Leanne Crichton told BBC Sportsound (30/10, 15:39) that Celtic lacked the same movement in attack in the first-half against Livingston after Ange Postecoglou rested Kyogo Furuhashi.
The Bhoys boss elected to bench his star summer signing for Livi’s visit to Parkhead in the Premiership on Saturday. Instead, Postecoglou chose to start fellow summer arrival Giorgos Giakoumakis, with Celtic facing Ferencvaros in the Europa League on Thursday.
Postecoglou knows Celtic must win in Hungary for the Hoops to stand a chance of reaching the last 32. The Glasgow giants are third in Group G after three games, trailing both Bayer Leverkusen and Real Betis by three-points. Having only beaten Ferencvaros so far this term.
Furuhashi has been a star for Celtic since moving to Parkhead from Vissel Kobe for £4.5m under Postecoglou this summer. The 26-year-old has scored 10 goals and laid on two over his appearances in green-and-white so far. But could not add to his record on Saturday.
Postecoglou called on Furuhashi to play the final half an hour against Livingston in search of a potential winning goal. But Livi held on to stop the Bhoys going top of the Premiership with Rangers playing on Sunday.
Crichton issues Celtic verdict after Furuhashi starts on bench
Celtic enjoyed chances to score before Furuhashi’s introduction against Livingston, but ex-Scotland international Crichton felt they lacked the same movement upfront.
“When you take Kyogo out of the team you don’t get the same energy or movement,” Crichton said.
Furuhashi’s movement has often been a trait of the striker’s game pundits have lauded since joining Celtic. James McFadden and Pat Bonner lauded his dynamic presence against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League earlier this month.
Filipe Jota, likewise, has dubbed Furuhashi’s movement as ‘unbelievable’ after forming a strong partnership since joining Celtic on loan. Postecoglou will now know after drawing with Livingston that he must find ways to cope without the £18k-a-week ace’s presence.
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