Celtic’s season could, in many ways, be defined by what happens in one single 90 minutes this week when they make the trip to Norway to face Rosenborg. To say there’s a lot on the line is an understatement, defeat and they’ll find themselves out of the UEFA Champions League and having to play another round just to reach the UEFA Europa League, win the tie and they’re guaranteed European football until Christmas.
The tie hangs in the balance at 0-0 after a hard fought encounter at Celtic Park last week and the Hoops haven’t exactly been blessed with good luck on the injury front either.
Without the likes of Moussa Dembele and Dedryck Boyata, they are also sweating on the fitness of Leigh Griffiths. The Scotland international has travelled with the squad on Tuesday but there’s still a doubt about whether he will be fit enough to feature.
If he doesn’t, Brendan Rodgers will have to resort to an unconventional choice to play as a striker and for us, that man should be James Forrest.
Here are THREE reasons why…
The other options simply haven’t worked
One of the principle reasons to use James Forrest in the striker position is because of necessity of course. It wouldn’t be anyone’s first choice for but for us is a best case scenario.
To put simply, Brendan Rodgers’ experiments in this area haven’t worked when both Moussa Dembele and Leigh Griffiths have been unavailable. Whether it was Scott Sinclair against Hearts last season or Tom Rogic last week against Rosenborg, the Hoops have looked a shadow of what they are capable of.
Forrest looked the part in the position in the weekend’s friendly against Sunderland when the Hoops ran out convincing 5-0 winners. Of course it’s a friendly and the Black Cats aren’t in the greatest of shapes right now, but it looked like it actually worked and could be effective away from home on Wednesday.
Scott Sinclair and Jonny Hayes were brought into the game much more effectively and Celtic looked dangerous with every foray forward into the opponent’s half.
His pace and finishing make him the most natural choice
Though some Celtic fans would argue he is too one-footed to be an adequate choice for striker, his finishing ability is actually very decent when he gets himself into scoring positions.
He scored eight goals last season which isn’t a huge number but his main focus of Brendan Rodgers’ side was creating and he did so with 14 assists of his own. Those assists came predominately through his use of pace and ability to bring teammates into the game, both of which could be key in a central position against Rosenborg.
He has the speed and direct nature to be a real thorn in the Norwegian’s side and be a constant danger, which in turn could open up space for others. Tom Rogic, while having positive attributes of his own, looked a little lost in the position and lacked the real pace to get in behind the back line last week.
You can envisage Forrest running in behind the defence and to us that makes him the most natural choice to start as striker with the players available to Brendan Rodgers.
He has the backing of his teammates and manager
If James Forrest does start as Celtic’s lone striker on Wednesday then he’ll do so with the full back of his teammates and manager, who were full of praise for him after the win at Sunderland on Saturday.
Jonny Hayes was strongest with his backing, telling The Daily Record: “James was outstanding up front. Being a wide player, his movement was really good. He moved the centre halves and midfielders about the pitch. They didn’t know who was picking him up and when he dropped into the hole, it gave me and Scotty a lot more freedom to get forward. He was outstanding and is a very underrated player. I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves.”
Meanwhile, Brendan Rodgers gave a massive indication he would have no problems seeing the 26-year-old fill in for Leigh Griffiths or Moussa Dembele.
As quoted by The Daily Record, he said: “James was outstanding. He has played up front as a young player and gave the team great fluency. During the week we played Tom Rogic there and it wasn’t quite as fluent. For James it was more natural, for him to spin behind and come underneath.”
The ringing endorsements make us wonder why the Celtic boss didn’t give him the nod last week in the position but, as always, football is a learning process and starting him on Wednesday night in Norway would be a case of better late than never.
