BBC pundit, Stephen Craigan, has been lavishing praise on one Celtic player he believes teams in Scotland hate playing against.
Right through the spine of the Hoops team Brendan Rodgers is spoiled with talent. From the speed and guile of Kyogo Furuhashi to the tenacity and vision of Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley, the Celtic boss is blessed with many players who can cause problems for our rivals.
However, it was none of those players that Craigan mentioned as one that gives SPFL defenders nightmares as he praised the pace of Celtic winger, Daizen Maeda.
Daizen Maeda gives Celtic a ‘different dimension’
The Japanese winger has certainly been the focus of attention today. Joe Hart said his teammate has ‘ice in his veins‘ whilst James McFadden hailed the attacker’s return to fitness as ‘great timing‘ ahead of the Rangers clash on Saturday.
And BBC man, Craigan, joins the queue as he says Maeda is brilliant at stretching the opposition defences with his ‘raw pace’.
Craigan said [Scottish Football Podcast], “He’s got the one thing that frightens the life out of defenders.
“Raw pace. And pace just frightens the life out of defenders. He stretches defences, he leaves fullbacks wary of getting forward and leaving 70-80 yards for him to run into.
“So I think that just gives Celtic a different dimension.”
A mark of how popular Maeda is with the Celtic fans was the reaction of the support after it was feared he would be out for the rest of the season.
The majority hailed the news as a disaster for the title run-in for Celtic. Maeda’s energy and engine have been key in helping get crucial results against the likes of Rangers and Livingston when we were reduced to ten-men after a Joe Hart red card.
And now that Maeda is fully fit, confidence in retaining the title is higher amongst the fans heading into Saturday’s crucial Glasgow Derby against Rangers.