-up and the players that were rested, it seems like Brendan Rodgers was prioritising Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final, but that’s no consolation to the fans that travelled to watch their side tonight. Mikael Lustig, one of the players who was rested, came on at half-time to replace Cristian Gamboa, a player that many fans were surprised to see make the starting XI in the first place. And we think he should have started. “No ideas, no leadership”… Fans don’t mind losing if their team gives its all but Celtic certainly didn’t do that tonight. Celtic have never won a game away from home in the Europa League – not even in the qualifying rounds – and that miserable record carried on tonight. On this evidence the record is going to stay intact for a long time to come and it seems Rodgers had no interest in trying to win this one in the second-half.