If Kyogo Furuhashi is any indication, Celtic should be looking to Japan for more players, right?
Former Yokohama F.Marinos boss Ange Postecoglou used his J1 League insight to lure the previously unheralded Kyogo to Parkhead and what a signing it has proven to be – the Japan international has taken Glasgow by storm with 14 goals in all competitions.
Now, Celtic manager Postecoglou is reportedly preparing another raid on Japan's top flight, including his former club, to help bolster his title-chasing side in the January transfer window.
F.Marinos star and joint Golden Boot winner Daizen Maeda, Kawasaki Frontale utility Reo Hatate and Gamba Osaka's Yosuke Ideguchi are believed to be all closing in on moves to Celtic as the Bhoys' Japanese contingent grows.
With speculation mounting, Stats Perform looks at the numbers behind the trio, using Opta data.
Daizen Maeda, Yokohama F.Marinos
Postecoglou leaned on his experiences as a rival coach to prise Kyogo from Andres Iniesta's Vissel Kobe at the start of the season, but it is a completely different matter regarding Maeda, who was signed by the Australian coach, initially on loan in 2020.
Following a difficult loan spell in Portugal via Maritimo, Postecoglou turned to Maeda after leading F.Marinos to their drought-ending J1 League title the season prior. The 24-year-old has not looked back, taking his game to a new level with the runners-up in 2021.
The two-time Japan international shared the Golden Boot with Frontale talisman Leandro Damiao after the pair both scored 23 goals, while he was named in the league's Best XI.
With pace to burn and the ability to play on the flank or through the middle, Maeda fits Postecoglou's high-octane brand of football and pressing philosophy to a tee – he tallied the most sprints across the league (1,457), well ahead of Consadole Sapporo's Tsuyoshi Ogashiwa (869).
Maeda, who likes to cut inside from the left, also led J1 League in shots on target (51), shooting accuracy (63 per cent), big chance total (33), big chance scored (18), expected goals (21.3) and touches in the opposition box (190). He was second for total shots (92) and shot conversion rate (23.9).
"I never imagined I would end the season as top scorer in the league. I feel I have been able to prove I was a good signing here," Maeda, who could provide another dynamic to Celtic's attack having scored a joint-league-high six headed goals, said at the end of the season. "As always it was great to score, but I would have liked to have ended the season with a win.
"I've had a great season although I am disappointed we never managed to win the title, but on a personal level, I am very proud I was able to finish as top scorer. I always want more goals. You can never score enough.
"I believe this team can go on and have a great season next year too. Whatever happens, Marinos are a great club. I've never hidden my ambition to play in Europe. When I tried before in Portugal, Covid ruined it for me. This season has changed everything for me. Goals and a call-up for my country. For me, it's just the start."
Reo Hatate, Kawasaki Frontale
If Celtic want a man that can cover a number of positions, Hatate is their guy.
A defender, midfielder or forward, Hatate is coming off his second successive top-flight crown with the league's dominant force Frontale, who have won the title in four of the last five years.
Hatate has played a key role in helping maintain Frontale's dominance since making his debut in 2018.
The versatile 24-year-old – who has not played abroad, unlike Maeda or Ideguchi – is fresh off a stellar season that saw him named in J1 League's Best XI.
Like 2020, Hatate scored five goals in 30 appearances, while he supplied two assists in the league as he often played in the middle of the pitch, though he can also be deployed at left-back.
Comfortable on the ball and secure in possession, Hatate boasted a passing accuracy of 82.1 per cent in 2021. As for his creativity, he created 33 chances, highlighting his vision. He ranked in the top five for shots on target (third, 22), total shots (fourth, 59) and passes in opposition half (five, 1,297) among all defenders and midfielders.
Covering plenty of ground, Hatate also demonstrated his defensively capabilities throughout the campaign with 45 interceptions and 159 duels won, with a 53.4 success rate.
Yosuke Ideguchi, Gamba Osaka
Of the three players targeted by Celtic, the 25-year-old is somewhat the most surprising.
Labelled "wonderful" previously by former Manchester United playmaker Shinji Kagawa, Ideguchi endured a forgettable time in Europe – he joined then-Championship outfit Leeds United on a four-and-a-half-year contract in 2018 but never made an appearance for the club.
Ideguchi then bounced around on loan at Cultural Leonesa in Spain and Greuther Furth in Germany before returning to boyhood club Gamba Osaka, where he has excelled across two spells.
A player with a lot of potential upside, Ideguchi is more of a holding midfielder and is capable of finding the back of the net.
Ideguchi – part of the Gamba team that tasted domestic success via the J1 League (2014), Emperor's Cup (2014 and 2015), J.League Cup (2014) and Japanese Super Cup (2015) prior to his Leeds departure – is coming off a 29-game season, his most since the 2017 campaign.
While he did not score or register an assist, unlike the season prior when he scored four times and teed up three goals, Ideguchi's work rate and tenacity was invaluable for Gamba.
In 2021, the 15-time Japan international won 55.5 per cent of his tackles with 36 interceptions and 78 duels won. Since 2019, Ideguchi is a top-10 midfielder in tackles (fifth, 145), tackles won (fifth, 85) and interceptions (10th, 109).
Croatia 2-1 Scotland: Kramaric rounds off comeback as visitors denied by late drama
Andrej Kramaric's 70th-minute header was enough for Croatia to clinch a 2-1 victory over Scotland, with the visitors denied a last-gasp equaliser.
The forward completed the comeback after Igor Matanovic cancelled out Ryan Christie's opener, but Kristijan Jakic's blushes were spared as his last-second own goal was disallowed for an offside against Che Adams.
In a fairly even first half, Christie got the breakthrough, latching onto Luka Sucic's sliced attempted clearance, and bundling the ball over the line with help from Duje Caleta-Car.
However, just under four minutes later, Croatia were back on level terms as Ivan Perisic cushioned the ball to Matanovic, who drilled his low shot into the bottom-right corner.
The hosts upped the pressure after the break, and Sucic thought he had given them the lead, only to have his goal chalked off for a foul in the build-up.
And they got their reward when Craig Gordon pushed away Borna Sosa's volley, with Kramaric on hand to nod it in from close range when it looped into the air.
Adams had already sent a looping effort wide of the far post in his search for an equaliser and thought he had finally got it after pressuring Jakic into poking it over the line. However, he had done so from an offside position so VAR ruled it out, and Scotland were denied a first point this Nations League campaign.
Data Debrief: Scotland suffer more late heartbreak
Late drama seems to follow Scotland everywhere in this competition at the moment - they lost their first two games in the competition due to late goals despite putting up a fight.
As such, Scotland extended their longest winless run in competitive matches in their history (P9 D3 L6), while they have now lost four consecutive games for the first time in five years, last doing so in October 2019.
The match-winner, Kramaric, scored his 30th goal for Croatia on his 99th appearance, with more than half of these (16) coming since he turned 30, while he has scored twice as many goals (eight) than any other Croatian player since the start of 2023.
'It certainly doesn't help' - Eidevall fails to concede Arsenal title hopes after Chelsea loss
Jonas Eidevall failed to concede Arsenal's hopes of winning the Women's Super League title after falling to a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at the Emirates on Saturday.
The defeat leaves Arsenal in sixth place in the early-season standings having taken just five points from their opening four games of the season.
Mayra Ramirez and Sandy Baltimore handed the visitors a two-goal advantage early on, with Caitlin Foord's fine individual effort before half-time proving to be just a consolation.
It brought an end to a dismal week for Eidevall, having watched his side lose their Champions League opener 5-2 to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
"It certainly doesn't help, but as I said before, the only way is to go game by game," Eidevall said on his side's hopes of winning the title after their poor start to the campaign.
"We are disappointed with the result and the start today, but I am very proud of the heart that the players showed."
But following Chelsea's first two goals, it was Arsenal who were in the ascendency, creating the better of the chances in north London but failing to make them count.
The Gunners registered 20 attempts during the contest, but only four of which were on target, rarely troubling visiting goalkeeper Hannah Hampton for the most part.
Though Arsenal find themselves already four points behind the early-season pacesetters, Eidevall still believes he is still the right man to lead the Gunners forward.
"I gave my absolute everything. You can see that the players certainly gave everything on the pitch too, and that is the thing you can control," Eidevall said.
"I think the way that the players played with the heart on the pitch, I can't ask for anything more," he added when asked if he had the backing of his players.
"It showed in the way that they played that they were giving their absolute everything on the pitch."
Chelsea, meanwhile, continued their fine start under Sonia Bompastor, building on their impressive win against Real Madrid in midweek with a triumph over their fierce rivals.
But it was anything but comfortable for the Blues, who managed an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.35 from their efforts during the second half.
"For sure it was a tough game, we were expecting that. It's always good to win, three points are three points," Bompastor said.
"But I wish my team were able to play the ball better in the second half. The quality of the players we have, we should be able to produce more.
"Good moments, we need to enjoy them and have fun."
Ederson lauds 'sometimes annoying' Guardiola
Ederson says it is an honour to be a part of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, though admitted the manager can be "sometimes annoying".
The goalkeeper joined City in June 2017 and has since kept 113 clean sheets in 257 Premier League appearances, more than any other goalkeeper in the competition since his debut.
He has won 15 major trophies with City, including six Premier Leagues, two FA Cups and a Champions League title, as well as the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup under Guardiola.
While on international duty with Brazil, Ederson attended an event for Children's Day and was asked if Guardiola was nice, annoying or angry by one child.
"You're going to get me in trouble," Ederson told ESPN Brasil. "He's all three.
"He's a nice guy, he's sometimes annoying, in the sense of [being] demanding, because he has to [be] demanding to a professional [player], and he's also angry when he has to be angry.
"So he has a mixture of all three. But he's a nice guy off the pitch, and he's a very, very demanding guy on it. And he's also a guy who gets angry like any other person, like any other coach, when things don't go well or when the team doesn't play well.
"Of course, we know that we're not going to be able to play 70 games at a brilliant level. Of course, in one game or another, there's going to be a dip."
Under Guardiola, City became the only English club in history to hold all five trophies – Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, Super Cup and Club World Cup – in a calendar year (in 2023).
In the English top-flight, Guardiola has overseen 311 games since July 2016, winning 230 of those (D43 L38). He has a 73.95% win percentage in the competition and averages 2.36 points per game.
And Ederson believes the Spaniard, who has been named the Premier League manager of the season five times, has changed football in the competition.
"I've been able to play a big part in the project," he said. "You take everything Guardiola has built up with the group, with the squad and everything he's been able to reformulate practically.
"You see every Premier League game today, how the teams try to play more football, have more possession. It's completely different from when he arrived.
"So to be able to be part of this project and achieve everything I've achieved, I feel very honoured, it really is a childhood dream."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
