REO HATATE has uploaded his latest article where he writes about his experiences – including the Olympic games and his attitude, something that every Celtic fan will be pleased with.
On Monday night, Celtic fans were in awe of the performance on display from the 24-year-old. He explains that this performance stems from hard work on and off the pitch, describing himself as a perfectionist. Writing on his site From The Athlete, Hatate explained;
“I’m kind of a perfectionist, so naturally I want to give it my all whether in practice or in games. Sometimes coaches and trainers advised me to “Take it easy”, but I couldn’t let myself slow down because I was committed to doing my best in every moment, and I wanted to keep that mentality all season.”
He then enlightened the reader of his position change. Having only played left-back, the player wanted to play higher up the pitch after having doubts regarding his performances in the defensive third.
“When it started to heat up and get humid just before the Olympics, I started to play midfield up front instead of the side back. I had no experience as a midfielder, so I was a bit confused at first as I still wanted to be an attacker. At the same time, I thought “If I can’t make an impact right now, my career as a professional player might be over.” And I strived to prove myself under such intense pressure.”
The former Kawasaki Frontale then talks about the highs of being selected to represent his country at the Olympics and then the lows of being selected as a defender, not a midfielder.
“When I was called up for the Japanese national team, I was in Uzbekistan in the middle of ACL, so I tried not to think about the Olympics too much, but I was very grateful and felt honored to be able to represent my country. Of course I was happy, but on the other hand I also had mixed feelings because I was selected as a defensive player.”
Monday night’s man of the match was self-critical of his performance in the Olympics.
“As a player, I knew that I was expected to make an impact and I was disappointed that my performance was not good enough. It was even more disappointing as a team, that we couldn’t win a medal with such a talented group of players. Again, the experience reminded me about the importance of winning. The bronze medal game was an especially critical match with a medal on the line. The team that won a medal and a team that did not win a medal would be evaluated in completely different ways. The painful truth in competitive sports is that if you don’t win, you are forgotten.”
His blog is an interesting read, it will be interesting if he continues his entries in Scotland and enlightens fans of what it is like to be a footballer for Scotland’s finest club.
Nice read.
Let me tip in about his position.
He’s been a FW all along, then became Pro and joined Kasawaki on 2020. Initially was utilized as a Winger, but wasn’t their first choice. And as the season went on he gained more and more minutes as an utility player. It was only from 2021 where he started playing Fullback on a regular basis.
This article hints about his inner conflict – he wanted to break in as a FW, but couldn’t – and ironcally played in pretty much every other position. He’s still trying to establish himself as a player.