Liel Abada

Everyone seems a shadow of themselves from when Ange was at the helm.

 

I am not sure you can label Abada with that he was a very inconsistent player when Ange was here. He often had little steaks of scoring a few goals then would disappear for weeks at a time.

Apart from Greg Taylor which is a change of role and him probably returning to his level, most of the others can be easily explained. also McGregor which is a strange one.

Hart is simply regression with age which was evident before.

Injuries have kept out CCV, Oh and Johnston.

Maeda has continued being Maeda, he actually only really had a decent 2 month spell post World Cup last season and was largely poor otherwise.

O’Riley and Kyogo have continued to play as they were.

Hatate has barely feature and now injured.

Mooy, Jota and Starfelt are gone.

There is only two regressions in form and Harts decline, the rest comes to not looking like we know what we are trying to do and the players we have brought in not being as good as those who have left (it’s early days right enough).

 

He’s not, nor is he meant to be. They’re completely different players.

A thought I had yesterday was whether Abada has ever had a good game while Maeda is on the opposite flank? It seems glaringly obvious that Abada benefits from a winger on the other side who attracts defensive overloads and opens up space for Abada to attack. Maeda and Taylor on the opposite wing are never going to provide that and to be quite honest, Abada brings very little else to the team.

Rodgers needs to give Yang a proper chance and on top of that we badly need at least one starting quality winger.

 

Last season alone Abada was directly involved in 22 goals and played typically 900 minutes less than all other first 11 regulars including Jota, Kyogo, Hatate, O'Riley and a few others.

And his numbers weren't that far behind Jota's given his lack of minutes in comparison.

I see this said about him so often about being inconsistent and I do get it... almost every single young winger is in the game, unless you are an insane talent.

Under Rodgers it doesn't feel like anyone is really flourishing, I know I know, it is still early days but the changes in styles doesn't seem to be one that is making the most out of the talents our squad have which were arguably all signed because they fit the more attack minded game of what Ange wanted.

 

Granted most young wingers are inconsistent and his numbers are good, he was also not a regular starter.

However take last season for example he forced his way into the team with 6 goals and an assist in less than 7 full games. He then got a goal and an assist across his next about 17 appearances in the league and CL, granted not many starts in there. He also got a double against Motherwell in the cup.

He then goes until mid January to around the start of March where he has another streak with 3 goals and 3 assists in 8 or so games.

Then only gets the one assist until the cup final against ICT where he does get a goal and assist.

I guess what I am trying to say is he has got a goal and assist in his opening 3 games so his stats are again fine.

It’s his all round general performance particularly when he doesn’t score or assists,
he might as well not be there. His contribution is valuable but I don’t like having to rely on him as your main winger, particularly when Maeda is on the other side.

 

End of the day the boy is a big talent and with the right coaching can become a top player. But he should have a high quality player in front of him to learn off of. You can't expect him to be our first choice at his current level, it's too much responsibility on him.

 

His stats are excellent and are needed, overall wing play is poor..

Before Jota left, must were happy to see the back of Abada, he's a frustrating player at times but don't think we can afford to lose him..

Yang and Tilio will both play their part but I think, but arguably we need a LW and a RW..

 

I agree with this I genuinely think Yang in particular and Tilio were us preparing for life without Abada and recognising Forrest’s finished. Two young prospects to play as support to a starting winger.

Jota leaving and not being replaced, along with Hacksabanovic not being fancied and not having shown enough has left us woefully short of forward players who like to be on the ball.

As @McGrory1888 said in his post above I can seldom remember us as a team or either player looking good in a game where Abada and Maeda have started together. They both played better with Jota and we no longer have him or a player of that type.

Add in the two full backs being very limited in what they offer and a pretty flat midfield we have a team deprived of creativity.

 

Not good signs that haskabanovic who many of us wouldn’t have minded leaving this window came on and done more in 15 mins than him and maeda done all game

 

Abada was frustrated under former boss Postecoglou but has become a key member under Rodgers.

Talks with Abada’s camp remain on-going. Hoops sources remain confident that deals on both fronts can be agreed. They also remain safe in the knowledge that the pair are also on long-term contracts, until the summer of 2026. Celtic, however, want to extend those deals and reward them for the impact they have made early in their Parkhead careers.

 

No chance

 

Love those kinds of posts. Can't beat a good unsubstantiated rumour.

 

* is BR doing to them at training

 

He was right about Rocki tbf

 

Aye he was spot on last week. No good..

 

If it means Yang starts at the weekend, might be a blessing in Disguise

 

Surely not, if true then we need to sort out what the * we’re doing in training otherwise we are on for a record.

 

He’s not in the training video from earlier so might be truth to it.