Chris Sutton has remained a popular figure amongst the Celtic support, years after retiring from the game, largely due to the work he has done in the media. For many, he is the club's voice in the broadcasting world and does a fantastic job most of the time. But even he can get things wrong, and it is exactly what he did last night when talking about the game against Red Star Belgrade.
Most of the time, Sutton would put out only a tweet after the game. But last night, he was more active on social media and was giving his takes through the course of the match.
The majority of the Celtic support did not agree with one of Sutton's takes on the night though. And it was regarding Maeda.
Sutton felt that Maeda was being played out of position by Celtic and was struggling as a result. The Japanese forward was taken off at half-time. He wrote:
"Maeda off… if he’s not injured I feel for him. A guy who was a revelation playing wide shoehorned into playing a position he’s not comfortable in… surely playing him off the right would be better. 33 goals last season… a bit of a pickle Celtic are in…"
Chris Sutton's controversial Celtic claim is completely wrong
Now, this is where Sutton got it wrong. A large number of those 33 goals from last season came when Maeda was playing as a striker. In fact, he played in that role very often after Kyogo left and thrived in it as well.
All summer, the talk was about figuring out a way where he could play as a striker more often. But now that he is struggling, one cannot claim that he is being played out of his natural position. That simply is not the case here.
Maeda has played as a striker quite often in the past. He was a striker for Yokohama F Marinos before he joined Celtic. He has played up front for Japan as well. So, this is not a sudden experience by any means. He simply is not playing well.