Celtic fans are well used to the industry of Daizen Maeda, covering every blade of grass on the left flank to the consternation of right-backs throughout Scotland.
A player and a half would be one description as he presses forward at every opportunity but drops back effortlessly to provide back up for Greg Taylor when he cuts into the centre of the pitch.
Sometimes Maeda’s finishing can be questioned, he tends to rush shots and panic with headers but today, back at Yokohama F Marinos he produced a near flawless 45 minutes.
From the sixth minute to the 43rd he notched a hat-trick, three composed finishes with one audacious lob from 45 yards out panicking the home keeper into an emergency save as he back-tracked.
“Daizen’s even in the stands, he’s been everywhere else today.”
Peter Grant’s comments on Celtic TV summing up Daizen Maeda’s impressive performance when the camera showed a look-a-like in the stands ? pic.twitter.com/1ENcYCUeCs
— Celtic Curio (@Celticcurio) July 19, 2023
Wearing the captain’s armband Maeda was outstanding, 10 minutes into the second half the TV cameras switched to the crowd where there was one very familiar face donned out in green and white.
Whether it was a relative of the Celtic forward or a fan there is likely to be a few autograph requests tonight from Celtic’s ‘hat-trick hero’.
Getting a good scudding today might be the wake-up we needed,but we better start splashing some cash ASAP because the longer it goes on without a big signing being done,the more it will lead to a PANIC buy at the last minute.