Ange Postecoglou insists his Celtic squad have earned a rest – but he won’t be sticking his feet up during the World Cup. The Hoops boss will give his players some time off after spending a week in Australia for the Sydney Cup.
But Postecoglou insisted it will be business as usual for him and he expects his men to return in top shape as well. He said: “A rest? Are you kidding me? There’s always things to do. That’s okay. The intensity and scrutiny is a constant, because I just want us to be better. I’ll get plenty of time to switch off when I retire. Right now there are important things to do and it’s my responsibility to make sure we are ready to go.”
Postecoglou will order his squad to maintain their fitness over the coming fortnight but he admitted his Premiership pacesetters could do with a break from the demands of the title race. He said: “The boys will have eight or nine days off and it will be good for them. It’s still a mid-season break so we don’t want them to get away from it totally, because we’ll need to get back into it. But the lads are really good, they are really focussed. It’s more of a mental break, with some work over that period.
“We want to get back and hit the ground running. We don’t want to be making up for lost time, or lost conditioning. Mentally it will be good for them, but I don’t think we’ll be far away from what we need to do.”
Celtic are set to sign off from the Sydney Cup in tomorrow’s glamour clash with Premier League Everton at the Accor Stadium – where Postecoglou led Australia to Asia Cup glory in 2015. Postecoglou said: “I have some decent memories from here. Most of the international games were played here and we usually came out on top.
“It’s an iconic stadium that was built for the Olympics. It seems so long ago now but it was a special time. It was the first major trophy won by the men’s team and it meant so much.”
Postecoglou gave his squad a bashing following the defeat to Sydney FC on Thursday and is hoping for a better show against Frank Lampard’s side. He said: “We were disappointed the other night because we didn’t reach our levels. It was quite obvious the boys were off it a little bit. You have to take into account the travel and so on but the good thing was the boys were disappointed themselves. It wasn’t me driving it.
“They just want to put on a good performance. We had a strong block of games and this is part of that process and we went to finish off strong. It’s always a good challenge and we’re looking forward to it. I’m sure Frank and Everton boys will enjoy being away from the Premier League.”
READ NEXT:
