CELTIC completed their pre-season tour of Japan with a win as they faced Gamba Osaka on Saturday morning.
The Hoops fielded two teams. The first-half side consisted of players who you’d expect to play a significant role in the upcoming season, while the group for the second 45 was mainly made up of youngsters and fringe players, with a few odd exceptions.
It was a win for the bhoys, but it was more of an opportunity for Brendan Rodgers to look at his squad as he continues assessing what he inherited from Ange Postecoglou.
As Celtic fans tuned into Celtic TV at 11 o’clock on Saturday morning, there is three things we learned from Celtic’s 1-0 win in Japan.
Maeda’s New Position?
Maeda was one of the players to start the first half, taking up the striking position again. He did manage to net the ball, but it was wrongly ruled for offside. However, he looked lively through the middle and forced the opposition keeper into some great saves, and even struck the bar. He’s managed to sort out his first tough, and showed some nice skill on the turn.
The more you watch the Japanese internationalist through the middle for Celtic, the wilder the thought of moving him back out to the wing becomes.
He looks set to challenge Kyogo and Oh for the starting spot, and it’s set to be a great spectacle for fans.
New Lease of Life in Forrest?
James Forrest looked to be coming to the end of his Celtic career, with the winger struggling for minutes during Ange Postecoglou’s tenure, especially in the second season. However, after starting today’s match against Gamba Osaka, there could be use for him yet at Celtic.
Forrest looked really sharp on the left wing, constantly taking players on. He had a great first touch too, and was really unlucky not to get on the scoresheet after a ball over the top saw him through one on one against the goalie.
If he keeps that level of performance up, there will certainly be a role for Forrest to play at Celtic.
‘We Never Stop’
Ange Postecoglou and his ‘We Never Stop’ catchphrase may be a thing of the past at Celtic, but the players are still ensuring they never stop on the pitch.
Bernabei attempted to play an outside-of-the-foot pass as the game was in the final stages, but it didn’t pay off, and it ended up going nowhere. However, Bernabei chased the loose ball down, forced the defender, who eventually collected it to pass it back to the keeper, continued chasing the ball, and then, eventually got his reward, taking the ball off the keeper and putting it in the back of the net, to score the only goal of the encounter.
The Argentine never stopped.
