Daizen Maeda

Livi as well this season, absolute belter.

 

Naw I was exagerating a bit with the Liverpool comment, but you know what I mean when fans say "if only he was better at crossing, shooting, passing", or any footballing characteristic, they simply wouldn't be a Celtic player.

If we get lucky enough to get a guy with all of the above, then he's at us for a season and a half, two seasons tops.

It's * and unfortunate, but we can only * with the * we've got. Our league is dugmeat. The fact that only two teams have won it since 1985 probably doesn't turn people on a great deal.

Maeda is a poor footballer, of that there is no doubt. He's a fantastic athlete, and gives his all, and is a bit of a loveable character. It sadly speaks volumes for where we are as a club though, you don't necessarily need to be a good player to get in our starting line up.

 

Still have nightmares about his Real Madrid sitter at 0-0
Technique, composure and basic footballing skills are a thousand miles off what's needed at Celtic.
To be fair he is also a central striker by trade and we play him wide.
I'd only play him against Rangers and Tav!

 

I agree. I want to love the guy and I do appreciate the work. But people slaughter Palma and he has about triple the goal contributions. Need someone on the other side also chipping in with regular goals and assists. Infact Palma himself would probably score more if we had a right winger who could cross.

I'd take more creativity over what Maeda brings, personally

 

The most frustrating celtic player I have seen in years

 

Three teams.

 

Hahaha you're right. My mistake. Same flies different *.

 

He did get 2 goals actually, 3 if not for Maeda .

I remember saying after the Killie cup game that their wingers, Kennedy and Armstrong looked much better technically than Maeda and Abada. Not saying they're better overall players obviously, they're not. But it was so obvious how limited we are with those two playing together. It's mad to me that he seems almost undroppable in the eyes of many.

 

I like him. I don't think he was good in the CL and against the Huns for us; I think he was sensational. I know everybody's opinion is different; but I honestly think he was our second best player in this year's CL after O'Riley. I've seen him change games for us and hardly anyone seemed to notice, from coming on at half-time against Shakhtar Donestk away to drawing the red card in the recent game against the Huns.

People think he's quite fast, but wasn't there a stat that showed he was the 4th or 5th fastest in the CL group stages? The only players who were faster where players like Marcus Rashford who don't work one tenth as hard. I loved him in those games.

So, yes, he has some obvious weaknesses and there are some games he's not well suited to (such as St Mirren on that pitch). I expect better away at Hibs (a game I think does suit his skillset); but he'd been away for a month and was just back after a long journey.

He's one of my favourite Celtic players right now.

As for Palma, he drives me up the wall. Daizen Maeda doesn't choose to have technical limitations; but Palma chooses to slow everything down and I always kind of suspect it's because he's looking for the Hollywood pass. Even if my suspicions are wrong, it's definitely a choice, because he has all the technical attributes to be a fabulous player for us. But he isn't, and I'm sick of him slowing our attacks down.

Maeda's the complete opposite. He's practically the definition of a team player.

 

I can see both sides of the argument, as can most of us. The truth lies somewhere in the middle as usual.

His energy and commitment are amazing. I think we can all agree he’s been an absolute revelation for us in derby games. He shuts them down constantly while also offering a threat with his bursts beyond the defensive line. I don’t think we would’ve taken 6 points off them this season without him, no way.

However we do need to recognise just how bad he is at times. Shanked crosses just skim the surface of the enigma that is Daizen Maeda. He missed an absolute sitter against Real Madrid. I know that was a long time ago now, but it’s the first one that came to mind and it certainly wasn’t a surprise when he missed it.

In recent weeks I can remember 2 or 3 times we looked to have a really dangerous attack and his first touch let him down so badly that he had absolutely no chance of even having a second touch. To revisit the crossing thing - it really is horrendous most of the time. To the point where I’d say if you could teleport me into his shoes for the split second each time he crosses the ball into the box I’d do a better job.

He is capable of a good cross. I remember a few times he’s pinged a good one in from the left side. They’re 1 in 20 at this stage though.

One thing I would praise about his technical ability is he is not actually all that bad a dribbler. He can go by a man. It’s usually knock it past and chase kind of stuff but he can zig zag a bit with it too. He’s not woeful when running with the ball from the half way line. He can take a ball and pass it, that’s not too woeful either.

One thing I would say about him is I’m still not sure which foot is his stronger foot. If I said that about Lubo it would be a compliment. With Daizen it’s the exact opposite. He’s the definition of 2 left feet. Genuinely no idea which is his strongest. I thought for ages it was his left but I wouldn’t put my house on it.

Love the * as we all do, and I hope the non-celebration will be a one time thing.

I think he’s got a really important part to play in the run-in, particularly in those derby games. I certainly think there’s an argument that he should not be starting home games against bottom half sides when we need creativity to break down a low block though. I’d prefer to see Yang, Kuhn and possibly Vata given opportunities to prove themselves in those kind of games. And, for me, Luis Palma starts every game.

In the heat of the moment after the Hibs game I said I never wanted to see him play for us again. That was just my emotions talking and an indication of just how frustrating this guy is.

Anyway, that’s my 2 cents