When Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi picked up his injury with the Japan national team, there were several questions many Hoops fans were asking.
Could Ange Postecoglou continue to be as dynamic, exciting, and dangerous going forward without him? Would it set us back and if so, to what degree? Perhaps most importantly of all, however – are we overly-reliant on him?
We all hoped that wasn’t the case. That we would sparkle into form in our next game against Ross County and prove we could cope with any injuries he may pick up.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. Celtic did score three in Betis, but outside of that, our attacking displays have been sub-par. Albian Ajeti has been leading the line, and he’s been a massive step-down on what Kyogo was offering us.
Celtic wouldn’t have lost 1-0 at Livingston had Furuhashi started. They also wouldn’t have only scored one goal against Dundee Utd at Parkhead. But it’s not just the goals, it’s the lack of chances we’re now creating. People will say we hit the crossbar three times on Sunday, but many of those came from cutting Utd open?
It was the same against Raith last Thursday. We might’ve bagged a few but genuine chances were at a premium. Celtic are badly missing the clever runs Furuhashi makes, and it’s massively disappointing to see just how much that affects our forward play. We cannot afford for it to rely on one sole individual.
Celtic being glued together by Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor
Meanwhile, captain Callum McGregor’s hamstring knock has also had a devastating affect on Celtic’s ability to control the midfield.
His natural replacement, James McCarthy, is struggling to adapt to life under Ange Postecoglou. Despite playing in McGregor’s deep-lying role, he isn’t as quick-thinking on the ball and this has been leading to us consistently losing possession and being overrun in the midfield.
Ismaila Soro is also available as an option, but his tactical awareness is far too erratic despite his general positivity in possession. Without McGregor, Celtic’s midfield seriously lacks balance and, quite simply, quality.
Whilst there are a host of other injury concerns, Celtic had been getting plenty of positive results before Kyogo and McGregor’s knocks. We can point to Chris Jullien, Greg Taylor, James Forrest, and Mikey Johnston’s injuries for example. But the positive performances and results were rolling even without those figures.
It’s Furuhashi and McGregor that have been making this team click. McGregor has been ensuring Celtic continue to dominate games whilst Furuhashi has provided that genuine cutting edge in the final third we needed.
It’s extremely disappointing that we’ve had to come to that conclusion. Hopefully, the more Celtic manage to gel and get more bodies on the pitch, the less reliant the Hoops will be on the pair.
In other news, Charlie Nicholas comes up with the most ridiculous Ange Postecoglou Celtic comparison yet
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
