CRAIG Gordon has come in for a fair bit of stick from some quarters in the aftermath of Celtic’s humiliating 7-1 thrashing by Paris Saint-Germain this week.
But I am a big admirer of Gordon - and my opinion of him hasn’t changed despite the loss that Brendan Rodgers’s side suffered over in France.
I have no doubt that Craig himself will go away and analyse his performance and try to determine if there was any area where he could have done more.
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Once he has done that I am sure he will admit that he could possibly have done better at a couple of the goals which he let in during his side’s penultimate Group B match.
But he shouldn’t be too down on himself.
As we witnessed once again Neymar is a special player. The Brazilian clearly wants to be the No.1 footballer on the planet. Who would bet against him achieving his aim?
Craig himself said the front three of Edinson Cavani, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar is the best he has ever faced. There aren’t many, if indeed any, better in world football today.
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I think every player in the Celtic defence, not just Gordon, could have been more commanding, could have shown far greater conviction, on Wednesday night.
I am sure all of the issues which resulted in such a disappointing night for Celtic will be addressed before the massive meeting with Anderlecht at Parkhead on Tuesday week.
With their home crowd right behind them, with the chance to stay in Europe beyond Christmas for the first time in three seasons within their grasp, I am confident they can defend better and achieve their aim.
But what is really important is what happens beyond that. To do well in the Europa League then Rodgers has to seriously consider changing his philosophy and adopting a slightly less adventurous approach against decent teams away from home.
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