A fascinating interview from Japan of Celtic star, Daizen Maeda, reveals a lot about how he became the dynamic player that he is today, developed his style – and why he isn’t like a Ferrari but a Prius! It appears that it all started as a result of being banned from his school team, which ended up helping in the long run.
Maeda enjoyed a very successful first half-a-season with Celtic, playing a key part in their Premiership win. He was initially on a loan deal from Yokohama F. Marinos but that has been made permanent since then.
His success in Scotland should have boosted his Japan national team chances as well, and he will surely have hopes of earning a place in their Qatar World Cup squad later this year.
Maeda is a very unique player to say the least. While he did not seem to be at his absolute best during his first few months at Celtic, he did end up playing a key role in their title win nonetheless, playing regularly. While he brings goals and assists to the table, his biggest contribution is arguably his incredible rate of pressing and his sensational speed, which helps to set the tone going forward.
How the Celtic star developed after being banned from his school team
It looks like Maeda and another member of his soccer club at high school were dismissed for ‘disturbing the discipline of the team’. So, he started running in the mountains nearby to keep fit, very possibly beginning the conditioning for his amazingly energetic running we see on the pitch now. As reported by Number Web, the Japanese international said:
"“In that year, I learned that I couldn’t do anything by myself, I could play with a lot of support, and the importance of running for the team. That is inevitably the current playing style. It feels like you’re connected.”"
He further added about his style of play:
"“Honestly, I don’t remember much about anything else in high school because the year of high school 2 was so intense … But my pressing is often said to have come suddenly. I think it’s a quieter Prius than Ferrari, which is fast but the engine noise is noisy (laughs). The press of a fast player tends to be Ferrari, but that makes the opponent notice.”"
Maeda was later able to return to his soccer club in high school, but the time out appeared to have acted as the trigger for the very dynamic style of play we see now from the Japanese star in the Hoops.