Brendan Rodgers loves working with the bad boys of football.
Leigh Griffiths and Luis Suarez don’t get many invitations to black-tie dinner events or garden parties but they both know how to deliver on the park.
After missing the start of the 13/14 season Rodgers coaxed 31 goals out of Suarez as Liverpool almost won the Premier title. At the World Cup the Uruguyan landed another ban for biting and was never seen again at Anfield.
Griffiths problems tend to come off the park and although he is still to sink his teeth into an opponent there have been a few flashpoints- Igor Shitov of Astana is still squealing about a push seven days ago.
With many Academy players coming off a Power Point production line Rodgers likes nothing better than the challenge of keeping a bad boy on the straight and narrow while delivering on the pitch.
“The best players like to play with an edge,” the Celtic boss stated. “I always think that to be a winner, and to be the best, you need to be on the limit and Leigh plays on the limit, as a number of our boys do. That’s what you want as a manager.
“If he had a different name — a more Latino name — this guy would be talked about as being worth £15million. Luis Suarez played on edge and he was all right!
“I think Leigh tried to kick him at the weekend but it was nice to see Luis tracking back as far as he was at the time.
“You prefer players to have an edge to their game. I saw the goals he’d scored before, the quality of the finishes. The technique is top class but what has impressed me more than anything is his tactical capacity.
“He presses and does not run without thinking. It was a huge mark of respect to him and the other five lads who pressed the ball that they forced a mistake out of Barcelona which got him a goal.
“That shows me Leigh is tactically improving. If he continues that, it’ll bring his game up another level.”
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