Ange Postecoglou has brilliant defended Daizen Maeda and explained his importance to Celtic amid recent criticism.
Sections of the support on social media have voiced their frustrations with the Japanese international after an up and down start to life in Glasgow. Maeda has 4 goals in 11 appearances for the Hoops [Transfermarkt], but has struggled to become a game-changer since arriving from Yokohama Marinos at the start of the year.
Ange has stuck by Maeda in recent weeks, starting him in 5 of our last 6 Premiership matches. Yet he’s struggled to fashion many goalscoring opportunities for himself despite regularly playing as the central striker.
But the Hoops boss has decided to step in on any chat that the player is struggling and has looked to set the narrative straight. As quoted by the Herald, Ange said: “I thought he was outstanding the other night – his defensive work was terrific.
“People look for different things but I know what I get from Daizen and why I brought him to the club. A lot of people don’t see the work he does. The reason why St Mirren got nowhere near our penalty box was because Daizen was constantly pressuring their goalkeeper who is great with his feet.
“Every player has a role within the team. Sometimes you don’t get all the headlines but within the four walls at Celtic Park, he gets his due recognition.”
Daizen Maeda gets the vote of confidence from Celtic boss
Some may look at these comments in a cynical manner. That it’s simply a manager trying to justify a signing that so far hasn’t worked out. Yet whilst there may well be an element of that, we can’t just ignore the truths that Ange speaks here either.
Maeda was an impressive performer against St Mirren. That can’t be taken away from him. He actually managed 6 shots in the game which was by far the highest of anyone on the pitch [WhoScored]. Not forgetting the fact he was consistently harrying Jak Alnwick in the Saints goal when the ball was at his feet.
There was a reason that so many of Alnwick’s kick-outs didn’t hit their mark. The presence and energy of Maeda almost certainly played a key part. So even if he isn’t contributing with goals directly, Maeda clearly offers plenty of threat in the final third.
Time will tell whether he’ll truly be a valuable asset for us. We won’t pretend that it isn’t up in the air. Not when you take into account the fact that many Celtic supporters were excited about his goal record and blistering pace. That’s something we’ve yet to really see be replicated in Scotland.
It’s certainly been a rollercoaster start for the Japanese international. But that doesn’t exactly mean that he’ll be a success or a failure. He still has a lot of proving to do, and there’s no better time to do so than in a title run-in.
For now, we await to see what Daizen shows in his next outing. Whether that comes today against Livingston remains to be seen.
In other news, Livingston boss sounds fuming with his team’s reputation ahead of Celtic clash
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