There is no doubt Hyunjun Yang has enjoyed a new lease of life at Celtic under two spells with Martin O’Neill as interim boss.
The Celtic manager has managed to turn a winger who was bereft of confidence into an attacker who is not afraid to take a player on as Yang finally makes a contribution to the Hoops’ title defence.
However, there are three undeniable issues that Celtic fans need to start discussing about the South Korean as the top-six split nears for the title race.
How good has Yang been this past month?
Hyunjun Yang’s goal and assist record this season at Celtic
The most glaring of the issues is Yang’s goal and assist record compared to the number of appearances he’s made for Celtic this season.
Yang has made 34 outings in the green and white Hoops so far amassing a grand total of 2,043 first team minutes for Celtic.
That equates to just over 34 hours of football, and in that time Yang has scored just six goals and created one assist. That is simply not good enough for a Celtic winger.
Compare and contrast that to Kieran Tierney, the Celtic left-back has made 42 appearances with 2,943 minutes under his belt and the defender has contributed four goals and 11 assists.
For all the flashes of brilliance Yang provides, his numbers in terms of overall goal contributions are simply not good enough.
Hyunjun Yang’s shot attempts and chances created are painful Celtic stats
Moving on to football stats site Fotmob, there are two glaring stats that Celtic supporters simply can’t ignore.
The site compares stats with players in the same position as Yang, and these two stick out like a sore thumb:
- Chances created: 11%
- Shot attempts: 45%
This means that in terms of creating opportunities, Yang is performing better than just 11% of players who play in the same position as him. 89% of wingers are creating far more chances.
Yang’s shots attempted is at the 45 percentile, meaning he is not even in the top half of wingers who at least try to shoot on goal. 55% of players in a similar or identical position are attempting more shots on goal than the Celtic winger.
The stats are clear, as an attacking option up front, Yang has a lot to do to help keep Celtic’s title race on course, or Martin O’Neill needs to think about replacing the South Korean winger for the run-in.
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