Hatate on suffering early under Rodgers before gradual understanding | OneFootball

Early today on The Celtic Star, Just an Ordinary Bhoy provided his assessment on the Reo Hatate quotes that are all over the Scottish media this morning, flagging up the Japan international’s desire to earn a move away from Celtic to play down south in the Premier League or perhaps in Italy or Spain.

Our writer pointed that this was actually a good news story for Celtic as it’s exactly what the club hopes to achieve strategically to allow us to dominant domestically and look at taking the necessary steps to make us competitive on the new format in the Champions League.

Celtic have yet to take any of those steps this summer but we are expecting some movement ahead of the trip to the United States.

And on Reo Hatate, he requires to have a season in the shop window to show his ability of the Champions League stage and prove that he has at long last put his ongoing and persistent injury woes behind him. Until he can do that, it’s unlikely that any club would offer the kind of money that would interest Celtic after Hatate signed a long term contract just last year.

Speaking to Japanese media outlet Sportiva, Reo Hatate talked about his wider ambitions in football beyond his time at Celtic and also provided an interesting player’s persecutive on the difficulties the Celtic squad experienced in transitioning from the style of ‘vertical’ play under Ange Postecoglou to the more considered ‘keep the ball’ approach under Brendan Rodgers.

“There are still higher leagues, so if I can challenge for those leagues, I want to do so,” he stated. “Unless I aim for that, there is no point in me continuing as an athlete. I want to keep aiming high. I would like to play in the Premier League, as well as Spain or Italy.”

“The biggest part of the game was that, in Ange’s time, the first thing we did was play goal-oriented football,” Reo explained. “We were told to go vertical as much as possible. But Rodgers’ coaching style is very much about the ball. Even in situations where you can attack quickly, the first priority is to keep the ball. I believe that is the main change.

“There are also other obvious differences, like the fact that fewer goals were scored from crosses compared to the 2022-23 season. I think it was a difficult season, as it was the first year with Rodgers as manager. If I had to say, it was more a sense of keeping the good parts of the previous team, and trying to adapt to what the new coach wanted to do.

“That’s why we struggled in the beginning, but as we worked on it, we came to understand what each other wanted to do. As a team, we have found a good response, but we also wanted to do more. Personally, I enjoyed the more aggressive and faster goal-oriented style of football. But I also discovered new things, including how to take care of the ball, so it was a good experience,” Hatate commented.

Yatao has also been posting some comments from Reo about his Celtic teammates while talking to a You Tube channel in Japan.

“In particular, McGregor always runs for the team, works hard in defence, can carry the ball smoothly in attack, and can hit good shots. And O’Riley is tall and left-footed, can pass the ball well and score goals. I gradually realised our combination was starting to go well. Anyway, O’Riley is a really fantastic player.”

“Scotland is a place rich in nature, and Edinburgh, the city next to Glasgow, has very beautiful buildings, and just walking there makes me feel refreshed. Also, the whole city of Glasgow is enthusiastic about football, so I’m really happy to be able to play in such a city,” Reo said.

On the Celtic support Reo said: “Celtic fans have great degree of enthusiasm for football, so when I go to a cafe after a game or on a day off, the fans often call out to me. For example, a clerk who is a Celtic fan at a cafe once told me, “You don’t have to pay for the coffee, so drink it.” Wow.”

On Brendan Rodgers, Reo Hatate said: “Rodgers our manager presented to our team what he wanted to do while maintaining parts of things that we have been doing well until last season. We certainly suffered early this season, but I gradually began to understand what he wanted to do for our team.”

Yatao also reported that Daizen Maeda was at the airport over the weekend starting to make his journey back to Glasgow to join up with his teammates ahead of the trip to the United States for the three match summer tour. Presumably Reo Hatate is due back on the same day.

Celtic’s other three Japanese players, Kyogo Furuhashi, Tomoki Iwata and Yuki Kobayashi all featured in the large Celtic squad that travelled to Somerset Park in Ayr on Friday evening, with all three getting minutes in the 1-1 draw with Scott Brown’s charges. Kyogo scored the Celtic goal from the penalty spot.

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