Former Celtic assistant Chris Davies has admitted his Birmingham City players are struggling to read Kyogo Furuhashi’s game ahead of the new Championship season.
Kyogo was brought in from Rennes this summer by Davies. Despite the player’s sharp movement and relentless running, the manager has revealed his players aren’t yet spotting the spaces the forward creates.
That’s a problem that he faced at Celtic too, he was always a step ahead of his teammates and the opposition.
It’s been a stop-start summer for Kyogo, who is still adjusting to a new team, league, and country. While he has shown flashes of his trademark movement and pace, Davies knows he needs the rest of the squad to get up to speed.
Birmingham’s build-up play hasn’t yet yielded many clear chances for the striker, but Davies remains confident that will change.
Speaking after Birmingham’s pre-season clash with Nottingham Forest, where Kyogo came off the bench, Davies said: [Birmingham Live]
“We analyse every minute of every game and try to highlight things, and he does make very, very good runs and a lot of them. There are times where he’s not been seen or found, but I want him to continue to run and continue to play with that energy. You can see that he’s quick. There was one where he pressed the goalkeeper and you could see his change of pace.
“It is all still new for Kyogo coming into a new country, a new league and a new team, but you could see quite clearly what qualities he does have with the movement and the speed, and he’s a very good finisher, although we haven’t created too many chances for him in pre-season.
“We knew he would be sharp when he first came back and then he picked up a little niggle. He picked up some good minutes and I thought he was excellent. Typical Jay, really energetic and the quality was there for the goal.”
Celtic fans will be watching with interest as Kyogo looks to reignite his career in England after a frustrating short spell in France. If Birmingham can click into gear, they’ve got a proven goal scorer ready to explode, and help the side push up the league title in their first season back in the Championship.
