Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon refused to blame Brendan Rodgers for the 7-1 Champions League defeat in the iconic Westfalenstadion last night against Borussia Dortmund…
Instead Lennon points the finger at the Celtic players who played right into Dortmund’s hand and made it a much easier night than anticipated by last season’s beaten Champions League finalists.
I expected them to give a good account of themselves
“I didn’t expect them to win,” Lennon told TNT Sports. “I expected them to give a good account of themselves given the form they were in.
“They let the game get away from them. They were passive, far too passive with passing, didn’t do the dirty business of the game well enough, weren’t physical enough, too nice and they didn’t turn Dortmund at all.
“They kept playing the same way. The results were the same – goal against, goal against, goal against. Eventually, when the game got to 3-1 I am expecting someone to get grip of the team and say ‘ok, let’s have 5-10 minutes in their half, let’s get Maeda into it, let’s turn them, let’s get a corner or a throw’ – there was none of that.
Celtic played right into their hands
“They kept playing the same way – passes into dangerous areas and they kept getting picked off. Dortmund are an outstanding team but they have their flaws – particularly down the right hand side, but Celtic played right into their hands constantly.
“They have got to learn quickly. Celtic were exposed tonight. They have got to say ‘we can’t do this away from home against top teams, we have to find another way of playing at times’.
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“You can’t keep blaming the manager,” Lennon said. “Celtic have got a top manager in Brendan Rodgers. Yes, he wants his team to play football. He said before the game they would suffer at times, and they were suffering.
In the end it was little tippy-tappy passes
“What you do when you are suffering is you take the heat off you can get your wide men into the game and use the pace that Kuhn and Maeda have; didn’t use that anywhere near enough. In the end it was little tippy-tappy passes through the midfield.”