Rodgers must replace Bernardo with Celtic’s £19k-p/w star
da roleta： Celtic turn their attentions away from the race for the Scottish Premiership title as they prepare to host Livingston at Parkhead in the quarter-finals of the SFA Cup on Sunday.
da luck： The Hoops have the chance to secure their place in the last four of the domestic competition, which is their last chance to win a cup after being knocked out of Europe and the League Cup earlier this season.
Brendan Rodgers' side are also second in the Premiership as it stands, behind Rangers, and the SFA Cup will be their last chance to win some silverware if they fail to overthrow their rivals before the end of the top-flight campaign.
The Bhoys come into this cup clash off the back of a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle, in a game in which they missed a penalty, had a man sent off, and gave away a penalty during the first half.
Rodgers may now look to make some changes to the starting XI and should unleash Kyogo Furuhashi from the start in place of Paulo Bernardo, who should be ruthlessly dropped.
Paulo Bernardo's stats against Hearts
The Portuguese midfielder, who is on loan from Benfica, lined up alongside Tomoki Iwata and Matt O'Riley in the middle of the park against the Jam Tarts.
However, his outing only lasted the opening 45 minutes of the match as Rodgers, possibly with Celtic being down to ten men after Hyun-jun Yang's sending-off in mind, decided to substitute him at the break.
It came after an underwhelming half of football from both Bernardo and Celtic as a whole. The 22-year-old dynamo failed to provide an attacking threat in possession for the Hoops, with zero key passes and zero shots on or off target in 45 minutes of action.
This shows that the Benfica loanee did not cause too many problems for the Hearts defenders to deal with, as he did not create any chances for his teammates or force Zander Clark into making a save.
He left a bit to be desired with his work off the ball, as well, as the midfielder won two tackles and was dribbled past twice, which shows that the youngster had mixed success with his attempts to win possession back for his side.
Hearts 2-0 Celtic
Paulo Bernardo
Kyogo Furuhashi
Minutes played
45
45
Shots on target
Zero
Two
Key passes
Zero
One
Dribbles completed
One
Two
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, Kyogo offered more quality on the ball during the second half after the manager brought him on for Bernardo at the break, which is why the latter must be brutally ditched from the starting XI.
The Japan international played behind Adam Idah, who offered a strong focal point in the number nine position, and showed great desire and drive to push the team forward at times, albeit Celtic ultimately failed to get back into the match.
Kyogo's Premiership stats this season
The 29-year-old attacker has endured a frustrating season in front of goal for the Scottish giants, after his extraordinary exploits during the 2022/23 campaign.
Kyogo plundered an eye-catching 27 goals in 31 Premiership starts under Ange Postecoglou last term, but has been unable to replicate that form under Rodgers.
In 29 top-flight appearances under the Northern Irish head coach, the Japanese centre-forward has registered nine goals and three assists for the Hoops.
He has averaged one goal every 213 minutes of league action for the Bhoys this season, which is a staggering drop from one every 86 minutes last term.
Kyogo's play in possession has been far too wasteful at times as the forward has only completed 66% of his attempted passes in the Premiership, and has missed 15 'big chances' to go along with his nine goals.
Only Daizen Maeda (-2.8) has underperformed his Expected Goals by more than the Japan international, who has nine goals from 11.48 xG in the top-flight.
These statistics show that the Celtic star has not been good enough in front of goal, given the quality of chances that have been created for him this season, particularly when you consider that Idah has already scored five goals from 4.29 xG.
However, the experienced Hoops gem has excelled when paired with the deadline day loan signing from Norwich City, in the two matches that they started alongside each other.
Kyogo and Idah's stats together
Rodgers has selected his two star strikers in the same starting XI on two occasions since the Ireland international joined the club during the last transfer window.
The Celtic boss picked Kyogo in the number ten position behind Idah against Kilmarnock in the Premiership, and against St Mirren in the SFA Cup.
Interestingly, the Japanese marksman found the back of the net in both of those matches, which suggests that he thrived on being able to play in the pocket behind a physical number nine who can hold off defenders and do the dirty work to free up the former Vissel Kobe ace in possession.
His performance against Kilmarnock in comparison to his usual averages as a lone centre-forward for Celtic in the Scottish top-flight suggests that Rodgers should persist with him in a deeper role.
Kyogo Furuhashi (per game)
Vs Kilmarnock
23/24 Premiership
Goals
One
0.31
Chances created
Three
0.7
Shots
Two
2.4
Passes completed
15
5.9
Duels won
One
1.4
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, the £19k-per-week whiz was more involved in the game in possession than he usually is in the league, with far more key passes and passes in comparison to his average.
The talented gem, who was once hailed as an "unbelievable" young man by Postecoglou, appears to be a far greater threat as a scorer and a creator when he starts alongside Idah, albeit with a small sample size of them together to work with.
This is why Rodgers must unleash Kyogo in the number ten role – ahead of Bernardo – behind the Norwich loanee when Kilmarnock come to Parkhead on Sunday, as it appears to get the best out of the 2021 signing.
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The Hoops youngster produced “sensational” play against Aberdeen on Saturday.
ByDan Emery Feb 4, 2024
The impressive pair could provide enough attacking quality to fire Celtic through to the semi-finals of the SFA Cup, in the club's search for silverware this season.
