Celtic’s ten-man performance in the 3-0 win over Livingston was simply brilliant. To a man, every Celtic player dug in and gave 100%. Especially after Joe Hart saw red midway through the first half.
But there was one particular player that blew away Livingston manager, David Martindale. The 49-year-old gaffer singled out Celtic winger, Daizen Maeda, for his display against the Almondvale club in an interview with his club’s media.
Martindale said [Livingston YouTube], “I’m not being funny I think anyone watching Maeda in terms of his absolute work rate, he’s like three men in a press and I’m not even kidding.
“I remember I think the ball got recycled from our left to the mid-third to the right-hand side and he was the one that was pressing the wide areas.
“And it’s something I try and drum into the players. Top, top-level players they’ve got that in their locker. He’s played at World Cups, he’s playing the Champions League for a reason.
“But if we want to get to these heights, that’s where we need to go.”
Daizen Maeda is flourishing at Celtic under Brendan Rodgers
The Japanese winger was already showing these traits that Martindale was speaking about before Brendan Rodgers took over as Celtic boss this summer.
But somehow, the Hoops gaffer has managed to take this to another level. Maeda’s pressing is simply unrivalled by any other in the game.
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So much so that former Celtic hero, Chris Sutton, said that he must be ‘the best in the world‘ at it. But his press just doesn’t help the team defensively.
His work-rate is absolutely inspiring. Imagine it. Having played almost 30 minutes with nine men in the Champions League to follow that up with over an hour with 10 at a place like Livingston, it would have been so easy for the Celtic team to have struggled mentally with tiredness.
But with Maeda in the side, constantly working hard for the full 95 minutes, would undoubtedly spur his teammates on to also deliver those same levels of performance.
Despite his flaws in the final third, Celtic fans know that they are very lucky to have someone of Maeda’s calibre in their ranks.
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