Brendan Rodgers tells Celtic player he needs to get stronger

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers had a lot to be pleased about at the weekend. His side bounced back from their Atletico Madrid defeat with a six-goal victory themselves. Afterwards, the Northern Irishman had some positive comments about several players and gave great insight into how one in particular is developing.

It could have been a difficult match against Aberdeen, especially after the heavy defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid in midweek. But the Hoops seemed determined to give a great performance and they delivered on that point with a 6-0 win against the Dons.

Players like Yang Hyun-jun and Luis Palma made the most of the opportunity. David Turnbull and Oh Hyeon-gyu didn’t get the chance to start the match but came off the bench to score. We also saw Odin Thiago Holm get his first league start for the Hoops.

Holm had a decent first half with some nice touches before being substituted in the 52nd minute. That may seem early in the match but Rodgers decided to make a double substitution earlier than normal after the Kyogo Furuhashi knock.

Rodgers tells Celtic player he needs to get stronger

It was a surprise to see Holm in the starting lineup against Aberdeen. Rodgers praised the player and gave an insight. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, the Celtic manager told BBC Radio Scotland:

"“I genuinely believe that over the course of his time here, he will prove to be a big talent, but he’s got to start some games and this is a nice opportunity for him.“He’s got all the attributes in terms of being a top player. He needs to get physically stronger in terms of his upper body. But he can travel with the ball, he can see a pass and then he can make the pass. He’s obviously played a lot lower down the pitch in his short career so far.“But he has that possibility to play higher up to get in the box and score goals because technically he’s very, very good and he has a nice little edge to him as well where he could put his foot in and make tackles.”"

That’s very encouraging for Celtic fans and Holm as a player. No doubt his development plan at the club covers both the playing style needed and the physical elements.

As a young player, there is plenty of time for that strengthening to take place. Especially with the support from the club to provide the right guidance. It looks like we will see more of the player over the weeks ahead,  while Reo Hatate is recovering from his injury and could be out for the foreseeable future.