Celtic fans will be a happy lot with the season they are having. The Hoops are yet to be beaten in any domestic game since Brendan Rodgers took charge at Parkhead and are cruising to the title. After a 10-point lead over closest challengers Aberdeen at the top of the table with a game in hand, it looks like the Bhoys will have another easy ride in their quest for the title.
Many thought that Rangers’ comeback to the Premiership this season will bring an end to Celtic’s long-standing monopoly in the Premiership but how wrong they could be! Under Rodgers, Celtic look even stronger than they were in the past few seasons. Let us take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the Bhoys from what we have seen so far.
Strengths
Celtic are overall a compact side. They have capable strikers in Leigh Griffiths and Moussa Dembele. They have serious creativity and goal threat from the flanks in Scott Sinclair, James Forrest and Patrick Roberts. Even though Gary Mackay-Steven is not getting much gametime, he also remains a quality winger. Tom Rogic has been a scintillating player with his creativity and eye for goals.
Celtic have not even struggled a bit in their domestic competitions so far. Defensively, they have been excellent conceding just eight goals from 11 games. Celtic play an attacking and attractive game under Rodgers in a 4-2-3-1 system and have not found it hard at all to score goals.
Weaknesses
Well, Celtic’s domestic performances has been different from their European performances. While the Hoops are winning and scoring for fun in Scottish football, they have not really enjoyed playing in Europe. However, in Rodgers’ defence, they were drawn into the same group with mighty sides like Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach and matching up with their quality is not a bread and butter task.
The quality Celtic have in their team is too much for the Premiership and they should win the Premiership pretty convincingly. They only need to overcome Aberdeen in the final of the League Cup to win their first trophy of the season. However, to become a known force in Europe, Celtic need more quality and Rodgers needs to ensure that.
Celtic lack players who have experience in European football. The Bhoys have too many fringe players in the team like Boyata, Commons, Mackay-Steven, Ciftci and need to ship them out and go for more quality players like Sinclair and Dembele.
