Japan legend on Kyogo; defenders are ‘scared’ of Celtic striker

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The signing of Kyogo Furuhashi must go down as one of Ange Postecoglou’s most inspiring pieces of transfer business.

The Celtic fans have never seen a striker that is so industrious or works as hard for the team since the Henrik Larsson days.

It’s little wonder many are calling him the best Celtic striker since the King of Kings.

Kyogo is also impressing former Japan international Shinji Okazaki. In 119 appearances for his country, Okazaki scored 50 goals. So if anyone is qualified to comment on just how good Kyogo is, it’s him.

The former Leicester City and Japan striker was running the rule over Kyogo and said that the 28-year-old is setting the bar for his fellow countrymen.

As reported by The Herald, Okaza said, “Kyogo Furuhashi has set the standard for Japanese goalscorers this season and it is a very high one.

“I have watched him closely and what I like about him is not just the amount of goals he scores, it’s his movement.

“You watch him and he moves into places that he probably shouldn’t be in and are unrelated to the goal, but that means the opposition isn’t following him.

“It’s clever. He’s actually thinking about where the opposition expects him to be and going elsewhere.

“And more often than not, he has a knack for finding a place where the ball drops to him and he scores.

“I’ve noticed too that when he does go into dangerous positions, some teams are using two players to mark him because his movement is so good.

“They are scared of his movement and he’s the best Japanese player right now in what he does.

“And when you take an extra player out of the opposition defence just to mark him, that gives his team a considerable advantage.”

Kyogo is only one goal off of hitting 30 for Celtic this season. But it’s not just his goals that are making him an instant hit with the fans.

His movement and tracking back are a constant thorn in the opposition’s side. Not only that, he defends from the front. The work he puts in at the top of the pitch is one of the reasons why Ange Postecoglou’s style at Celtic is so successful.