Would Rangers be leading the title race if they had Kyogo? Kris Boyd shares his far out theory

Kris Boyd believes that if Kyogo Furuhashi was playing at Ibrox, Celtic wouldn’t be sitting at the top of the SPFL Premiership table.

So far this season the former Vissel Kobe striker has scored 20 goals in the SPFL as well as the Hampden double that gave Celtic the Viaplay Cup.

As late as October 26 Boyd was tipping the SPFL title to go to Ibrox, famously at the start of the season he laughed off the suggestion that Jota was the best player in the Scottish game.

With 29 wins and a draw from 31 matches the Sky Sports expert appears to be changing his tune with the suggestion that the difference between the two clubs is down to one player.

Looking at Saturday’s Derby clash for Sky Sports he explains:

Rangers have to control themselves. I don’t think you can go chasing after Celtic because that’s exactly what they want. If you press high on them they will play around you.

If Celtic get ahead early then we’ve seen it before – it can be a long afternoon. You want to keep it as close as you possibly can for long periods.

But Rangers will approach it in the manner that they can go to Celtic Park and get a result. They’ve got good players.

Would Rangers be leading the title race if they had Kyogo? It would be very hard to put an argument up against it because of the impact he’s had and the goals he’s scored.

Teams retreat 10 or 15 yards because of his pace and movement, and that then allows space for the players behind him.

Both teams have got fantastic players but there’s a reason why strikers are the most important players on the pitch, and the difference for me has been the goals Kyogo has been able to score.

But it’s also what he brings to Celtic in terms of his work rate and closing down, getting after people and starting the press.

His movement is second to none. Defenders don’t want to get too close because if he spins, he’s in, but if you drop off, he’ll be able to turn. He can see a pass as well – he’s a clever footballer.

Morelos has done it before and there’s no doubt that, if he gets himself into the shape he was in before, he can still be a threat in this game. But only Beale will know what condition he’s in.

Kyogo is one part of a well developed Celtic system, in the first part of the season Georgios Giakoumakis was getting a similar amount of game time in the SPFL.

Postecoglou has applied a fast passing game with an emphasis on wide players that almost always sees four wingers used over the 90 minutes.

It is a system that is perfectly suited to Kyogo’s game. With one winger in Ryan Kent and laborious midfielders like John Lundstram, Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara there is a strong possibility that Celtic’s top scorer would be a fish out of water trying to fit into whatever system Beale is trying to get his side to play.