“That makes me very proud,” Brendan Rodgers on Celtic’s fluency, hunger and quality | OneFootball

A very proud Brendan Rodgers gave his assessment of Celtic’s ‘outstanding’ 5-0 victory over Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup fifth round at Celtic Park last night…

Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic, looks on prior to the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Brendan, a convincing win into the quarter-final, how pleased were you with that from your team today?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, listen, these games over the years have proven difficult, you know, and can be if your attitude’s not right and your mentality’s not right. I thought we were outstanding in the game. I mean, I should give credit to Raith, because they came here, and Barry’s team will always work hard and will always fight. And if you think, you know, they beat Falkirk, they’re a good side to get to here.

Daizen Maeda of Celtic reacts after scoring the opening goal during the Celtic FC v Raith Rovers FC – Scottish Cup match at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“I felt the team were exceptional today. We made nine changes, but the fluency, the fluidity in the game and the quality of our goals. But before that, the hunger in the team, the pressing in the team, and that takes work. And for a team that are playing every two or three days for the last three months, to have that will and desire, that makes me very proud.”

Q: Talk to us a bit about Daizen Maeda, he got his hat-trick today, and his 50th goal for the club as well?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, he’s been great. And again, as I’ve said before, if you’ve done any depth of analysis of this player before he arrived from Yokohama, you can see he’s a striker. You see he’s a goal scorer, wherever he plays along the front line. He’s done that in Japan, he was playing more central and you see his numbers. But not only that, if you watch all the goals he’s scored there, the different types of goals, he may not be your traditional up-and-down number nine who can’t move and just hits the ball and is a goal scorer in the box. He’s a guy that’s mobile, can make runs, his movement’s good, he can finish, and he’s proven that.

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“He’s a wonderful reference for our team, the value that we put in hard work, pressing, mentality, and he’s getting goals with it regularly now. So, yeah, so pleased for him, really happy for him and for the team.”

Q: It feels like he’s in the form of his life, but how big a miss is he going to be for you on Wednesday night against Bayern?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, he will be, naturally, but I can’t overthink it. It’s just that he’s not available, but he’s ready for the next games after that.”

Paulo Bernardo of Celtic leaves the pitch injured during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: How is Paulo Bernardo?

Brendan Rodgers: “Hopefully, he’s OK. I just spoke to our medical head, so he was telling me he doesn’t think it’s bad. It was a bit more precautionary, really. Felt a slight twist on the tackle, but hopefully he’ll be OK.”

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Q: It was a chance for Daizen Maeda to play the centre-forward role. I think he must have a pretty good strike rate when he does play there for you, obviously. Is he taking that on board that it’s a chance maybe to play there a bit more often for him?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I’ve spoken to him. I told him the plan, really, over the next few games, leading into obviously him missing the Bayern game. He knew Motherwell, Dundee and in this game, he would flip between the left side, central and wide, so he could frame it in his own mind. I know wherever he plays, he’s got the skill set and the attributes to give me what the team needs.

Daizen Maeda of Celtic scores his team’s fifth goal and his hat-trick goal during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“You see that today. His first one was a great finish. A striker’s finish is not lashed out, it’s just guided into the bottom corner. Second one, ball comes across, you’ve got to concentrate. How many times have people missed them or hit it over the bar, but good finish. And his third one, what he’s done consistently now, and what we asked of our wingers to track the game into the box from low crosses, be there, and the speed he makes up to get there is frightening. So, yeah, absolutely brilliant player. So happy he’s with us.”

READ THIS…Nine changes not a problem thanks to Celtic’s main man Daizen Maeda

Jeffrey Schlupp of Celtic is seen prior to the Celtic FC v Raith Rovers FC – Scottish Cup match at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Were you pleased with Jeffrey Schlupp today?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah. Again, it’s a complex system to play. Sometimes you ask him to be inside the full-back, sometimes on the outside. So for him, he’s only in the building, but you can see already, he’s starting to figure out what we’re asking him to do. His second half was much better, so he was more advanced, and he opens up the lines and then he can move.

“You see his physique, you see his quality, and once he feels the rhythm of the team even more, you will get more out of him. I am so pleased for Dane Murray. I really think that he can be a really top player. I’ve seen him play here when I was away from Celtic, seen him play, I think it was a Midtyjylland game when he was a young boy at 17, and I was impressed with him that night. He was playing with the left-side centre-half, I think.

Jamie Gullan of Raith Rovers controls the ball whilst under pressure from Dane Murray of Celtic during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025.(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“Obviously, a real challenge in time of injuries, but he didn’t accept it. He went away and worked on his body, and you see him now out on the pitch. His power, his speed, his dominance, and he can play football. So I’m very, very pleased for him, because as I said, that’s the first time since that game he’s played.

“The guys coming in, you would never have thought they hadn’t been playing as a team, and that’s a great credit to them.”

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Q: How do you convince the players that they can come out of the Bayern game with a positive result?

Brendan Rodgers: “That’s my job. That’s the job. I think that we’ve shown, and we can take confidence from qualification, getting to this game. Over the course of the eight games, we’ve shown the templates that we can play at home and against RB Leipzig and Atalanta, in a way that that combination of both can get us results.

Daizen Maeda of Celtic scores his team’s second goal past Josh Rae of Raith Rovers during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“We know we’re playing against some fantastic players and a team that’s top of the league and having confidence in one of the top leagues. But in here, it’ll be supercharged Wednesday night. There’ll be 60,000 souls that’ll be with us, and we’ll take the energy from that. We’ll do what I’ve always said, we’ll look to make it really, really difficult for Bayern and see where the game takes us.”

Q: They’ve got so many attacking threats, do you need to work out where you can hurt them?

Brendan Rodgers: “I don’t have any doubt that we can. I think we’ve got goals, I think we’ve shown at all levels of competition, whether it’s home, domestic, we can score goals. But like you say, they’ve got threats in their team as well. That’s the level, it’s the knockout stages of the Champions League. Every team at this level has big quality, and I’ve worked against some of those boys, and I understand how a lot of them play. Vincent Kompany will have played against my teams, Swansea and Leicester and Liverpool, so he’ll understand how my teams work as well. So, it should be a fantastic game, and I look forward to it.”

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Yang Hyun-Jun of Celtic scores his team’s fourth goal during the Scottish Cup match between Celtic FC and Raith Rovers FC at Celtic Park on February 08, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: A goal and two assists for Yang today, has he staked his claim to play against Bayern?

Brendan Rodgers: “He’s a young guy that’s come in and done very well today. I think he created one, he scored a really, really good goal. It’s not an easy one, that one. It was a good cross in from Tony, but he’s got to get there and finish it. There’s no doubt he’ll be in the squad; that’s for sure.

“Will he start? We’ll wait and see, but I’m just really pleased, apart from Daizen, we’re going in with a real positive mentality for the game.”

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