Reo Hatate

That was the one that really opened my eyes to how massive his potential is.

 

Knew the moment he smashed that absolute rocket past Craig Gordon he had something special

 

to be fair oriley was brilliant when mcgregor was out i didnt think we missed him as much as i thought we might ,i think it says a lot about the strength in the middle mooy was brilliant in that period also

 

Who's saying they haven't? .

Ange is adamant there has been interest:

“Yeah, that’s probably why I don’t bump him up on a weekly basis! You know, I’m quite happy with that. But a lot of that is down to Callum himself.

“With a lot of these things, it’s often the players themselves who push their representatives to look for opportunities. I’m sure Cal will have had opportunities. In fact, I’m definite on that. But the fact is you don’t hear about it and that’s testament to his character. And also the people around him.

“Other players in his position would probably advertise the fact they’ve knocked back this club and that club and they’re not interested in going here or there. But that’s not who he is."

 

He was badly, badly missed in the Champions league games to say otherwise would be mental. In that respect Cal and CCV are our two most important players.

 

I see it more simply as:

Reo the best player in the team
McGregor the most important player

McGregor does raise the performance of the entire team, he's the most experienced outfield player in our first XI too, and sets the tone for us from training to match day.

Hatate individually is ridiculous though. He will pull the strings on the ball for us, play quick incisive passes through and around 3 or 4 opposition players like it's nothing, can hit a swerving ball to his man's foot across 60 odd yards and score a belter at the end of it.

They're both phenomenal midfielders.

 

Hatate has more flair than McGregor, that's for certain.

 

Hatate is a footballer who keeps training hard to become better footballer (the video below says Maeda always sees Hatate at Celtic's gym). Footballers like Eden Hazard won't keep improving after 25 years old but footballers like Hatate will keep improving as footballer even after 25 years old, IMO.

 

I'm not expecting Reo to develop dramatically, but where's he's at is more than good enough. Really superb footballer for the level in Scotland, excellent ball control, passing and finishing as well as a genuine creative streak. I think he's one that could fly under the radar of clubs down south and become a mainstay of our side for years to come.

 

Yeah being 25 with only 1 cap and 3/4 seasons of professional football could see him stay with us longer than he otherwise would. And I’m all for it!

 

I do think even before his continued progress post World Cup Hatate has been a really important player for us. We don’t have someone who covers the ground he does and has the mobility and ability on the ball he does to play the role he does.

O’Riley, Mooy and Turnbull are all good players but a combination of 2 of that 3 is never as good as one of those plus Hatate.

Say we lost O’Riley and Turnbull, I hope we buy one who is similar to them but the other is more of a box to box high energy and mobile type player. They won’t be as good as Hatate likely but more of a closer to his type as an option.

There is a boy coming through at FC Toyko, Kuryu Matsuki who is only 19 but looks a cracking prospect and would be a great option to even partner Hatate or rotate with him.

 

Hopefully Iwata can be that guy

 

I think Iwata is more like McGregor or the deepest lying midfielder and replaced the handful of guys that haven’t worked out in that role.

I do think we could switch to a double pivot with Iwata and McGregor in games particularly, in Europe next season. I don’t think Iwata has much of an attacking output in terms of getting into the box and getting on the end of cut backs.

 

I think in the case of having just a 6 like we currently do, it would be more the case of moving Cal forward into Hatate’s role and Iwata slipping into Cal’s role. That would mean we still have 2 players who can cover the ground quickly. But yes I take your point, we need at least 2 who can cover the ground quickly with Mooy or O’Riley in the team.

 

By the way, there is International Match week next month (March). Japan will have two friendly matches (Japan v Uruguay and Japan v Columbia). I have been thinking Hatete is worth playing for the national team but the stupid Japanese national team manager Moriyasu keep choosing "weird" squad without Hatate.

Actually, I have a mix feeling. I mean, the two international friendly matches are not important at all after FIFA World Cup Qatar. I don't want Japan's national team to make "important" Japanese footballers playing in Europe fly all the way to Japan for the two games. However, I haven't seen him play for the national team, so I want to see him wear Samurai Blue uniform next month. Hmm, mixed feeling.

 

Welcome to the forum. Very interesting posts mate

 

I think it's better for Hatate to go and play, potentially earning future call-ups. He would help Japan with his creative ability, and fix the only weakness of Moriyasu's tactics: poor performance against very defensive teams.

 

Welcome to the forum and interesting that Hatate has been overlooked again. Hopefully he gets international recognition soon but as you say it may be to Celtics benefit he is not called up.

Who in your opinion are the players in J1 that Celtic should keep an eye on, that could emulate Reo, Daizen and Kyogo’s success?