Kyogo Furuhashi and his unwavering importance to Celtic under Brendan Rodgers

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Kyogo Furuhashi is now into his fourth campaign as a Celtic player and continues to lead the line with distinction at Parkhead.

The Japan international has registered 73 goals and 16 assists in 134 appearances across all competitions for the Bhoys, building a legacy as an iconic figure at Parkhead [Transfermarkt].

Following an impressive pre-season where Furuhashi found the back of the net on six occasions, he earned praise from Brendan Rodgers in Celtic’s 4-0 triumph against Kilmarnock despite failing to get on the scoresheet.

“For me, it’s never about just the striker. I think that what he did so, so well today, Kyogo, is he played the space rather than the position.

“That’s something that I’ve been talking to him about. I want him on the last line. And if the space is there to go in behind, great, but the space was today in front at times, and that drew out the opponent.”

Furuhashi continues to be an imperative part of the Irishman’s vision at Celtic, and his sharpness at this stage could be vital in the Bhoys’ forthcoming run of domestic fixtures.

Kyogo Furuhashi’s encouraging performance vs Kilmarnock

Coming off the back of a pre-season where he couldn’t stop scoring, Furuhashi showed a different side to his game against Kilmarnock, dropping deeper at times to help Celtic take advantage of the central pockets and create space in behind.

This happened in 2023/24, but the moving parts around it weren’t as functional as they were on Sunday.

As a result, Furuhashi was able to get eight shots away, create two chances and claim an assist while he also had an effort cleared off the line and was controversially denied a penalty claim [Fotmob].

This slight divergence in play wasn’t coincidental; Rodgers used Furuhashi wisely as a tactical ploy to anchor more space in attack, which he related to post-match. Playing against low-block defences is something the Bhoys struggled with in periods last term, albeit they improved as the campaign went on.

Nevertheless, there is a certain amount of creativity required to break the door open. Both Rodgers and Furuhashi look to have thought outside the box in that respect, uncovering areas for the likes of Matt O’Riley, Nicolas Kuhn and James Forrest to penetrate.

Mark Wilson on Kyogo Furuhashi’s intelligent performance

Speaking on Sportscene, Mark Wilson threw further weight behind this theory, stating: “He looked like the Kyogo that Celtic fans saw in the first season. I think that was the gripe from last season. I think a lot of Celtic fans said he wasn’t getting involved in any build-up, but today, within the opening 25 minutes, he was involved in everything.

“You see his movement, double-movements, great first touch to set up his chance, and (he was) unlucky not to score, but again, he gave Mayo and Findlay the runaround all day, so sharp with his movements, coming off into space. I think Celtic actually did well to allow those big spaces for him to come off.

Later on, he added: “Today was much more like the Kyogo the Celtic fans are used to seeing.”

Observing his play, there was a fair amount of intellect sprinkled in to Furuhashi’s display. His role is a different one from that under Ange Postecoglou, but he is beginning to flourish after not always having everything in his favour last season, albeit he still struck 19 times.

Over the coming weeks, it will be intriguing to see if space continues to present itself the way it did for the Japan international on Sunday. If it does, without hesitation, you would back him to capitalise.