Bullish Brendan Rodgers has urged Arne Engels’ critics not to judge the Celtic ace by his £11million price tag.
The Belgium midfielder was among the Parkhead side’s brave Bergamo battlers that dug in to earn the Hoops a vital Champions League point with Wednesday’s goalless draw away to Atalanta. But that hasn’t been enough to please everyone and some fans have taken to social media to aim pops at his failure to do more on the ball in recent weeks.
The initial reaction to his big money move from German outfit Augsburg saw the 21-year-old lavished with praise – but those have quickly cooled following underwhelming displays against Borussia Dortmund, Aberdeen and Gian Piero Gasperini’s Europa League winners. Rodgers, though, fully expects to see Celtic get their money’s worth in the months to come. It doesn’t surprise me, no,” said the Northern Irishman as he was quizzed on the online flak.
“But it’s it doesn’t really matter either. There’s critics in the game and people have an opinion, so you have to respect that.
“For me, we brought in a young player who’s nowhere near the finished article. Sometimes when there’s a price around him, some might feel that you’re buying someone who’s the finished article – he’s not.
“He came in here as a 20-year-old player who’s got great potential and it’s my job, along with the staff, to develop that. I said to him, ‘You’re coming from playing one game a week – that’s a holiday in my book – to play for a big club with big pressure and big expectation and and you’ll feel it.
“And sometimes you’ll be playing a lot of games and sometimes you come out to recover, so it’s all natural. We had the same with Nicholas Kuhn, we’ve had probably the same with Callum McGregor over many years.
“Listen I understand that people will make a judgement but I’m so so happy he chose to come here. He’s shown more than enough in this short period of time that he’s going to be a fantastic player for us.”
Engels may not have dominated the midfield battle in Italy, but Rodgers was delighted with his contribution to the Celts’ cause at the Gewiss Stadium. He said: “He had a massive job to do on Ademola Lookman and that was one of the key aspects of his job. It’s what his strength is, his running power.
“He’s a different player to what Matt O’Reilly was but it was for that very reason we brought him in, with that power and that running ability that he has to cover the ground, to do the dirty stuff. He had a specific job on that side against Ademola, an absolutely brilliant young player ,so I thought he did that job really really well and sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself for the team. He’s shown that since the first day arrived that that’s what he does and how he plays the game.”
Engels may not have impressed the harsher Hoops critics but no-one could take issue with centre-back Auston Trusty’s display. The American bounced back from a shocker against Dortmund to help shut out the Italians.
And Rodgers says his return to form means he won’t have to rush Cameron Carter-Vickers back into action after he finally returned to training from a troublesome toe injury. Rodgers said: “We’ve got Cam back training with the squad, which is good news. Greg Taylor as well. So we’ll see how they are, but hopefully we’ll be involved in the game.
“I thought Auston was immense in Wednesday’s game. Liam Scales too. For Auston, I have a big admiration, especially since he’s come in. He’s a player that’s been playing on the wrong side virtually all his time.
“But he’s just got on with it and coped with it. But then you see one of the big reasons why we did bring him in. His ability to leap and defend in the box. He’s really powerful with his head. But also his speed. There were a couple of recovery runs in behind.
“He’s super quick. He got there on a couple of occasions. So I was so pleased for him. Because sometimes you need a big performance like that at the big clubs to really show your value.
“You’re not going to go through the whole season just with the 11 players. It’s good to have good players back available.
“From time to time, some players just need that to come out, have a breather, and then to have a good level to come in and take his place. That’s nice to have that option.”