Brendan Rodgers has surprisingly compared Daizen Maeda to a former legendary striker after Kyogo’s departure to Rennes 8 days ago.
With Kyogo often regarded as Celtic’s best striker since Henrik Larsson, Rodgers revealed the similarities he saw between Maeda’s opener against Motherwell on Sunday at Fir Park and a number of goals the Swede scored during his illustrious career at the Hoops.
Adam Idah started the game up top; however, when he was substituted late in the second half, Maeda moved inside to play as Celtic’s striker. In that role, he impressed, playing a wonderful ball along the Motherwell box in the 94th minute to find Jota for his first goal in his second spell at Celtic.
The goal highlighted Maeda’s pace in behind the Motherwell defence and his selflessness up top, squaring the ball to Jota in a great move, with Arne Engels playing a brilliant pass to find Maeda.
After his goal and assist at Fir Park, Rodgers continued his praise for the Japanese international this afternoon.
He said: (Celtic FC YouTube), “I see a lot of natural striker movements in him. When he came in from Yokohama, he was playing as a striker and scored 23 goals in 33 games. He’s a goalscorer, whether he’s wide or through the middle, as shown by his hat-trick in Yokohama earlier this season. He can create space for others and press with more penetration than any other striker, even Kyogo.
“He scores a header like Henrik Larsson the other day. He might not be a traditional number nine, but he can still play how I ask my strikers to play—setting the game quickly and creating space. And he can absolutely do that.
“I want him to play the space, not just the position. Sometimes that space is in front, creating opportunities for the wingers, which is why they score so many goals. I don’t mind who scores as long as the team is scoring.
“I don’t need the striker to score 40 goals while the wingers get three or four. The team’s scoring plenty this year.”
It’s some praise from Rodgers to Maeda, but he did show promise against Motherwell as a striker. However, the fact that Celtic will have to play Maeda up top in the second half of the season is a reflection of a poor winter transfer window, with no Kyogo replacement signed.
Rodgers will have to rely on Maeda stepping up when Adam Idah is rested. Johnny Kenny is also a potential option for the remainder of the season, but it remains to be seen if Kenny is ready to start for Celtic week in, week out.
