Brendan Rodgers admits he was unhappy with some Celtic players

As the pre-season continues, Celtic faced their second match on Wednesday. This time it was away against Queen's Park and not many would have predicted the result. The Hoops were victors, winning 6-4 on the night in a 10-goal thriller. It also raises some questions though and it led to Brendan Rodgers explaining why he was unhappy with some of his players.

A hat-trick for Kyogo Furuhashi to add to his goal against Ayr United last week is encouraging for the new season. Of course, there are still a few first-team players missing from the squad as they take an extended break after representing their national teams over the summer.

We are also still waiting to see some new signings being made. Rodgers might want new quality players to add to his squad this summer, but it seems like he also wanted to see more from some of his more established names against Queen's Park.

As reported by the Daily Record, when asked if he was happy with the performance, Rodgers told Celtic TV:

"Some bits of it. As I said it is about fitness but also there was lots of elements of the first half I wasn't happy with. Especially with some of the guys who should understand the game better. Our pressing was nowhere near a level of what I would expect and that is what we said at half time.

"In the first 15 minutes we pressed the game better than we did in all of the 45 minutes. That continued in the second half. You expect some little mistakes and unfortunate things to happen in the game but overall you see we still have a long, long way to go with the pressing side of our game but also some really pleasing moments in the game as well."

Brendan Rodgers admits he was unhappy with some Celtic players

That suggests there was some tough talking in the dressing room at the break. While normally we see a complete switch of players after half-time in these early pre-season games, Rodgers only made three subs at that stage, perhaps looking for a response from his players. He waited until the 63rd minute, with the score at 4-2 in favour of the Hoops, before replacing the other eight players.

It’s still a bit early in pre-season to read too much into the game or result. But Rodgers' comments over the quality of the pressing is a bit of a concern. The next two matches are in the US, and although friendlies, will be a further step up in quality. 

The first comes against DC United on July 21, followed by Premier League champions Manchester City a few days later. That may seem a while away yet, but the fans will want to see some new signings on the midweek plane for the trip. While there may have been some delays due to the ongoing EURO 2024 in Germany, it’s highly unlikely that Celtic are waiting on anyone in the England or Spain squads. Let’s hope we see some positive activity soon.