Celtic have found a gem in Kyogo Furuhashi. The man from Japan has scored 14 goals so far this season and will likely continue to score in the coming weeks and months if he can stay injury free.
However, Ange Postecoglou’s latest press conference affirmed by belief this Celtic side are still not 100% in tune with Kyogo and his movement off the ball.
Speaking about his star striker, Ange admitted he doesn’t believe his teammates are giving him the service he needs. Speaking to Celtic TV, the Hoops gaffer said:
“I FELT PROBABLY THE LAST TWO OR THREE GAMES WE HAVEN’T BEEN USING HIM AS MUCH AS WE CAN.
“I STILL THINK EVEN WITHIN OUR TEAM; WE’RE STILL NOT AS SHARP AS HE IS IN TERMS OF GETTING THE BALL TO HIM IN THE RIGHT AREAS.
As usual, Ange is bang on the money.
Kyogo’s work rate and willingness to run and get at his opponents is well documented. However, there’s so many times during a game when the frontman makes intelligent runs only for his teammates to be two steps behind him.
Our HereCelts social media paged joked this week they were going to take a drink every time Kyogo made a run that wasn’t picked up by his teammates – the responses and general consensus was we’d be incoherent after half an hour played.
Kyogo is a special talent, he’s a man who can win us the league, there’s no doubt about that. In order to win the league, he needs to have better service on a more regular basis. Right now, the Japanese star has scored 14 goals with sporadic service. It’s frightening to think what he could do if we were more in sync.
Listening to Ange talk about Kyogo reminded me of something Robin van Persie revealed about his time at Manchester Utd.
Alex Ferguson signed the striker from Arsenal knowing full well what the Dutchman could do.
The legendary manager brought Robin in and put down an ultimatum to his players already in the dressing room – find Van Persie on the pitch or you’ll be sitting in the stands.
Cited by the Daily Star, Van Persie said: “He literally said to Scholesy, Carrick, Shinji [Kagawa] and Wayne [Rooney], ‘if you cannot find him, you will not play.’”
Former teammate Rio Ferdinand backed up Robin’s version of events and claimed the manager told them all Robin would win Manchester Utd the league if you give him the ball.
Ferdinand said: “[Ferguson told us] ‘he’s going to win you the league if you pass him the ball.’
“And if you fast forward the season, one of the standout moments of that season, Wayne Rooney gets the ball, plays a 30-yard ball into him, he volleys it into the back of the net against Aston Villa and we win the league.
Man Utd went on and won the league that season.
No, Kyogo isn’t Robin van Persie and this isn’t the Premier League, however, the premise and purpose is the same.
If we get the ball to Kyogo, in the areas he wants, we will win the league.
Unlike Ferguson back in the day, Ange doesn’t have a large pool of players to choose from at the moment and can’t turn around and tell anyone they’re being left out for not feeding Kyogo.
After the January window, we have to see that mentality from the manager and the players. Bringing in quality during the winter window will afford the Celtic boss options and allow him to drop players who aren’t giving the service to our main man.
Very few would’ve thought we had a genuine shot at overturning such a massive points deficit and really challenge for the title while we are in major transition. Postecoglou has us believing again and fans know the Bhoy’s are on the right track.
The next 6-8 weeks at Celtic Park could be the most pivotal in quite some time.
