Reo Hatate

Callum McGregor was the best player against Real madrid in the first half for Celtic - so much so that if he'd have put that performance in against us in a white shirt you wouldn't be surprised to see him playing for Madrid - same can't be said for Hatate.

Infact the only player who surpassed Callum's performance was Luka Modric - a former Balon d'Or winner and absolute legendary player. Says a lot!

 

Aye and their stats for that game was very similar, McGregor and CCV being out in the CL for us for half the games was disastrous.

 

The guy's immense. An absolute wonderful servant for the club.

 

Interesting debate this. I'd say consistency is the only thing Hatate needs to find to overtake Cal as a player. If he can start producing performances like yesterday's against the huns and in Europe, there will be zero arguments to be had.

That was a phenomenal performance against Aberdeen, his best thus season by far. He has shown glimpses of that level before but has also been just decent at times.

McGregor does what he does almost every single game, that's the difference. Could he put in the type of performance we seen from Hatate yesterday? I don't think so. But he is far more consistent up till now which makes him, imo, a better and more important player.

As I said though, if Reo can turn it on on the big stage, he will have his choice of top teams eventually. If he's with us when the summer window closes he will have the chance to prove himself in the CL. That's when we'll know where he's at.

 

Could steal a chicken ball outta Gemma Collins' mooth and she widnae even notice

 

Cal is the better player but Reo is more gifted imo.

The beauty of both is they can both dictate games for us so when one is off it and the other playing well our midfield still functions.

 

That’s a perfect way of putting it mate

 

Probably cause he played a lot of left back and his highlight videos were good but nothing extraordinary, but I really underestimated the calibre of player we were getting in Hatate. He's way beyond what I thought he'd be.

 

with the quality we have in the midfield area its quite possible they are bringing out the best in each other not just hatate and mcgregor but mooy oriley and turnbull to ,perhaps the fullbacks playing there too is creating more time and spce for them . as for mcgregor v hatate i would say mcgregor wasnt as good as hatate at his age and thats no slight on mcgregor i think he's brilliant , i said after a couple of games watching hatate ive never seen anything like him and he has only got better. he seems to have taken on board what the manager has told him about getting involved in goals and assists .

 

Just knowing he's playing next when when in this form is giving me a semi..

 

They will.

I completely agree that McGregor is an incredible player. All I'm saying is I find some of the talk a bit hyperbolic. Is he better than Hatate? He may well be. Is it by miles? No. Is McGregor capable of playing at a higher level than the Scottish Premiership? Of course. Could he play for any team in the world? Not a chance.

I agree with your last paragraph, but that's a perception thing. Nobody could have said a couple of years ago that Salah is miles better than VVD simply because he's an attacker and VVD is only a defender. In their respective positions, they're both elite.

 

That's fair. There's no doubt that Hatate can be inconsistent.

 

He didn't forget - he was asked about Hatate's versatility and the possibility of playing him LB when he first came in and said 'No, he was being signed as CM' or words to that effect.

He played there a bit in Japan and filled in at RB for us at home against fodder but I don't think he could do it up a level.

As above though, we're lucky to have 2 of them in the same team. I suspect we'll have strong interest in Reo in the summer but it would be great to see him again for us again in the UCL.

 

On top form Hatate is ahead for me. McGregor does it every week juat about without fail though. So consistent it's unreal.

Can't wait to see a midfield three of Iwata with McGregor and Hatate playing the more advanced roles.

 

McGregor is outstanding, so consistently so that it gets taken for granted..

Hatate has that x factor though. He sees things and does things that I don't think any of our players can. Getting better with every game also..

Some midfield with the pair of them in. You know that when both of those are playing, our midfield will function well.....whether Mooy, O'Riley or wherever slots in with them..

 

Love debates like this but reading between the lines it's actually a brilliant sign of Reo's progression this season that we are comparing him to Calmac.

 

I’d say McGregor is more important to us as a team, if either was to get injured and miss 3 months Cal would be a much bigger miss. That being said Hatate has things in his locker that no one else in our squad could even dream of doing.

That pass in the champions league game against real Madrid when he zinged one 60 yards on the volley being a prime example.

 

His footwork and balance is absolutely astonishing..

It reminds me of the boxer Lomachenko when he's swivelling and sending defenders for a steak pie. High praise from me as anyone who knows Lomachenko will know what I mean. He dances with it..