Former Celtic star Kris Commons believes the ability of Kyogo will be giving Michael Beale nightmares ahead of a season–defining Scottish Cup semi final.
The Rangers boss is licking his wounds after watching Aberdeen outhustle his side to secure a 2-0 win and leave Ange Postecoglou's champions elect one win from the title. But it's all about the showdown at Hampden as Beale has one last chance to halt their all–conquering rivals' race to yet another Treble.
And Commons reckons the long bus journey down from the north east would have had Beale asking questions about his backline and the looming threat of the Japanese marksmen. Speaking in his Daily Mail column, he said: "Over in the blue corner, Michael Beale would have had an awful lot to think about on the two-and-a-half-hour coach journey back down from Aberdeen last night. A 2-0 defeat, with missed chances at one end and goals conceded at the other.
"Beale will be having nightmares about the threat of Kyogo Furuhashi at Hampden and what his movement can do. Can they find a plan to stop him? I do wonder about this Rangers defence. So far this season, they have conceded 11 goals to Celtic over four derbies. Beale has made them a better team, no question about that, but they have still struggled to keep their opponents at bay in the three Old Firm matches under his command. Two goals were conceded at Ibrox, two again in the League Cup final, and three at Celtic Park earlier this month.
"The Rangers manager has got to hope his back four can produce a bit more. The return of Connor Goldson would definitely help but then he was part of the side that lost at Hampden in February, when Furuhashi again made the difference. Beale will be crossing his fingers for an absence of costly mistakes and, bluntly, that his players turn up in a much better fashion than they did when the League Cup was up for grabs. There's a lot of uncertainty there."
Rangers are determined to build from the back but Commons is adamant that is an area where Postecoglou will be zeroing this week as he aims to give his side the right instructions for the showpiece at Hampden. He added: "Rangers try to build from the back. They take some risks. But do they really have the composure? You think back to the last derby and the largely unforced mistakes made by John Souttar and Ben Davies for starters. It's going to be highlighted by Postecoglou in team meetings. Put them under pressure. Get after them.
"Listen, Rangers might well feel the same about Carl Starfelt. Particularly in Europe, we've seen that he can have a little bit of careless play in his nature when he comes under pressure. The Swede needs to pass it forward quickly and cleanly on Sunday. For Rangers, though, the problems in defence are maybe a bit deeper. Davies had a difficult day at Celtic Park and his confidence seems to have taken a knock since. He made a few little errors again at Pittodrie giving the ball away cheaply.
"If I can speak from experience, it's tough when you're in a position where mistakes are being highlighted by the media, fans or whatever. You're thinking about the need to start the next game strongly. You want to get back to basics. Keep things simple and do your job. Win your first header, win your first tackle and then hopefully natural ability comes through. Sunday brings a big test in that respect. And Rangers really need Davies to pass it."
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