In his short time as Celtic manager thus far, Ange Postecoglou has managed to build a team. A side that can work together to overcome obstacles and instilling as winning mentality in those who have come to the club and perhaps not tasted much success to this point.

The Hoops incredible start to 2022 has been nothing short of outstanding. Maximum points in the league and navigating themselves to the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup is no easy feat.

It’s all the more impressive when you remind yourself Celtic have managed to do this without Kyogo Furuhashi. The Japanese star was no doubt the MVP for Celtic in the first half of the season. His finest moment coming in the League Cup final against Hibernian when the striker’s brace earned Ange his first silverware at he club.

Injuries have curtailed Kyogo’s progress. Going back to the dead rubber game against Real Betis in December – the man from Japan had to come on very early for an injured Albian Ajeti only to be injured himself. He was then taken out of action to recover and made the aforementioned cup final despite not being 100%.

Ange took another gamble on Kyogo after watching his side draw a blank against St Mirren in Paisley. Kyogo wasn’t risked that night as Celtic dropped two points falling six points behind in the title race. The league had voted to bring forward the winter break that night but would proceed with the Boxing Day fixtures. Ange decided to take the risk of playing Kyogo against St Johnstone knowing there would be an over two week gap between then and the next game. It took around ten minutes for Kyogo to pull up with a hamstring problem and his game was over – the wee man hasn’t kicked a ball since.

Despite losing the striker, Celtic have come up with some massive results. If you were to tell me the bhoys would be top of the league in February without Kyogo playing a single minute, I’d have rolled my eyes.

This is down to a variety of factors. Ange’s recruitment in the January window has had a major say; Hatate, Maeda and O’Riley have made impressive starts to life at Celtic. Couple that with the system he has the players drilled in, you can take one player out the team and the man who replaces him will know the score.

The Celtic manager is building something that’s more system over personnel, so they’re not heavily reliant on one single player at any given time. It’s why we’re n it missing Kyogo as much as we possible should be under different circumstances.

There’s still no doubt when the player gets back to full fitness, Kyogo can have a major say in Celtic’s season. Until then, this team just need to stay the course.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.