Ange Postecoglou’s former assistant John Hutchinson has given new Celtic signing Daizen Maeda a brilliant review.
Hutchinson worked with the Japanese international during his time as Postecoglou’s number 2 at Yokohama F Marinos. It was there in which Maeda made his name, with a standout season this term in which he finished as the J-League’s top goalscorer.
Maeda is one of 3 new January arrivals from Japan as Postecoglou looks to find further success stories similar to Kyogo Furuhashi.
And it’s fair to say Hutchinson, who left Yokohama back in November, is a big fan of the striker. As quoted by the Scottish Sun, he’s had the following to say: “I have never seen a more physical player, in terms of speed and repeat sprinting, than Daizen. Daizen is a physical beast. You’d have no issues sending him anywhere in Europe because it won’t be a problem to him. He’s a machine. The improvement in him over the last season or so under Ange was incredible.
“He makes dangerous forward runs and scores goals. He will terrorise defenders in Scotland. If it clicks for him with Furuhashi up front, which I think it will, it will be frightening for the other teams.
“He’s different to Furuhashi in that he’s more all-action and powerful. We played him the majority of last season on the left-wing, but when he gets in the box his first-time finishing is very good. He will bring goals, one-touch finishes and energy to Celtic. He can create for other players, too. The majority of his work will be done inside the box. I think he only scored one for us from outside the penalty area.”
Daizen Maeda has the pace and power to excite Celtic fans
Maeda’s pace has been well discussed. However, the exciting thing about him is that it appears to be combined with raw power. That’s going to be vitally important in the aggressive Scottish game.
Centre-backs and full-backs in this country will look to use their physicality to halt Maeda. But given the strength he has, he looks like he’ll be able to combat that aspect of things extremely well.
It remains to be seen whether Ange believes he’s more of a left-winger or penalty-box striker. Given their time together at Yokohama, the left-wing option seems like the most realistic.
What Celtic fans have still to really see in action, however, is his finishing ability. He may have finished the J-League’s top scorer, but how does Maeda perform in front of goal when under pressure? How is he when one-on-one? How much of an aerial threat can he be?
There are so many questions that remain unanswered for Celtic fans regarding their new Japanese frontman. He has plenty to prove over here, but appears to have the package needed to be a real threat in Scotland.
Hopefully, he lives up to his reputation quickly. Given the close nature of this season’s title race, Celtic need Maeda to make some form of impact almost immediately.
In other news, Celtic talent Ewan Henderson tipped to be a “big asset” if he leaves Parkhead
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