We all love Jota, right? As a player, I am going to hang my hat on this and say he is the most exciting winger I have seen this century. A Celtic Da moment, I know, but I welcome anyone to try and change my mind.
As a person, the guy is a diamond. Respectful, polite and just eager to play football, the Portuguese forward is certainly one of the most popular players amongst Celtic fans.
Today it is his birthday and Celtic sent out a tweet to congratulate him on turning 24 years old. But the tweet did more than that. The social media post showed just how valuable he is to the side and that it is not just his trickery on the wing that helps the team.
Aside from his goals and assists this season, the main stat that jumped out to me was the number of recoveries he has made. If there was one aspect of Jota’s game that we wanted to see improve it was his ability to track back and win back possession.
Daizen Maeda is a master at pressuring opponents and we have seen just how important it is for all players in the side to try and win back the ball whenever it is lost.
We have seen this part of Jota’s game improve in the weeks running up to the international break. It was the only criticism that could be levied at the birthday boy. Up until now.
As Celtic prepare to resume the league campaign on Sunday, Jota will be hoping for the perfect birthday present in three points to keep the league title firmly out of Rangers’ grasp.
With a huge month ahead, let’s hope he can continue his fine form and help us move that little bit closer to a domestic treble.
In other news, Fran Alonso puts bitter Rangers nonsense behind him with class Celtic message.
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