The Celtic tactical tweaks Brendan Rodgers could implement

Brendan Rodgers is now appears very likely to be the next Celtic manager.

Following the departure of Ange Postecoglou to Tottenham Hotspur, Celtic have been actively searching for their next boss, with Rodgers set to fill that vacancy ahead of names such as Manchester City coach Enzo Maresca and Bodø/Glimt manager Kjetil Knutsen, according to various reports.

Of course, if the deal goes through then the club are not going into this relationship blind, seeing as Rodgers has already previously managed the club from 2016-2019 previously. Despite the nature of his departure, this managerial spell was very fruitful for the club, winning all seven domestic trophies possible during his tenure.

In light of this, it will be interesting to see how Posecoglou’s squad will be able to handle playing the new manager’s style of play, as there will most likely be a change in the system.

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Over the past two seasons under Postecoglou, Celtic have operated under a 4-3-3 formation, in which the full-backs have been instructed to join the midfield in order to overwhelm the opposition in the middle of the park. This leaves wingers such as Jota, Daizen Maeda and Liel Abada more space to attack opposition defences, with full-backs such as Greg Taylor and Alistair Johnston regularly out of their road in attacks unless required.

This would most likely change under Rodgers, as he prefers to line up in a 4-2-3-1 style of formation, though this could change to a 4-2-3-1 when playing against teams sitting deep behind the ball.

Wingers in the past, such as Scott Sinclair and Patrick Roberts, would be assisted by defenders, like Kieran Tierney and Mikael Lustig, in driving at the opposition defence and getting balls crossed into the box, electing to steer clear of moving into midfield areas in the process.

This style of play may suit the likes of both Alistair Johnston and Anthony Ralston, bringing the best out of both of their qualities. Despite perhaps not being the best at inverting in their shared right-back position, they are far more suited to the physical side of the game, such as tackling and their ability to drive or cross the ball into the opposition’s box, which will be expected under Rodgers.

Conversely, this managerial change may hamper the prospects of Taylor, who has excelled while playing inverted on the left-hand side of the defence. Following a tough start to his Celtic career, the Scotland international found his feet under the former boss, who capitalised on his untapped potential by giving him the freedom to roam into midfield. It will be interesting to see how he fares under Rodgers in a more traditional full-back role.

In the middle of the park, Rodgers tended to operate with two central midfielders in a double pivot, which were usually Scott Brown and Callum McGregor. Now that Brown has departed (although he may return in a coaching role), it will potentially be up to McGregor to continue to play in that number 6 role unless Rodgers decides to go with someone else for this role, pushing the captain further up the park in the process.

Having a player like McGregor who has played this system before will be key for Rodgers to re-implement his style after four years away, as the midfielder will be familiar with what the former Leicester boss will ask of him and his teammates.

This may open up an opportunity for Tomoki Iwata to further stake his claim in the starting line-up after a solid start to his Celtic career playing in both defence and the midfield. Iwata is set to become a permanent player following his initial loan deal at the club, which has a compulsory buy clause attached to it.

Further forward in the central attacking midfield role, Matt O’Riley will be expected to chip in with more goals if he decides to stick around at the club. Despite his numbers being outstanding in regard to assists with 14, he will be relied upon to score more than four goals in all competitions like he did last season.

By comparison, his former team-mate Tom Rogic scored 12 goals in the 2016-17 season in Rodgers’ first season in charge, a number which O’Riley should aspire to emulate and potentially even better in the same position. Stuart Armstrong also excelled in this more advanced role before moving down south in 2018 to Southampton, reaching 17 goals also in the aforementioned season.

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These statistics indicate that Rodgers will look to the midfield to supplement the attackers with goal contributions, but those furthest forward will be most relied on to make the difference in front of goal.

Despite being labelled as wingers on StatsBomb, wide players such as Scott Sinclair and James Forrest typically played just behind the lone striker on either side under Rodgers, rather than alongside the striker in Postecoglou’s team.

Again, it will help to have Forrest still at the club despite his decline in ability, as he can help unfamiliar players adapt to this new style. He and Sinclair were regular goal contributors under Rodgers, the latter being Celtic’s top goalscorer domestically for two seasons running under his management. This could be a match made in heaven for a player like Jota, as his numbers could improve exponentially next term if he does not need to track back as much.

Despite all of these changes to the system, the one position that does not need to change is up front, where the club will continue to operate with a lone striker up top despite the managerial change. Rodgers tended to opt for a physical presence in the mould of Moussa Dembele or Odsonne Edouard, though Leigh Griffiths did get his fair share of games to counter that belief.

This could be good news for a player like Hyeon-gyu Oh in particular, as he has all the physical attributes to lead the line much like those who came before him. However, the young striker will have a job on his hands to try and pry Kyogo Furuhashi’s starting berth from his clutches, which can only be healthy for the squad going forward.

This piece is an extract from the latest Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out every weekday evening with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team.

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