Tomoki Iwata

Solid.

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Your entitle to your opinion bud everybody sees the game differently, I just personally thought he looked good, tired second half mind you. Kept things simple and did a lot of clever things off the ball that some people don't notice. Will get better with game time.

 

Also worth mentioning that our midfield naturally looks worse without Reo. Hard to judge Iwata until the two start together I think. Hatate-Calmac-Iwata is a really nice looking midfield on paper.

 

Very composed player, think he’ll be a good one

 

Seemed decent enough to be fair.

 

Wee man just seems solid , similar to CCV

Thought he was excellent 2day , also looked good when he switched wa Calmac , definitely 4th choice CM atm for me

 

Would be interesting to see how our midfield get on with Hatate and Iwata in it for a run of games

 

Thought he had a few decent touches, calm head, barely gave the ball away, allowed McGregor to move up, strong on and off the ball.

Thought he had a decent game.

 

Ange Postecoglou singled out Tomoki Iwata as the Celtic boss hailed the Japanese star's full debut.

Iwata, 25, had had to be patient since arriving from Yokohama F. Marinos in January but made his first start for the Hoops in Sunday's 2-0 win over Ross County. The holding midfielder was a standout as he filled the void left by the injured Reo Hatate, albeit playing a different role, and delivered a robust display in the middle of the park.



Iwata had made just seven cameo sub appearances before being given the nod in Dingwall and Postecoglou is predicting a huge future for the 2022 J-League Player of the Year as he lavished huge praise on his new signing


The Aussie said: “He was great. He was the one who looked most sure-footed in terms of the pitch and the handling of the ball. He’s so clean technically.

"He really helped us considering it was his first 90 minutes after three months. He finished strongly at the end. I was really pleased I got him out and he showed his qualities out there."

While fellow countryman Hatate and Daizen Maeda were immediately thrown into the deep end following their arrivals from the Far East last season, Postecoglou has a different plan in place for Iwata, Japanese defender Yuki Kobayashi and South Korea striker Hyeon-gyu Oh.

He added: “Last year we found, after they [Maeda and Hatate] were thrown in quite early, they started strongly but fatigued towards the end of the season. They have come off a full season so it’s a different feel for them at this stage of the season


So my inkling if it worked out was to get those three boys embedded slowly and give them opportunities along the way. Hopefully, in the last bit of the season, they will be really strong.

"We will see the best of them after they’ve had a pre-season but after looking at it today he looked really strong."

 

One great moment aside, he didn't really stand out for me today.

Definitely more to come from him though.

 

I really, really want our fans to judge him on how he plays because I’m seeing a lot of people judging him in comparison to how Calmac controls games for us in that position.

Totally different players, everything I’ve seen of Iwata so far, his defensive positioning and covering just naturally comes to him. He’s tidy on the ball and carefully chooses when to support the attack, his first thought is making sure nobody gets by the midfield and he’s there to pick up the stray balls. And that is something we were desperately missing in the squad. I’ve liked him in as the deep lying guy and as part of a double pivot that we’ve used him and Calmac as twice for a small part of the final and today. And it’s made a major difference.

It gives Ange options.

 

He was neat and tidy, was always looking to get on the ball. He did look a tad casual at times, came close to having his pocket picked a few times.
I was expecting more from him to be honest.
But have to remember, he has been injured recently and our midfield was without Reo.
Would love to see him start with Reo and Mooy-but could never drop Cal.

 

The thing that struck me about him was his physical build he is a pretty broad guy, bigger than I realised which made him useful in the air as guys couldn’t get close to him to challenge properly.

I still feel he is playing within himself a bit but could see him being an important player to have for games against opponents closer to our level. Hopefully get the job done next week and he can get more games before the end of the season and ready for the next one.

 

More to come from him defo.

But it's , for me anyway, a "fingers crossed" rather than a "this boys' gonna light the league up".

Looks cool and assured. But looked very jaded in parts. Perfectly understandable.

 

Seen very different opinions on him yesterday. Not had a chance to watch a replay of the match. Do we think he'll play on Saturday?

 

Look at those thighs...look good for some hun stomping the day!!!

Think if he starts he'll dominate quickly. Cuntwell will want * all to do wi him.

 

These games are make or break for new players and if I had a choice obviously it's hatate but it is wot it is and we have to hope he is confident on the day ,start well and it should help .