Celtic wants to go back to how to win in the Scottish premiership when he faces Kilmarnock in his first match since the first international break of the season.
Hoop faced Kilmarnock away from home in the fifth match of the campaign, winning three victories and drawing one of the first four outings in the division.
Brendan Rogers may be aiming for a manual debut with new signatures, Kelechi Iheanacho and Sebastian Tounakti.
The Celtic boss was ruled out for 12 weeks after being injured in a hamstring against Kairat last month, allowing Alistair Johnston to be ruled out again at right back.
Rodgers confirmed that the club was immersed in the transfer market due to injuries and refused to sign a replacement right back.
Academy alumni Anthony Ralston intervened again to provide cover at that position, instead of going for a new signature to fill that gap.
Why Celtic should drop Anthony Ralston?
Scotland International needs Rogers to drop mercilessly onto the bench. Because he doesn’t provide the offensive thrust and quality the team needs in that area of the pitch.
There were several moments in the Brand 0-0 draw with the Rangers when his teammate went to find Ralston on a pass, but he was ready to sit deep and move forward to receive the pass, not his front paw.
He doesn’t have the offensive qualities that Johnston has or the frontline mentality that his fellow right-backs have.
25/26 season (all comps) | Anthony Ralston |
|---|---|
exterior | 5 |
I played a few minutes | 332 |
shot | 2 |
the goal | 0 |
Key Pass | 1 |
A big opportunity has been created | 0 |
assist | 0 |
Statistics via Sofascore | |
As you can see in the table above, Ralston created one chance and a “big opportunity” in this term with 332 minutes of action over five appearances.
Meanwhile, Johnston provided four key passes, creating two “big chances” in two appearances in the Premiership this season before injuries per sofa score.
Canada International also scored four goals, creating 15 “big chances” and earned 10 assists in 32 appearances in last season’s premiership.
Celtic clearly missed the quality on the right side in the last two matches. Because they created two “big chances” in 210 minutes as a team with Kairat and the Rangers, and did not score goals in either game.
This is why Rogers has to drop Ralston to try Leo Hutt in his brand new role at right back, inspired by Arne Slot’s decision to play Dominique Zobosilai in a similar role for Liverpool in the Premier League.
Why should Celtics release their hatred from the right back?
He played four times right-back during the club’s Ange Postecoglou era in the 2022/23 campaign, so he’s not in a completely unfamiliar position to Japan International.
However, he has not played a single game outside of Central or midfield in his age-old and older season since Rodgers returned to the club in the summer of 2023.
Northern Ireland’s head coaches utilized the inverted fullback in the build-up for much of the time he spent in charge of the club, with Greg Taylor and Johnston turning back to the middle midfield, and Calm McGregor dropping between centre-backs and creating an overload on the central position during the build-up.
Hate was able to fit perfectly into this role in the short term, until Johnston returned from his injury.
Celebrated “incredible” by Rodgers earlier this year, Japan International was trained in dribbling only 0.6 times per game, earning 53% of the tackles attempted per Fotmob.
24/25 Premiership | Reo Hatate | Percentile Rank vs CMS |
|---|---|---|
the goal | 10 | Top 1% |
Shah | 7.95 | Top 3% |
assist | 4 | Top 11% |
Dribbling success rate | 88% | Top 12% |
touch | 2,101 | Top 5% |
The duel won | 95 | Top 32% |
Statistics via FOTMOB | ||
As you can see from the table above, Hatate is a well-balanced midfielder, very comfortable in the midfield and the final third, and is also excellent at winning duels.
This suggests that he may be suitable to play in the reverse right-back role under Rodgers.
Of course, having a player who can influence the top end of the pitch at goal and assist in that position will improve his chances of creating more matches than Ralston in recent weeks.
As mentioned earlier, Ralston has not done enough to compensate for the quality of the attack lost to Johnston’s injury. So, in the meantime, we should release our hatred in this whole new role.
The move will also release Luke McCowan to score eight goals in the premiership last season, providing eight assists and play in the middle of the park alongside McGregor and Benjamin Niglen.
Overall, his qualities on the Ball of Hatate and his previous experience on the right back in a different system under Postecoglou could make him the best candidate to fill in for Johnston in a brand new role under the Rodgers against Kilmarnock on Sunday.
This is why the Celtic head coach should mercilessly drop Ralston from the starting lineup and see how the Japanese star will earn the fare this weekend in his new position.
