Celtic will be playing Europa League football this season after they were beaten 3-2 on penalties by Kairat Almaty in the Champions League play-off clash on Tuesday night.
The Hoops had drawn 0-0 at Parkhead last week, failing to make the most of home advantage, and then failed to get the job done in normal time or extra-time away from home, which led to a loss on penalties.
Adam Idah, Luke McCowan, and Daizen Maeda all missed from the spot for Brendan Rodgers, and it will not have done Idah’s confidence any good after a disappointing start to the season.
Why this will knock Adam Idah’s confidence
The Ireland international is yet to get off the mark with a goal this term. In four games in all competitions, the former Norwich City marksman has missed three ‘big chances’ and failed to register a goal or an assist for the team.
He has not proven that he has what it takes to be the main number nine for Celtic as a regular starter, and this latest performance against Kairat will not have helped his confidence.
In his defence, though, his performance after coming off the bench before the penalty shoot-out was not horrendous. He created two chances for his teammates and won two of his three aerial battles to provide an outlet for the team, per Sofascore, but then the striker missed from the spot in the shoot-out.
Despite his penalty miss, though, Idah was not the worst performer for the Hoops on the night. One other player who should be dropped from the team because of their showing is Hyun-jun Yang.
Why Rodgers must drop Yang for Celtic
Rodgers must ruthlessly ditch the South Korea international from the starting XI for the clash with Rangers on Sunday because he put in a poor display on Tuesday evening.
The 23-year-old winger was selected to play off the left flank for the Scottish Premiership giants, with Maeda through the middle and James Forrest on the right, and failed to do enough on or off the ball to impress.
Yang played the opening 70 minutes of the match and did not register a single shot or goal, nor did he create a single chance for his teammates at the top end of the pitch. Whereas, as aforementioned, Idah created two chances for the side after he came off the bench.
|
Vs Kairat (A) |
Hyun-jun Yang |
Adam Idah |
|---|---|---|
|
Minutes |
70 |
50 |
|
Dribbles completed |
1/3 |
0/0 |
|
Pass accuracy |
61% |
77% |
|
Key passes |
0 |
2 |
|
Duels won |
3/15 |
2/6 |
|
Duel success rate |
20% |
33% |
|
Possession lost |
20x |
7x |
As you can see in the table above, the South Korean flop performance was even worse than Idah’s in general play before the penalty shoot-out miss from the striker, as he performed worse in duels, gave the ball away way more, and was less creative.
The Hoops winger did not offer anywhere near enough in any phase of the game to justify his continued inclusion in the starting XI, particularly with a clash against Rangers away from home in their next match in the Premiership.
Michel-Ange Balikwisha is reportedly closing in on a move to Celtic from Royal Antwerp to bolster Rodgers’ options on the flanks, and this means that the manager may have another player to pick from on Sunday.
With this in mind, the Northern Irish boss should ruthlessly drop Yang from the line-up after his dismal showing on Tuesday, to potentially throw Balikwisha in at the deep end this weekend.
