Rodgers must drop Hatate to unleash Celtic star with "massive quality"
Celtic return from the international break this evening as they prepare to travel away from Glasgow to take on Hearts in the Scottish Premiership.
The Hoops have enjoyed a two-week break from competitive action since their 2-0 win away at Kilmarnock and will be hoping to pick up where they left off tonight.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have won ten and drawn one of their opening 11 matches in the Premiership and are top of the table on goal difference, as Aberdeen have matched their points tally so far.
A number of players have been away with their respective nations and played minutes in the latest international window, though, and this means that not all of his stars have been resting up for the last two weeks.
The likes of Alistair Johnston, Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, Luis Palma, Reo Hatate, and Liam Scales, among others, featured for their countries over the break.
Rodgers could look to rotate his side for this clash with Hearts, with the minutes his international stars played in mind, but he will also want to keep the key performers from the last match in the XI.
Celtic's best performers against Kilmarnock
In the clash with Kilmarnock before the break, Kasper Schmeichel caught the eye with his ninth clean sheet in 11 league appearances for Celtic since his move to the club in the summer.
The Danish titan made six saves, five of which came from shots inside the box, to preserve a shutout and keep the Hoops in the game at times.
Winger Nicolas Kuhn, who has scored four goals and provided six assists in ten league games, was another player who impressed against Kilmarnock, whilst playing on the right flank.
The German forward assisted the opening goal from Callum McGregor before scoring in the second half, with a composed finish from a tight angle.
In the absence of USA international Cameron Carter-Vickers through injury, central defender Auston Trusty, who was brought in from Sheffield United on a permanent deal in the summer, also caught the eye.
The former Arsenal gem won six of his ten duels throughout the game and made six clearances and three blocks to stop attacks from the hosts, which shows that he put his body on the line to protect his goal and secure a clean sheet.
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One player who was not at his best for the Scottish giants, though, was central midfielder Reo Hatate, who struggled in the middle of the park.
Reo Hatate's performance against Kilmarnock in numbers
The Japan international, who featured in one of his country’s two matches during the break, was selected from the start in midfield against Kilmarnock alongside McGregor and Arne Engels.
He played the opening 85 minutes of the Premiership clash and failed to produce much in the way of quality in or out of possession for the Hoops, though, and could now be in danger of losing his place in the starting XI for tonight’s match against Hearts.
The 27-year-old dynamo did not register a single shot on goal, failed with his only dribble attempt, and ended the game without a single key pass to his name, which shows that he did not offer any threat at the top end of the pitch for the Bhoys.
Hatate also lost five of his nine duels, including two of his three aerial contests, and this shows that opposition players got the better of him more often than not in physical contests, as he was not dominant in his battles.
The midfield gem, who lost possession 17 times, did not showcase the best of his abilities in that game, as his form before that clash was impressive.
Appearances
11
Starts
9
Goals
3
Big chances created
4
Assists
0
As you can see in the table above, Hatate had scored three goals and created four ‘big chances’ for his teammates in his eight Premiership starts before the win over Kilmarnock.
With his travels to play for Japan during the break and his underwhelming performance last time out, though, this could be the ideal time for Rodgers to ruthlessly ditch him from the starting XI in order to hand another player a chance to shine from the start.
Who Rodgers should replace Hatate with
The Celtic head coach must drop the Japanese star to the bench and unleash summer signing Luke McCowan, who joined on a permanent deal from Dundee, from the start.
He has only started two of his eight appearances in the Premiership for the Hoops since his move to Parkhead, yet has scored two goals in the division for the club.
The Scottish ace, who captain Callum McGregor claimed has “massive quality”, has not had many opportunities to shine, but has caught the eye in his limited time on the pitch.
That should not come as a surprise to anyone, though, as McCowan is a proven Premiership performer who excelled for Dundee to earn himself a move to Paradise in the recent summer transfer window.
In fact, the left-footed whiz started the current season with a return of two goals and one assist in three appearances in the top-flight for his former club, before the Hoops snapped him up on deadline day.
Appearances
37
Goals
10
Big chances created
9
Assists
5
Tackles + interceptions per game
2.5
As you can see in the table above, McCowan was a key figure in the middle of the park for Dundee in the Premiership in the 2023/24 campaign, with his contributions in the final third.
He almost hit double figures for both goals and ‘big chances’ created respectively, whilst also making multiple tackles and interceptions per game to help his side out off the ball, and this shows that the Scottish ace carries a big threat at the top end of the pitch.
With this, and his two goals already for Celtic, Rodgers must provide him with a rare chance to impress from the start ahead of Hatate in tonight’s clash with Hearts.
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