This has been a debate that has been going on ever since TBR Celtic shared the news about Daizen Maeda being one of the quickest players in Europe.
UEFA stats show that the Japanese winger is faster than Kylian Mbappe and now, it seems, that there is someone even faster at Celtic.
James Forrest is now said to be quicker than Maeda after Brendan Rodgers labelled the 32-year-old as the quickest winger at Celtic.
And that has created all sorts of debates now surrounding the speed of Celtic’s players. And whilst the fans may have been surprised at Rodgers’ admission, Charlie Mulgrew was not.
The former Celtic defender said he wasn’t surprised at this update and gave his reasons why he always knew Forrest was a faster player than Maeda.
Mulgrew said [Clyde SSB], “He’s a great player, James, there is no doubt about it. But I’m not surprised he’s one of the quickest wingers there, if not the quickest because he’s really powerful over a short distance.”
James Forrest and Daizen Maeda need to improve at Celtic
Whilst this is all well and good, it’s no use having two players who are quick and have a poor end product.
In ten appearances this season, Forrest has failed to register a single assist. He’s been close at times to hitting the back of the net but his main job is to create for his teammates and in 252 minutes of football, he hasn’t produced. [Transfermarkt]
And neither has Maeda. In 15 appearances the Japan international has registered just two assists and one goal in almost 1200 minutes of football. Although he is working on this with Harry Kewell, even Maeda will admit those stats are not good enough. [Transfermarkt]
Being fast is great, but if you can’t use that speed to any great effect then what’s the point? Hopefully, both will start to up their assist and goal output because after the last two Celtic showings, the team is going to need it.
In other news, What David Turnbull did after he scored for Celtic last night was very bizarre