Celtic boss explains questionable decision vs Lazio

It was the same old story for Celtic in Europe once again, as they lost 2-1 to Lazio at Parkhead despite being the better side in almost all departments for the majority of the game. The Hoops went ahead early through Kyogo Furuhashi, who ended his goal drought in the Champions League. But then, they would give away to easily avoidable goals, and end up losing a game that they should have won.

For a moment, it had looked like Celtic had won it late through Luis Palma, only for it to be cancelled out for offside by VAR. The Honduran international did catch the eye with his performance though.

As a result, many questioned the decision to start Yang Hyun-jun over Palma against Lazio. The South Korean youngster started the game brightly but it was not long before he faded away and did end up doing much for most of the time he was on the pitch.

Thus, most believed that someone like Palma would have had much more of an impact, especially coming into the game on the back of his first goal for the club. Now, Brendan Rodgers has explained his reasoning behind the selection.

Celtic boss explains questionable decision vs Lazio

As reported by The Herald, Rodgers said when talking about why he picked Yang over Palma:

"“A bit more physicality.“I thought Luis did well when he came into the game. He is still getting up to speed with the intensity and the tempo of it all. So that was the reason for the decision.“We have obviously moved the wingers around to look at the best possibilities for us in the games. But I thought Luis looked good when he came on and had some really good moments.“He was unfortunate with the goal. The ball hits Daizen. If it doesn’t touch him it would have run through to Luis. He finishes it really, really well. But I expect him to get better and better.“I also don’t expect these young players to come and hit the ground running straight away. If they do, it’s great. But they are coming from different cultures, different football, slower tempos. It is just going to take that bit of time for them to get up to speed.“Until that moment, we have to look at them both and look at them all. Hopefully they can contribute well for us.“I just think [Luis] will get better and better with the experiences, demands and expectations of playing for a club like this.“He has got the technical quality. You could see from the disallowed goal that he has shifted it and finished it really well.“He played a couple of nice cross-field passes and secured the ball. The young players will improve.”"

Of course, if Palma is not completely up to speed till now then it was the right decision not to start him. It would not be ideal for him to play while risking a potential injury. He did come on and make an impact, which is a positive.

Yang is a good talent as well and has shown flashes of brilliance during his time at Celtic. It would be wrong to completely write him off because of a below-par performance in the Champions League. He might not be ready for Europe’s elite competition just yet though.