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Kyogo Furuhashi is Enduring a Difficult Third Season with Celtic FC

After a superb 2022-23 campaign, Kyogo Furuhashi hasn't been as prolific this season. It's time to analyze that and Celtic FC's pursuit of a league title.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 13, 2024

Colin Morrison

Celtic FC's Kyogo Furuhashi in action with Rangers' Jack Butland on April 7 at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow. (Jason Cairnduff/ACTION IMAGES/via REUTERS)

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GLASGOW — At the conclusion of the 2022-23 Premiership season, Kyogo Furuhashi was the hottest property in Scottish football.

Celtic FC had just been crowned league champions for the second consecutive season and Furuhashi's goals were a big reason for the soccer club's success.

The Nara Prefecture native topped the Premiership goal scoring charts with 27 goals in 36 games and won the Scottish Players' Player of the Year and Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year awards.

In short, it was a blockbuster of a season for the diminutive striker. Thus, the question was this: Would he be able to repeat his exploits in the 2023-24 campaign?

Heading into the new season, Furuhashi and his teammates had to contend with a big change. Ange Postecoglou, the manager who had brought Furuhashi to Glasgow, departed for the English Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur. His replacement was Brendan Rodgers, a former Celtic manager now returning for a second spell in Glasgow after managing in England.

*Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers (Russell Cheyne/REUTERS)*

Would the managerial change and different style of play affect Furuhashi's contribution to his team?

Thirty-two games into Celtic's season, it is clear that Furuhashi is not flourishing under Rodgers the way he did under Postecoglou.

Kyogo Furuhashi: Facts and Stats

Indeed, 32 games seems a fair place to start when comparing Furuhashi's goals ratio between last season and this.

After 32 matches last season, he was on 24 goals.

This campaign he has played 32 fixtures ― 26 starts and six coming off the bench ― but only scored 10 goals.

Considering his talents, and the fact he plays on a team that dominates the majority of its domestic matches, that is a paltry scoring ratio.

There will be no repeat top goalscorer award for Furuhashi this season. He is currently languishing in eighth position on that particular chart. Lawrence Shankland of Hearts (20 goals) leads the way with six other players, including James Tavernier of Rangers (16 goals) and Aberdeen's Bojan Miovski (14 goals), ahead of Furuhashi.

With that said, several of Furuhashi's goals this season have been crucial. The Japanese forward started the campaign well, scoring four goals in his first five league outings, including the winning strike in a 1-0 victory over Rangers at Ibrox Stadium on September 3, 2023.

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Author: Colin Morrison

Morrison is a freelance sportswriter. Find his stories on SportsLook. Writing since 2016, his byline appears on boxing websites NYFights.com and FightsATW.com. His main areas of interest are boxing, soccer, golf and rugby union. Morrison is from Scotland and can be found on X (formerly Twitter) @Morrie1981.