Ange Postecoglou puts his arm around Celtic star after defeat vs Hibs

By Patrick Sinat

May 25, 2023

Celtic’s defeat against Hibernian last night did not look like coming until Daizen Maeda’s red card midway through the second half.

Sitting 2-1 up and looking good for the win, Maeda was shown a second yellow for persistent fouling and from there, the game went seriously downhill for Celtic.

Many will point to Maeda and claim that he should have been more mindful of the fact that he was on a yellow and toned down his style at trying to win back the ball. But not Ange Postecoglou.

In fact, Ange went one step further and offered his Japanese star an arm of protection and said Maeda will learn from this experience.

Postecoglou said [Football Scotland], “I would never criticise him, the effort he puts in is just outstanding.

“He doesn’t go down as easily as others. That’s a credit to him. He’ll learn from that. He’s a strong lad who stays on his feet when he gets punished.”

Maeda has been excellent for Celtic this season. His work rate both defensively and in the attacking third has been crucial to our success this season.

Yes, the winger can be rash in the challenge when trying to win possession back for the team but that is part of his game. He is aggressive and quick. A combination that has benefited the team on so many occasions since he arrived at the club last January.

Maeda will know that he let down his teammates last night. But would we want him to change the way he plays after last night’s red card? Not me. Taking away that part of his game means removing the reason why the Celtic fans love him so much.

In other news, Celtic stars Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda called up to Japan national squad