Kyogo is a man possessed against Rangers and I’m interested by recent Celtic grumbles – Chris Sutton
Kyogo Furuhashi was fabulous and then frustrated. But, when it comes to facing Rangers, the Celtic striker is normally fantastic.
And there’s no reason to think the lethal Japanese striker won’t extend his marvellous Old Firm record when he gets back to Hampden. Big players deliver in big games. When it comes to Scotland, there is no bigger fixture and there has been no bigger man in the contests recently than the striker. Kyogo’s recent run against Rangers has been terrific and, if Celtic are going to win the Premier Sports Cup Cup on Sunday, there’s every reason to think he’ll be central to the success.
Here’s one for you. If they don’t win the trophy, I don’t think it’s a disaster in the bigger picture. But we’ll get to that later. First up, Kyogo, who has been a contrasting watch over the past week. Last Saturday, I thought his goal against Hibs was absolutely sublime. The way he let James Forrest’s pass run through to collect with his back leg into his path was brilliant enough. But to then have the composure to feint and sit the keeper on his backside before lifting a finish over him was just gorgeous.
There was a big smile on his face afterwards, yet contrast that with the figure which trooped off at the Maksimir Stadium on Tuesday night. Kyogo would have been desperate to get a first Champions League goal away from home for Celtic, but it just wasn’t his night.
He seemed slightly off it when receiving the ball and there were times he didn’t get possession that also caught my eye. On two or three occasions, he looked to have made a trademark darting run in behind only for the pass not to come his way or for the intended delivery to go astray.
It happened just before he went off in the second period against Dinamo and there’s nothing worse for a striker when you think you are in, you escape markers and then a team-mate either doesn’t spot you or doesn’t find you. It felt like that on occasions for Kyogo in Croatia, but I can only imagine that has made him even more determined to deliver at Hampden.
Kyogo has made it his business to damage Rangers time and again over the past couple of years and he also has that happy knack of being able to do it at the National Stadium in the major finals and semi-finals. Fair enough, it needed Adam Idah to come off the bench and win the Scottish Cup Final for Brendan Rodgers’ team in May.
But Kyogo was right back into the Old Firm groove when the teams met again for the first time this season with his excellent finish as Celtic cantered to a 3-0 success. It was one of the performances of this season which has really caught the eye. At times, Rodgers’ team have played some scintillating stuff.
I’m interested in the fact that there has been one or two grumbles over recent games. I could agree that Celtic have played in patches through some of those games, but they are still getting the job done and I feel for the players in some ways.
My old manager Martin O’Neill used to say how difficult it was to win matches week in and week out. It takes a certain mentality to keep that going and, quite simply, you can’t always be firing.
I recall many off days we had in my time at Celtic when Henrik Larsson would pop up and get us a 1-0 win when the performance was average. Rodgers’ team have set such high standards this term, but it’s simply impossible to hit the peak every week and the reaction to Zagreb on Tuesday said much.
I’ve got to be honest, I was pretty surprised to hear some unhappiness around the outcome and the 0-0 draw. Let’s get it right, if I was still playing and had been sat on the team flight home, I’d have been a bit frustrated because I would have thought it was a chance missed against a depleted home team and, listening to some of the players, that’s how they felt, too.
However, it’s not that long ago Borussia Dortmund were taking seven off Celtic and people were saying they simply couldn’t defend at the level. Their clean sheet record prior to this season in the competition was abysmal. Now, they get two clean sheets on the road back-to-back to earn two valuable points in the hunt for the play-off and some are whining.
I don’t know if people have forgotten where Celtic have come from, but I certainly didn’t expect them to have nine points after six games. It’s an excellent return so far and I fancy them to beat Young Boys in the next match, move onto 12 and be qualified by the time they go to Villa Park. That’d be a brilliant achievement, real progress.
The home performance against RB Leipzig was a sign they could produce quality at the highest level and the two dug-out points in Bergamo and Zagreb says they have some backbone, too. Of course, domestic stuff is the bread and butter and very important, but the real guage of this season was all about progression in Europe.
Celtic are making that progress and it’s why I think that, even if they lost at Hampden to Rangers, it wouldn’t be a catastrophic blow for Rodgers or take away their steps in the right Euro direction, even if it would be a punch in the stomach on the day. However, there’s every chance the one dishing out the KOs will be Kyogo. He’s done it often enough. It’d be foolish to say he can’t do it again.
