Feyenoord defender Thomas Beelen admits he struggled with the movement of Kyogo Furuhashi during Wednesday’s 2-1 Champions League defeat to Celtic.
Despite The Hoops celebrating their first win in Europe’s premiere club competition in 15 attempts, it was another night of frustration for Celtic’s talismanic centre-forward.
Kyogo Furuhashi has now scored just once in his last 11 games, Brendan Rodgers struggling to get the same tune out of the Japan international after two years orchestrating Ange Postecoglou’s Parkhead symphony.
But still, Beelen will have been pleased to see the back of Furuhashi, the forward’s movement as sharp as ever even if his finishing remains rather wayward.
Celtic beat Feyenoord in Champions League
“He made a few good runs, which was different from what I am used to,” Beelen tells RTL7, Celtic. I had to get used to it, but I got better and better in the match.”
Celtic triumphed 2-1 on the night. The roar which greeted Gustaf Lagerbielke’s stoppage time winner proving that this was anything but a ‘dead rubber’ for those on the Parkhead terraces, even if Celtic were already consigned to bottom place in the group.
“How am I (feeling) standing here? With an unpleasant feeling, because we should have won,” Beelen adds. “Personally, it was a nice moment for me (to play away at Celtic).
“But I don’t feel that way now.”
This was Celtic’s last European game of the season, their fourth-place finish meaning that the Glasgow giants do not even have the consolation prize of Europa League football after Christmas.
Rodgers, meanwhile, is keen to simplify Kyogo’s game, encouraging the £4 million signing from Vissel Kobe to avoid dropping deep and instead focus on finding pockets of space in and around the penalty box.
Rodgers wants more from Kyogo Furuhashi
“We went through his video stuff the other week. We looked primarily at the fact I don’t need him dropping in so much. When you’re playing in a lot of games where teams are sat deep, you don’t get a kick of the ball really unless it comes into the box,” Rodgers tells the Daily Record.
“So what do you do? You start wandering. His strength is his penetration. That’s his strength, running in behind and timing his runs. You have to make 10 runs maybe to only get in once, but that’s your job as a striker.
“So there’s been nothing changed in that. There’s been absolutely nothing different asked of him because his strength is playing off the last line, timing his movements and being instinctive in the box.
“He’s not a dribbler, he’s not someone who does drop in. He can do it but it’s not his strength. And that’s always the challenge for a striker who wants to affect games. But he’s very receptive. He’s not a baby, remember, he’s 28 years of age.”
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