Decision surrounding Celtic’s Kyogo causes controversy in Japan

Kyogo has come in and quickly established himself as one of the most important players at Celtic. And most interestingly, he has done so while playing as a striker for the most part, a position that he has not been known for playing throughout the course of his career.

In fact, he was better known as a left winger in the past and to be honest, he has played in that role for Celtic a few times as well. It is at striker though that he looks most effective owing to his incredible movement and eye for goal. If he can improve his finishing a bit, then the sky is the limit for Kyogo.

Japan national team manager Hajime Moriyasu’s recent decisions surrounding Kyogo have certainly raised a few eyebrows as a result. In the game against Saudi Arabia, he was left on the bench before being brought on as a winger at around the hour mark. Japan went on to lose the game 1-0.

As reported by the Daily Record, Masakiyo Maezono said about the situation:

"“Why did we not start Kyogo Furuhashi? He’s fit enough to start for Celtic so he should be fit enough for us.“It was bad enough not playing him, but then when he did come on, he was stuck on the left wing and was unable to have any influence on the game.“His manager at Celtic, Ange Postecoglou, has got the best out of him by playing him as a striker and he has scored a lot of goals.”"

Kyogo has shined while playing at striker for Celtic

When Kyogo arrived at Parkhead earlier in the summer, there were doubts about what position he would play in as well.

At the end of the day, he is not the biggest physically and as a result, there were fears that he might not be a success while playing as a striker, especially in Scottish football.

It is safe to say that Kyogo has already proven that he can play in that role and to great effect. His movement and intelligence make it possible for him to be in the right place at the right time more often than not, and it is safe to say that he has shined while playing as a striker for Celtic. And there appear to be calls for him to play in a similar role for the Japan national team as well, who find themselves in a tricky situation in their World Cup Qualifiers.