Journalist Josh Bunting has slammed the decision to leave Celtic star Reo Hatate at home after Japan struggled in their most recent World Cup game.
After winning their opening group match with a shock 2-1 victory over Germany, Hajime Moriyasu’s men then fell to defeat in their next game, coming up short against Costa Rica in a 1-0 loss.
Indeed, Keysher Fuller’s late goal was enough to decide the game as Japan struggled to make the most of their domination – and it seems as though they could have perhaps used a certain Celtic man to help break down the opposition defence.
That is certainly the view of Bunting, who took to Twitter to express his confusion over how Hatate wasn’t called up to represent his nation at the World Cup this winter.
He wrote: “That Japan result sums up this World Cup, not one really consistent team in it. After beating Germany then losing to Costa Rica, I felt the approach of that game really hampered Japan and like I said earlier, [it] baffles me that Reo Hatate isn’t in that squad to break the lines.”
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TIF Thoughts on Reo Hatate and Celtic…
Hatate is absolutely key to Ange Postecoglou’s plans in Scotland having played in all but two of the Bhoys’ Scottish Premiership matches so far this season – helping to fire the team to the top of the league going into the break.
In that period, that 25-year-old has been a model of consistency, picking up an average Sofascore player rating of 7.08. He also knows how to open up defences, making 1.3 key passes per game.
Seeing as he is so pivotal to Celtic’s success, it’s easy to see why there is a clamour to have him included in the Japan side, and after their struggles in their most recent defeat, perhaps manager Moriyasu is regretting his decision to leave the Bhoy at home.