If Celtic fans were hoping Reo Hatate’s recent Japan snub was just a temporary blip, they only need to look at Tomoki Iwata’s current situation to realise the brutal reality.
Despite leaving Celtic to secure regular first-team football, Iwata’s international exile has continued.
The 28-year-old has had great success since switching from Glasgow to Birmingham City. He was instrumental in their League One title win last season and has seamlessly stepped up to the Championship this year, racking up over 3,000 minutes as a vital, combative midfield anchor.
Yet, when Hajime Moriyasu named his Samurai Blue squad for the upcoming friendlies against Scotland and England, Iwata’s name was completely absent once again, and he is now suffering the same issues as Hatate.
How much would you sell Reo Hatate for?
Reo Hatate and Tomoki Iwata denied the chance to face Scotland
From a Celtic perspective, this serves as a massive, glaring red flag for Hatate’s international future.
Moriyasu has made it clear he is searching for ‘World Cup-level intensity.’ Iwata is currently thriving week-in, week-out in the notoriously physical and relentless English Championship – arguably the exact profile Moriyasu claims to be looking for.
If that level of consistent, high-intensity performance down south isn’t enough to force Iwata back into the national team setup, what hope does Hatate have whilst playing in one of the worst seasons in Celtic’s recent history?
Moriyasu clearly has a rigid midfield hierarchy locked in place. Breaking through that ceiling would be a monumental task for Hatate, even if he was performing brilliantly in a Celtic shirt week in, week out.
But the harsh truth is that Hatate hasn’t been hitting those heights lately.
In fact, on current form, he is arguably lucky to even be holding down a regular starting spot at Parkhead – a domestic slump that just makes his already bleak World Cup prospects look infinitely worse.
Iwata and Hatate’s stats this season
While Hatate is undeniably operating under a much more intense spotlight at Celtic than Iwata currently faces in Birmingham, the former Kawasaki Frontale man has always possessed a technical ceiling that sits head and shoulders above his former teammate.
But not even the most ardent of Celtic supporters will fight Hatate’s corner, regarding his latest international snub, and he only has himself to blame.
This is how Hatate’s Premiership form in Scotland compares to Iwata’s for mid-table Birmingham in England’s second tier.
- Hatate’s Premiership games: 27
- Starts: 19
- Goals: 2
- Assists: 2
- Tackles: 0.7
- Interceptions: 0.3
- Clearances: 0.7
- Average passes: 40.4
- Passing %: 83.5
- Key Passes: 1.4
- WhoScored rating: 6.47
- Iwata’s Championship games: 38
- Starts: 37
- Goals: 2
- Assists: 1
- Tackles: 1.6
- Interceptions: 0.8
- Clearances: 1.9
- Average passes: 53
- Passing %: 75.5
- Key Passes: 1
- WhoScored rating: 6.65
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