Brendan Rodgers breaks with Ange Postecoglou over Celtic's approach in Europe - 'I won't be averse to a bit of pragmatism'

It is not heretical to suggest Celtic supporters could find more favour with the credo expressed by Brendan Rodgers than predecessor Ange Postecoglou over the club’s playing approach in European competition.

In his now underway second spell, the Irishman has an almighty task to produce football as consistently thrilling as did the man now helming Tottenham Hotspur. However, Rodgers’ Premier League experience suggests a renowned attacking, progressive coach might now be more realist than idealist on that front. Postecoglou is a fully-paid up member of the latter camp, an unabashed football purist for whom seeking to out-possess and out-chance opponents was non-negotiable irrespective of their prestige or prowess. Celtic’s results were mixed in continental competition with such an unyielding focus. True, too, of Rodgers’ sorties in his first spell in Glasgow between 2016 and 2019. Amid all the sparkling records he reset, he also became the only Celtic manager to lose seven European home games. Indeed, by the closing stages of his tenure he conceded that pragmatism and giving greater consideration to defensive security had its place in cross-border competition…even if at odds with his desire to play an expansive style.

A major staging post since then on his journey following a path where such balance and flexibility can be accommodated as passengers came on September 27, 2020. His Leicester City side then picking off Manchester City in spectacular fashion at the Etihad. A stunning 5-2 success earned through eschewing attacking principles and instead pursuing a containment strategy. It was a compromise that ended up not in Rodgers feeling sheepish but content as to how his tactics paid off to deliver the most desirable outcome.

“You always go out to be offensive and aggressive in games. But [being more cautious] was something I looked at when I went back to England,” he said. “It was the very first game I ever did it - brought a bit more pragmatism into my team - when we beat Manchester City away 5-2. That was the first time I ever went into a game where I wasn’t pressing high and really being super-aggressive on the pressure. We closed up the space much deeper. That was part of my growth as a coach. Because I thought: ‘OK, it’s not how I see the game and how I want to play. And 99 percent of the time I won’t’. But when you’re up against an opponent that actually wants to attract you out and exploit the space, there are ways you can win really well. That was the first time in my career I did it - and enjoyed it. I enjoyed the 5-2, absolutely. I think was the first time they’d ever conceded five goals in a game [under Pep Guardiola]. Then in the Community Shield [win iover City in 2021 that followed Leicester’s first ever FA Cup success] it was similar. It wasn’t that it was negative, it was a tactical approach and it got us some results. It’s very much against the grain for me but it’s also me understanding from time to time it might get you the result.

Brendan Rodgers addresses the fans outside the club's stadium following his Friday parading as Celtic manager for a second stint in which he will consider compromises to his natural expansive playing style to improve the club's standing in European competition. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

“That’s not how I work all the time but it was acknowledgement of the super quality of the team we were facing. And how to take a different tactical approach, while still being really effective and working well. That’s the challenge here at Celtic. Every week, 99 percent of the time, your games here are about being front foot, imposing your style on the game. And that’s how my teams have always played. You might lose whatever style you play [in Europe] but it’s about finding a way. And you do that through experience. Ultimately, the game’s about winning. You want to win so I won’t be averse to having that balance this time between attacking and having that little bit of pragmatism.”

Rodgers joked he had “clearly not” subsequently opted for this strategy enough times . A sideways nod to Leicester being firmly in the relegation mud that ultimately swallowed them up when the club jettisoned him in April with 10 Premier League games remaining. Yet, despite that bitter end to his latest four-year stint in that illustrious set-up - one wherein he took the club to the semi-finals of the Conference League - he feels it has obviously better equipped him to direct Celtic in continental competition. As he embraces that a fundamental part of his remit in Glasgow this time around is making a greater impact in the arena. Remaining in some sort of European competition beyond Christmas is the first target. That would mean claiming third place from the Champions League group stages into which Postecoglou’s title success has given them direct access come little more than two months’ time. In the club’s past four such campaigns, they have achieved this Europa League drop down only on a solitary occasion – under Rodgers in 2017-18. The 3-0 win over Anderlecht in September 2017 that supplied them the three points to claim this slot one of only two wins across the club’s past 24 group outings.

“In the Premier League, the challenges are there every week because there are so many different styles, players and cultures of managers,” Rodgers said. “That enriches you as a coach. You then go into Europe and it’s not that much different. The Premier League is virtually a European league. You’re at the level already, physically and mentally. It’s just about taking it into European competition. Europe is about the depth of your squad and a club like Celtic wants to compete on every front. The more experience you have of highest level football, it helps you. I want us to kick us on in Europe. That’s part of the ambition coming here. I want to continue having success in Scotland because you have to look after that. But in Europe, you have to be competitive and that’s the next challenge for us.”