Imagine him & Kyogo: Rodgers must finally unleash Celtic’s “sensational” £23k-p/w star –
The Hoops boss must finally bring him into the starting XI after his performance against St Mirren.
Celtic ensured that they will end the weekend at the top of the Scottish Premiership table with a 3-0 win over St Mirren at Parkhead on Saturday.
Since their nearest opponents can only get to within one point of the Hoops by the end of play on Sunday, their spot at the top is secure for the time being.
The team led by Brendan Rodgers, who gave up three goals to Rangers in their 3-3 draw the previous weekend, won 3-0 to maintain a clean sheet and display their potent offensive ability.
By the hour, Celtic led 2-0 thanks to goals from Yogo Furuhashi’s header and Reo Hatate’s spectacular finish with the outside of his boot. The Scottish powerhouses added a third goal through the nod of substitute Adam Idah.
Rodgers must now finally unleash the Ireland international from the start after yet another impressive impact off the bench from the Norwich City loanee, as he could strike fear into opposition defences alongside Kyogo in the final third.
Adam Idah’s impact against St Mirren
With just eighteen minutes remaining in the match against St Mirren on Saturday, the six-foot-three marksman scored his first goal.
Idah was effective with what he had to work with, although he did not have many opportunity to get involved in the game as Celtic dominated possession and played the entire duration.
The Irishman finished 100% (4/4) of his passes tried, had one shot on target (his goal), and did not give up the ball once during the course of the eighteen minutes.
His positioning was perfect in the box to be the first to react to Zac Hemmings’ save from close range to head the ball over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net for Celtic’s third on the day.
Idah, standing at 6 foot 3, offers a physical outlet for Celtic and can occupy opposition defenders with his presence in a way that Kyogo cannot, whilst also having the quality to score and assist goals on a regular basis in the Premiership.
Rodgers could, however, unleash the pair of them with the Japan international dropping into a number ten or second striker role behind the Norwich academy graduate, which would allow him to avoid as many physical battles and focus on getting shots off to score.
Kyogo Furuhashi’s season in numbers
The 29-year-old striker scored his 11th league goal of the season when he met Alistair Johnston’s cross to head the ball into the back of the net against St Mirren.
It has been a difficult season for the former Vissel Kobe star, though, as his finishing has left a lot to be desired at times, with plenty of wasteful performances in the final third.
In fact, no other Celtic player has underperformed their xG (Expected Goals) by more than Kyogo. He has scored 11 goals from an xG of 15.4, which is an underperformance of 4.4 – 1.35 more than the second-worst finisher in the squad, which is Daizen Maeda with five goals from 8.05 xG.
| 23/24 Premiership | Kyogo Furuhashi |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 33 |
| Goals | 11 |
| Big chances missed | 21 |
| Minutes per goal | 200 |
| Shots per game | 2.6 |
| Stats via Sofascore | |
As the table above illustrates, Kyogo has averaged one goal every 200 minutes in the league and has wasted an astounding 21 “big chances” to explain his notable xG underperformance.
With a duel success rate of 40% and a pass accuracy of 67%, which is the second-lowest in the team, the seasoned attacker has also failed in other areas of his game.
This suggests that he has been wasteful in possession with his poor passing, along with his lacklustre finishing, and has not offered a physical presence at the top end of the pitch as opposition defenders have found it too easy to get the better of him.
He could, therefore, benefit from playing in a slightly deeper role with less responsibility with his back to goal, which could improve his pass accuracy, as he would not have centre-backs right up on his back to disrupt his passes.
Why Adam Idah should finally be unleashed
Idah should finally be unleashed to play with Kyogo, who would then drop into a second striker role, as the Ireland international has been in fantastic form off the bench since the international break.
Firstly, the giant centre-forward came on as a substitute in the 3-0 win away at Livingston at the end of March and registered an assist, with a crisp set for Matt O’Riley to find the back of the net.
Then, Idah came on against Rangers at Ibrox last weekend and may have thought that he had scored the winning goal with a fantastic strike – taking a superb touch before rifling a low effort past Jack Butland – to put his side 3-2 up, only for Rabbi Matondo to equalise in stoppage-time.
The Norwich loanee then made it two goals and one assist in his last three substitute appearances with his close-range header against St Mirren on Saturday.
| 23/24 Premiership | Adam Idah |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 10 |
| Starts | 4 |
| Goals | 7 |
| Assists | 2 |
| Minutes per goal | 65 |
| Stats via Sofascore | |
As you can see in the table above, Idah has been lethal for Celtic since his move to the club on loan from the Canaries on deadline day, with a goal every 65 minutes on average – compared to Kyogo’s one every 200 minutes.
The £23k-per-week star, who was hailed as “sensational” by Chris Sutton earlier this season, has scored seven goals from 5.24 xG; no other player for the Celtics has done better than his 1.76 xG.
The outstanding attacker has demonstrated his physicality in addition to his excellent finishing abilities, as evidenced by his 52% duel success rate, which includes a 69% success rate in aerial battles.
This demonstrates that, in contrast to Kyogo, who has lost 75% of his aerial duels in the Premiership this season, he provides a powerful presence at the number nine position.
After the cup match against Aberdeen the next weekend, Rodgers has to finally unleash Idah, who hasn’t started a league game since March 3. This will allow the Japan international to pair up with him for a potent offensive combination the next time out in the league.
