Ange Postecoglou admits he has been unfair to Celtic star

Coming into the game against Livingston, Celtic fans might have been a bit nervous. On one hand, the Almondvale Stadium is a ground where the Hoops have had their struggles over the years and it does not suit the style of football that Ange Postecoglou’s side like to play. On the other hand, the Rangers had won their game this weekend against Aberdeen, meaning the pressure was on to maintain their four point gap by defeating David Martindale’s side.

Ultimately, it turned out to be a fairly comfortable game for Celtic. Kyogo Furuhashi put them ahead early. And goals from Greg Taylor and Jota sealed a 3-0 win and all three points.

The goal from Kyogo must be particularly encouraging for Celtic fans, as the Japanese star has struggled in front of goal in recent times and not been clinical at all.

A reason for that might be the squad rotation, as he has had to share number 9 duties with Giorgos Giakoumakis. As reported by Glasgow Times, Postecoglou said regarding the matter:

"“I think we’ve been a little bit unfair on him.“As a striker, you love a run of games.“This time last year, he was scoring every week because I was playing him every week. Then he did his hamstring and he was out for two months. I wasn’t going to let that happen again this year.“Having him and Giako (Giorgos Giakoumakis) means that we can get goals out of both of them.“In a normal season, you’d be saying one of them will probably have a bigger run at it like Kyogo did last year. But I I’m really mindful that we need to get the best out of both those guys for our team performance.“Kyogo being in and out probably hasn’t helped him but he is a quality striker. I see him every day.“He was a threat last year and he will be a massive threat this year. He is improving all the time.”"

Postecoglou admits that he has perhaps been a bit unfair on Celtic star

It goes without saying that Celtic’s situation this season is very different when compared to the previous campaign.

Back then, the squad was paper thin and most players were having to play almost every game. On top of that Giakoumakis was struggling for fitness for the first half of the season, which meant that the load on Kyogo was even more to carry the goal scoring burden of the team.

The Japanese star did it very well and became a fan favourite, but in the process of doing so, he did end up picking up a couple of injuries himself. This time around, Postecoglou has the benefit of having the depth to rotate his options up front.