Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers stated on August 1st that his squad needed attacking signings to replace the quality that has been lost this year, through Nicolas Kuhn, Kyogo Furuhashi, and Jota.
The Northern Irish boss said: “I think it’s very clear. We need to improve in the front end of the pitch. The attacking department has always, and always will be, the strengths of my teams. We’ve lost important players in that area, and we need to replace players in that area.”
19 days later and the Hoops started their Champions League play-off tie against Kairat at Parkhead with James Forrest, Adam Idah, and Daizen Maeda as their front three, with Hyun-jun Yang as the only natural winger in reserve.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, despite the level of opposition, the match ended in a 0-0 draw with few chances for either side, and some home supporters decided to voice their concerns with boos.
Adam Idah's toothless performance for Celtic
The Ireland international failed to score in the opening two games in the Scottish Premiership, missing three ‘big chances’, but was rewarded with another opportunity to impress on Wednesday night.
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Unfortunately, Idah did not impress at Parkhead in the first leg clash and was substituted at half-time in favour of Yang, which allowed Maeda to play through the middle.
In his 45 minutes on the pitch, per Sofascore, the former Norwich marksman registered zero shots, created zero chances, and only completed five passes. Toothless.
However, Idah was far from the only Celtic attacker who failed to perform. Rodgers should also ruthlessly ditch James Forrest from the starting XI for the second leg.
Why James Forrest should be dropped
As aforementioned, Rodgers wants more attacking players in the building and that is why it feels harsh to criticise the veteran Scottish winger too badly, as he may not have been playing if the manager had his way with transfers already.
However, you have to deal with the situation at hand and that is why the manager should drop Forest, who was given a 5/10 player rating by the Scotsman, for the second leg, as he was just as ineffective as Idah at the top end of the pitch.
Whilst the Irish striker did not do himself any favours with some of his touches, the lack of quality in the wide positions also meant that the forward was starved of service most of the time.
Minutes
45
70
Touches
12
48
Shots
0
1
Dribbles completed
1/1
1/4
Big chances created
0
0
Crosses completed
1/2
0/0
Duels won
3/7
1/3
As you can see in the table above, Forrest had 36 more touches than Idah yet did not attempt a single cross into the box in an attempt to create a chance for his teammates.
His lack of quality in his attempted dribbles played a part in that because his failure in three of his four attempts limited the space he had to put crosses into the box, as he was unable to beat his opposing full-back to create the space that was needed.
Ultimately, Celtic should not want to be relying on the 34-year-old, who scored one goal in all competitions last season, to win them matches in the Champions League, but that is the situation they have found themselves in.
It did not work on Wednesday night and that is why Rodgers should roll the dice with Yang out wide on the right for the second leg, unless the club are able to wrap up a move for a new winger in the days leading up to the trip to Kazakhstan.