Celtic might have won at the weekend but it was not a performance to be happy about. Once again, the Hoops struggled badly. And while they deserve a lot of praise for showing character, coming back from a goal down to win 3-2, questions also need to be asked about the overall quality of the football this team has produced since the start of the campaign.
There are quite a few players the fans want to see benched. One of them is their starting goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel.
Schmeichel's selection on the day was criticised after his poor performance in the loss to SC Braga in midweek. To be fair, the Dane put in a decent display. That being said, there are some areas of his game that have still come under criticism.
One of them was his lack of composure when put under pressure. The moment came late in the game when Motherwell were looking for an equaliser and Schmeichel ended up kicking the ball to the opposition goalkeeper. As reported by 67 Hail Hail, Pat Bonner said on BBC Radio Scotland:
"Where are you going to put it? Into the other goalkeeper’s hands, and put the pressure back on top of you?!
“He could have put it into a corner where at least you can get a throw-in. A corner. Or something. At least get possession or make the opposition play the ball from that position."
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Thankfully, that moment did not have an effect on the result of the match and Celtic held on for the win. That being said, on other day, the story might have been very different.
Schmeichel's distribution is something for which he also deserves criticism. If you ask us, it is not much better than Joe Hart. But while the Englishman was often questioned for his lack of ability playing out from the back, the same does not seem to be the case when it comes to his successor in the Celtic goal.
It is very clear that a lot of fans want Viljami Sinisalo to be given a chance moving forward. But for the time being, it looks like Rodgers has decided to stick with the tried-and-tested goalkeeper in Schmeichel. It remains to be seen if he continues making mistakes in the upcoming games or manages to return to good form.