BRENDAN Rodgers can’t say for sure whether he will get a full 90 minutes out of Odsonne Edouard at Ibrox this afternoon. Still dogged by a hamstring problem, the Northern Irishman admitted last night that he was still weighing up whether it is wiser for his only recognised striker to start the match or finish it. Thankfully from Celtic’s point of view, though, his £9m Frenchman has already demonstrated a couple of times now that 20 minutes is more than enough for him to make mincemeat out of an opponent and wreak a devastating impact on a title race.
Forget midweek up at Pittodrie, where he climbed off the bench to clip in one fine goal with his left foot and have a hand in two others. And consider instead his last visit to the other side of Glasgow back in March. When he arrived on the pitch after 67 minutes, Celtic had their backs to the wall, down to ten men after the dismissal of Jozo Simunovic, the title race seemingly wide open. When he left it, his fine curling strike with his right foot this time had secured all three points and a victory so demoralising that Graeme Murty and his side never recovered. It is an interesting example to consider ahead of a match where Celtic are chasing their fifth win in a row at Ibrox – for the first time since 1909, a victory which could stretch their lead at the top of the division to six points with a game in hand.
Some supporters might criticise a skillset which isn’t identical to that boasted by the brawny Moussa Dembele, but no matter how long he is on the field on Saturday, don’t rule out a repeat performance from Edouard. The Dembele deal, bought for £500,000 and sold on two years later for £20m was a remarkable piece of business by anybody’s standards, but Rodgers feels Edouard is also quite a bargain.
“He’s a fantastic talent and, if he has gone off the boil and not been the player he can be in a couple of games, it’s nothing other than tiredness and the fact he’s also played with an injury, which is a result of us having only the one striker,” said Rodgers. “But you can’t deny the boy’s ability. He’s been questioned since he came here but I’ve always said what a huge talent he is. For us to get him for the money we did was a snip, really.
“Some of the things he does every day I find myself applauding due to the sheer quality he possesses. He also has a great footballing brain and technique for such a young player and he’s very strong – although he maybe doesn’t look it – but you can see the number of times he holds opponents off. He also gets goals. There have been games when I’ve wanted to take him out just to give him a breather but we haven’t been able to do that but you cannot deny his talent of his efficiency. I’m delighted to have him.”
Edouard and Dembele are, unquestionably, two different players on the pitch; two different characters off it. “He’s just a humble kid,” said Rodgers. “He doesn’t seek attention or affection, he just wants to be the best he can be. That’s why he’s here.
“He knows he’s a good player, it’s just different characters, different personalities,” Rodgers added. “Mouss was great, he had that inherent belief, but he [Edouard] is a different personality type. He’s team-orientated and he’s very driven in terms of what he wants to achieve. He came here, left Paris with virtually no English and took himself out of his comfort zone. For me, he’s been outstanding and is only going to get better.”
While Rodgers rails at the suggestion he requires a target man, his loan pursuit of Edouard’s former Paris St Germain academy graduate Timothy Weah suggests he feels the Frenchman could be even more effective with someone else alongside him. The case in point perhaps was less the bravura chip against Aberdeen, but the perfectly measured pass inside Andrew Considine for James Forrest’s run in the lead-up to Scott Sinclair’s second goal of the night at Pittodrie.
“People say we need a target man but why do they say that?” said Rodgers. “It’s not the way we play. We are a team which has mobility. We have strength up front, of course, but we’re more about penetration – we get in behind teams and stretch the game. If we could get a mobile big guy then great but guys like Odsonne and Mikey Johnston are guys that get you in there.
“That’s what I love about him. He’s not a big, stiff striker who just stands up there because that’s no use to us – we’re about speed and creativity and what I loved about him when I first saw him is his mobility and his ability to find space. He’s a game-changer. No question. He’s already shown that speed, that intelligence, that power at all the levels and the finishing. The question for us is do we start him knowing he probably can’t finish the game, or do we bring him into the game when space is opening up and there is a bit of natural tiredness which he can exploit. That’s the decision. Or do we play him with someone else.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel