Brendan Rodgers has warned Premiership rivals his rapid Celtic stars are even quicker than his Invincibles.
The Hoops are looking to hit the ground running after the international break at Tynecastle on Saturday night. Rodgers’s side have been flying at home and in Europe with an unbeaten start to the league campaign, a Premier Sports Cup Final showdown with Rangers on the horizon and a place in the Champions League knockout stages within reach. The blistering form has prompted comparisons with the Celtic side in the Irishman’s first spell in charge – when the class of 2016 won an undefeated domestic Treble.
Rodgers reckons it’s tough to pick a winner – but he is convinced his current crop of speed merchants would even leave the Invincibles in their wake. He said: “This team will be faster. I would say there’s more speed in this team. The team I had first time around were very good in their possession, very good in terms of scoring goals, and they were a very strong group mentality.
“This is a different group, a different generation. It’s nearly a decade since 2016 and football changes. It’s a different group of personalities. That team I had were super successful and that first season was history making in terms of what the players did. It’s about this team creating their own history. I’m so pleased with how it’s gone but we still have a lot of work to do.”
Rodgers has been thrilled with the form his side has shown this season and is looking to pick up where he left off before the international break. Celtic are not expecting any injury concerns although globe trotters such as Alistair Johnston, Kyogo, Daizen Maeda, Reo Harate and Luis Palma are not set to check back in until Friday.
Rodgers admitted his vision is starting to come together at Parkhead 18 months into his second stint in charge. The Celtic manager – speaking to Celtic TV – said: “It is much more like what I would expect. I think when I came in last summer it was probably the first time I’d come into a club where they’d had that success as such.
“I was coming into a team that had won a Treble, and my idea was to observe that team and see how they worked. As you go along you make tweaks to fit your own template. Obviously by the second half of the season we were in much better flow.
“Come the pre-season it allowed me to establish those key principles and ideas we see in the team now. Along with hard work, it hopefully allows you to get that consistency.
“That’s a great testament to the firstly the players, the coaching staff, and then everyone pulled together in that same vision so we are getting a consistent level.”
Rodgers reckons Celts have landed a difficult return to the domestic game against a Hearts side that might be toiling toward the bottom of the table but have shown signs of improvement under new boss Neil Critchley. He said: “It’s always been a tough game there. I think my last evening game there was actually with Liverpool in the Europa League.
“Every other game has been an early kick-off. I look forward to us getting together again. It’s a great game to get started. It’s always a tough game at Tynecastle and we’ll be ready and prepared for it.
“It’s always a wee bit fragmented over the international period, but thus far, they are all back healthy and we hope that stays the case. Because we have such a long run from now until March, with no winter break, I gave the players and staff the chance to reset and come out of the intensity of the battle as such and we reconvene now for an exciting couple of months.
“We are going to get the chance to see a lot of the players play, because we’ll need that to keep the energy and freshness in the ream. I’m really comfortable with the squad we have and that togetherness of mindset that we have cultivated is really strong. It allows me to look forward to this next period of games, starting at Hearts.”