Kyogo Furuhashi is demoralising defenders by running them ragged for an hour. And partner-in-crime Giorgos Giakoumakis is arriving on to the scene to deliver the final knockout blows to the bedraggled opposition.
It’s just how Ange Postecoglou wants it. Celtic relentless from start to finish. And it’s a situation which should put this constant and often pointless discussion about the Japanese and the Greek being paired together from the start of a game to bed once and for all.
Kyogo has scored the opening goal in each of the last three Premiership matches to set his team on their way to winning. He has scored every one of them from bang in front of the sticks. Right where you’d want his finishing ability. Where you’d want and know Giakoumakis will be. Of course, Kyogo is good enough and intelligent enough to play off a side. He’s done it already for Celtic, but it’s not really his best position.
Some say he could play off the front, but again, that’s not him breaking off the shoulder of the last man and things are going to get even better for him in that regard when VAR finally kicks into gear. Kyogo is lightning. Invariably, he gets wrongly flagged offside in every game. It’s not the fault of any assistant. He’s just so quick to the naked eye, you look up and he’s away.
It happened against Hearts again last Sunday when he was flagged in the first period when racing away one-on-one when he was onside. VAR will mean his expert timing of runs and speed will not count against him.
To be honest, the one time Kyogo did drop deeper this season was in a second-half spell in Dingwall when Celtic chased a win at 1-1 and Giakoumakis was sent on. All it did was cause more congestion in the central areas and shut down even more spaces.
Giakoumakis is a goal machine and he is going to get his starts as the fixture list gets clogged. And plenty of them. And, when he does, he’ll keep putting the ball in the net with the service he’ll get from the wide areas and the roles will reverse. He'll do the spadework and Kyogo will enter later to further torture the tiring legs of rivals.
Managers get slaughtered for putting square pegs in round holes. Trying to squeeze individuals into a team to disrupt a system. The Postecoglou system is clear for all to see. It has been since he arrived. One central and two wide getting beyond full-backs and hitting the back post.
Kyogo’s three goals against Ross County, Killie and Hearts all came from a winger, Jota in the Highlands and Daizen Maeda the next twice, escaping on a flank and delivering a pullback or a centre across the box. There's no logic in messing with a winning formula.
Postecoglou built a title-winning squad, so how do you boost it would having to shell out more fortunes? Buying ‘squad guys’ has been a stick to beat managers with for years. But Postecoglou keeps saying you need a better squad to make a better team and Greg Taylor is the ideal example.
He was terrific in the second-half of last season. But the truth is that, barring an injury, he wasn’t going to be ousted by Liam Scales, Boli Bolingoli or Adam Montgomery. Other than Josip Juranovic switching sides, he was the obvious top candidate for his role.
Upon signing Alexandro Bernabei for a decent fee, it was natural for folk to think he’d be going into the team, but Taylor has just gone up the levels. Celtic have improved with the same guy in the jersey. It’s magnificent for Celtic that Postecoglou has this striking alternative. Knowing he always has a central hitman on the park who is going to deliver. It pushes both to be better.
If they both manage to stay fit for the majority of the campaign, Kyogo and Giakoumakis are going to score at least 40 goals between them this season. And, crucially, they don’t have to be on the park at the same time to do it.
