Rodgers could repeat his Luis Suarez masterlcass with Celtic star

Rodgers could repeat his Luis Suarez masterlcass with Celtic star

Celtic only made two additions to their first-team squad during the January transfer window as Brendan Rodgers missed out on a number of targets.

German winger Nicolas Kuhn arrived from Austrian side Rapid Wien on a permanent basis, putting pen to paper on a five-and-a-half-year deal, as the first signing.

Football Insider then reported that the Northern Irish head coach was eyeing up a goalkeeper, a left-back, and a centre-forward to bolster his squad, whilst a central midfielder was added to the shopping list after David Turnbull’s deadline day move to Cardiff City – per the Daily Record.

However, the Hoops did not land a midfielder, a goalkeeper, or a left-back to fill the voids Rodgers reportedly felt were there throughout the window.

Celtic’s search for a striker

Their only piece of incoming business on deadline day was the signing of centre-forward Adam Idah on loan from Norwich City, which was a curious addition on paper.

The 23-year-old had only started 12 Championship games for the Canaries, who were sat outside of the play-off positions, during the first half of the season.

He was not a regular starter for the second division team in England and supporters, therefore, had a justifiable right to be concerned about whether or not he could make an instant impact.

It was also curious as it had been reported that the Hoops had an interest in Dutch marksman Sydney van Hooijdonk, who then joined Norwich on loan from Serie A side Bologna to replace Idah.

Aberdeen striker Bojan Miovski, who has scored 22 goals in 36 games for Aberdeen this season, was also a reported target for the club ahead of the January transfer window.

23/24 Premiership

Bojan Miovski

Appearances

23

Goals

13

Big chances missed

Seven

Assists

Two

Big chances missed

One

Stats via Sofascore

Celtic opted against swooping for Miovski or van Hooijdonk in the end as they pivoted to a deal for Idah on loan until the end of the season, with no option to buy.

The Hoops must make the most of the young gem whilst they have him and Rodgers could repeat his Luis Suarez masterclass with the talented marksman

Luis Suarez’s progression under Brendan Rodgers

Speaking to The Herald recently, the Northern Irish head coach made the point that the Uruguay international was not a prolific scorer for Liverpool before his appointment in 2012.

Rodgers stated that the way his team plays, with attacking, aggressive, football, suits strikers and that Suarez, in particular, benefitted from narrowing his game to focus on his impact in the final third.

This point was made in relation to what Idah’s limit is as a player and the potential he has to improve over the weeks and months to come in Scotland.

The Hoops boss played a masterclass, as he explained himself, with Suarez and could repeat that with the Norwich loanee ahead of the summer.

Prior to Rodgers’ arrival at Liverpool in the summer of 2012, the former Ajax star had racked up 15 goals and six assists in 41 Premier League starts for the Reds in 18 months.

During that time, Suarez averaged between 4.1 and 4.2 shots on goal and between 1.9 and 2.0 key passes per game in the top-flight through the 2010/11 and 2011/12 campaigns.

Rodgers was then brought in from Swansea and helped the centre-forward to become a prolific scorer and creator of goals for the English giants by, as aforementioned, narrowing his game and ensuring that his focus was on making an impact in the box.

This led to the impressive striker taking his average shots per game up to between 5.5 and 5.7 and his average key passes per match up to between 2.7 and 2.8 over the course of the 2012/13 and 2013/14 Premier League campaigns.

His increased output of shots and key passes led to a staggering return of 54 goals and 17 assists in 66 league appearances for Liverpool in Rodgers’ first two seasons in charge.

This shows that Suarez went from a goal or an assist every 1.95 games on average pre-Rodgers to one every 0.93 matches under his management, which is a startling improvement.

You could, therefore, partly attribute his incredible success at Anfield to the now-Celtic boss’ tactical work and coaching to focus on the forward’s best qualities in the final third.

Adam Idah’s potential at Celtic

Rodgers has described Idah as a player with “real potential” and could now repeat the masterclass he played with Suarez by narrowing the Norwich loanee’s play to what he does inside the box.

The £23k-per-week dynamo has only had 35 touches of the ball in his two Scottish Premiership appearances for the Hoops so far, but has produced two goals and one assist.

23/24 Premiership

Adam Idah

Appearances

Two

Minutes played

122

Goals

Two

Assists

One

Chances created

Three

Stats via Sofascore

During the first half of the 2023/24 campaign, Idah ranked within the bottom 8% of Championship strikers for touches in the opposition penalty area (2.39) per 90.

This suggests that David Wagner’s system at Norwich was not creating ample opportunities for the Ireland international to make his mark in the box.

Despite that, the young marksman scored six goals from 5.83 xG in 28 league appearances, 12 of which came as a starter, which speaks to his ruthless nature in front of goal.

The Canaries academy graduate, therefore, has proven that he has the finishing ability to take his chances if his teammates can create for him.

His quick start to life at Parkhead also shows that the young gem will not need any time to adapt to Scottish football, which is also a promising sign ahead of the final few months of the campaign.

It is now down to Rodgers to ensure that Idah focuses his game on staying between the width of the penalty box so that he can be in the right positions to score and create goals, as Suarez did for him at Liverpool.

Hopefully, the Hoops head coach will be able to repeat that masterclass once more and the Irish sensation will lead Celtic to glory by the end of the season.