How can we describe “BrendanBall” one year into Brendan Rodgers’ second spell, which has been quite calm and relaxed? Rodgers took over a team that had lost several key players (Carl Starfelt, Jota, and Aaron Mooy). He would then lose Liel Abada and be missing Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate, and Callum McGregor for extended periods of time. Internal conflicts over recruitment policies meant that like-for-like replacements were mainly missing, with “project” players being brought in instead. Personnel-wise, it resembled Ange Postecoglou’s moderately turbulent debut season. Both eventually settled on about 17 players to win the league. It’s never “ideal” in any manager’s eyes, but the simple story is that Rodgers had less skill than his predecessor.
What kind of Celtic team did he mould? I will cover this over several articles and today will focus on basic in and out of possession style.
In possession
A central tenet of any Rodgers side is possession of the ball. He likes his teams to dominate that aspect. It allows for control of game tempo, restricts opposition attacks, and is less tiring for your side.
Celtic’s average possession percentage this season is the same as it was in Rodgers’ first season in 2016-17: 65%. This applies across all contests.His teams’ ball control improved dramatically over the next two seasons, surpassing even Postecoglou, who was also a possession-based coach. Expect even greater levels of control next season. The passing history reflects the changing nature of football: it is becoming faster. Despite having similar possession as in his first season in 2016-17, Celtic completed and gave away more passes. Simply put, Celtic attempted 48 more passes with the same possession, representing an eight percent increase. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this comes at a minor sacrifice to accuracy.