Daizen Maeda: “He’s everything that I want to see in a central striker,” Brendan Rodgers

Q: I think the last time up at Perth was one of the top performances of the season, 6-0. The one before that was the one you took the paint off the wall at half-time. Contrasting emotions in those games, the more recent one is the one you’re going for this weekend?

Brendan Rodgers:“Hopefully, that would be nice. That game that you mentioned, we were waiting on the game and I don’t like the team to wait. We were disappointed in that first half, second half. We were outstanding. Obviously, the performance early in the season up there was so good. The level of the game, the goals, we had a goal disallowed as well, which I felt was a goal. But the focus on the team and the level of the football was at a high level. We’re at the point of the season now where it’s one game a week. We have to be really intense. We have to really go and show our authority in the game. That’s what we aim to do.”

Q: Do you think St Johnstone have improved since that game?

Brendan Rodgers: “I look at how they play and I think they’ve been unfortunate in terms of the numbers of the games they’ve played. I like the new managers coming in and what they’re trying to do and how they’re trying to play. They’ve obviously made some changes in January as well, so the team will look a bit different. He wants them to play a technical game. Tactically, you can see how they move. I’ve enjoyed analysing them, but somehow, they’ve just not quite got the results. As always, we have to prepare for a tough game. The surface probably won’t be ideal, but we have to deal with that and look to bring our A game.”

Q: Another Player of the Month award for Daizen Maeda, it just shows that he’s continuing in that form, the consistency that he’s producing?

Brendan Rodgers:“Yes, a remarkable few months he’s had, but also a remarkable season. To be sat on 30 goals where primarily he played as a winger. Before February, he had the odd game was a striker, but since February we’ve put him in there.

“He’s everything that I want to see in a central striker. His work rate, his intensity, and then of course the movement he makes for his goals. The first one last week, even Jota’s goal, the sharpness of his movement to get the header. He’s just so instinctive, but also his reading of situations is so good. I think he’s improved on his technical level, his finishing, and that comes with confidence as well. He’s been in various positions. When you see him play through the centre, you feel that he’s going to get goals and he’s going to create goals. I’m very happy for him.”

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