Celtic: Maeda ‘couldn’t find end product’ as Hoops defeat Staggies

Journalist Tony Haggerty criticised the end product of Celtic star Daizen Maeda during the Hoops’ 2-1 win at Parkhead this weekend.

Maeda was recently called up by Japan to their World Cup squad and netted Celtic’s winner in midweek.

So it’s been quite the week for the winger. However, the match against Ross County wasn’t his finest display in green and white.

The Japanese international wasn’t terrible, by any means. But his end product was lacking, which Haggerty wrote about in his player rating piece on The Celtic Way.

Here’s what he had to say regarding Maeda, who he handed a 6/10 rating: “His manager kept faith in him and let him loose on the Staggies. He did his defensive chores well but once again ruined the best opportunities when he was out wide and couldn’t find an end product.”

TIF Thoughts on Haggerty’s Maeda claim…

We believe the assessment on Maeda was fair. He certainly wasn’t a total disaster on the pitch, as he certainly did the dirty work when called upon – the Japanese ace recorded a 100% passing success rate and made two interceptions during the match – more than anyone else in Celtic colours.

However, as a winger, your final product is a very important aspect of the game, and Maeda failed to record any successful crosses during the game as Celtic were made to work for the three points.

Having said that, it was always going to be a challenge to top the high he was riding after his goal on Wednesday and his World Cup call-up.