Boss Brendan Rodgers was in bullish form at his final press conference before facing Atalanta – insisting attacking football is just part of his DNA.
After the Champions League thumping at the hands of Borussia Dortmund last time out in Europe’s elite competition, many Celtic fans were hoping to see the boss adopt a more cautious approach when they travel to Italy to face Atalanta. But even with Cameron Carter-Vickers still sidelined through injury, Rodgers insists the Hoops will “stick with the philosophy” they deployed in Germany against the Europa League winners.
The boss is sticking to his guns over his style – but he has already shown a more defensive plan he could turn to during his time at Leicester City. Back in the 2021/22 campaign, the Foxes were enduring a rocky start to the season with key defender Jonny Evans sidelined through injury. Rodgers’ side hadn’t kept a clean sheet in over two months and were facing a relegation scrap – when the boss turned to a back three.
Summer recruit Jannik Vestergaard was struggling to find his feet at the heart of the defence without the experience head of Evans, and Rodgers opted to get experimental first in the Europa League as he ditched his 4-3-3 game plan. In front of Vestergaard, Kasper Schmeichel saw Çaglar Soyuncu and Daniel Amartey make up a back three with Timothy Castagne and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall flying down the wings at full-back.
The game ended in a 1-0 defeat to the Polish side – but Rodgers saw enough to stick with it, and was rewarded days later against Manchester United. With Jonny Evans as part of the back three in place of Vestergaard, Leicester secured their first win in five games to stop the rot.
He would pick up another win with the formation the following week to see off Brentford. The style was deployed throughout the campaign – so, could he really bring a different approach to the Gewiss Stadium?
There is an eerie similarity to Vestergaard and Celtic’s summer recruit Auston Trusty – who has struggled to show his best form without Carter-Vickers. Sacrificing one of the Scottish Premiership champions attacking threats to bring in an extra centre-back could shake off any demons from Dortmund.
Stephen Welsh would be likely to come in as the extra defender – while Maik Nawrocki is another option having playing a back three at Legia Warsaw before joining the Hoops. Alex Valle and Alistair Johnston’s role wouldn’t change.
Callum McGregor would be deployed in a deeper role – while a midfielder would be sacrificed for an extra defender. Rodgers is likely to keep £11m man Arne Engels in – given that these are the exact occasions they brought the Belgian in for.
In an attacking sense, at Leicester Rodgers would start with an attacking three – while one drops back when on the back foot. That role would likely fall to Daizen Maeda.
But will he do it? Going into the game he was bullish about his tactics, but the Irishman could be looking to pull the double bluff on Gian Piero Gasperini.
Potential Celtic XI
