Reo Hatatate revealed an area of his game that Anju Postecoglou told him to improve on – he already knew himself.
The Japanese midfielder has been with Celtic for over a year and has combined his technical prowess with his fighting ability in the middle of the park to become a big hit in Scottish football. However, after missing out on a place in the World Cup national team and watching his mates perform on that stage, he knew he needed to keep working to improve.
He decided to talk to Postecoglou to hear what the manager thought and what parts of his game needed to be worked out – and beneficially they shared the same opinion. The Greek thinks his playing in the last third of the pitch needs improvement, something the 25-year-old already felt.
Tough matches against opponents like Real Madrid in the Champions League have also strengthened it and he uses it all as a learning curve.
On the Sportiva blog, Hata said:
“I knew the answer myself, but I knocked on the Celtic manager’s door to get confirmation.
“When I visited the room, he said, ‘What you need to improve further is the quality of the attacking third.’ gave
“At the post-match press conference, the coach told me how I would visit the coach after every game to review the video. Instead of revealing his own advice, he praised my efforts and the coach’s work.
“His consideration and trust in such situations is where I respect him as a director and as a person.
“Regardless of my position, I can get in front of the goal if I widen my range of play. We think it’s going to be a weapon, a feature, and a powerful part.”
The flag bearer has failed to win a match after his first Champions League entry when Celtic drew with Real Madrid, RB Leipzig and Shakhtar Donetsk.
It was another learning curve for the midfielder and reinforced his belief that he needs to improve going forward.
“The Champions League brings together the monsters of world football.
“Against Real Madrid and RB Leipzig, we were able to carry the ball into the box in the game. But there was a difference in how we finished. We didn’t win a single match. Faced with its final quality to the goal.
“This year, I have been in the attacking zone more often, but I have to connect it to goals and assists.
“It became even more real when I saw how ace players like Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe scored goals and led their teams to victory at the Qatar World Cup.”
