Chris Sutton believes that Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers should not be turning Oliver Burke into a striker for major European Cup ties.
He says that he has “nothing but praise” for the 21-year-old January signing and remarked on how hard the youngster works – but he thinks that moulding him into a striker for such major games is not “acceptable”, especially when he usually operates as a winger.
The Hoops ended up losing 2-0 to Valencia in their Europa League tie on Thursday, and Sutton said that Burke does not know how to play properly in the position yet, something he reckons is not his fault.
“I’ve got nothing but praise for the willingness of Oliver Burke. He grafts and does a shift. But are you telling me that a boy who is a winger and having to mould him into a striker for major European ties is a really acceptable way to advance?” he said in his Daily Record column.
“It’s not his fault, but he doesn’t know the position properly yet. There were times when Burke needed to show, or spin, or offer an outlet to help Celtic get up the pitch, but it just didn’t come naturally. He just wasn’t sure. You can’t blame him, he’s not an out-and-out striker.”
OPINION
Sutton is right – it is definitely not acceptable to play someone who usually operates as a winger as a striker in major European ties. Like he pointed out, Burke does not know his position very well yet, but what can you expect from a player who is not entirely familiar with the role and has just been thrown into it? No wonder Celtic lost on Thursday if this is the way that Rodgers wants to do things at Parkhead. However, if they want to participate in competitions like the Champions League in the near future, then they are not going to do that without a proper talisman leading the line. They would not last five minutes if they had to use a makeshift forward like Burke, and if this is what Rodgers classes as acceptable, then that is rather worrying. There is no denying that Burke has some serious talent – it is just a question of whether Rodgers is putting it to good use.