FORMER Ibrox player and current Yokohama Marinos boss Kevin Muscat has delivered an outstanding appraisal of his outgoing midfielder Tomoki Iwata who signed for Celtic this week.
The Australian took over from Ange Postecoglou at Yokohama after the Celtic manager recommended Kevin for the role. He has excelled and won the title with Ange’s former side with Tomoki Iwata a huge part of the team who made more history.
Speaking to Australian website KeepUp, Muscat was so complimentary of Iwata and the way he goes about his business on the field.
“People will identify his remarkable physical presence in the form of strength, speed and endurance, and his versatility as his biggest strengths,” Muscat said.
“He is an unbelievable athlete. And he is reliable, unfazed and disciplined.”
It’s not enough for Ange to sign talented players. The Celtic manager wants to make sure the mentality and personality fit in with his team’s character.
Muscat added: “His biggest attributes are desire and mentality.
“Without this mentality you don’t perform in different positions at the level he does.
“His desire to work relentlessly to improve is driven from his mentality.”
If that doesn’t sound like an Ange Postecoglou type signing then I don’t know what would!
The intriguing thing for Celtic fans is seeing where Tomoki will slot in and how he’ll be utilised over the rest of this season.
Celtic has a three man midfield that already sees talented players missing out. While we still have a busy schedule, with no European football until next season, there’s less need for heavy rotation.
We expect Yosuke Ideguchi to head back to the J-League this month and there’s still rumours surrounding Oli Abildgaard’s loan deal coming to a premature end. Even then it’s still difficult to get into that midfield.
