Reo Hatate: From Celtic’s Untouchable Star to Last Night’s Struggles – What Went Wrong and How Can He Bounce Back

Reo Hatate.

The man is something of an enigma.

Just over a fortnight ago, against RB Leipzig, the man was unplayable.

Everything he touched turned to gold, and he capped an excellent performance on the night off with a goal.

So, where was that Reo Hatate last night?

Because to me, it appeared as if a shadow of the man who had played two weeks ago turned up for the game against Brugge.

I don’t know if it was a case that the damp squib that the first half was had a negative affect on him or what?

But everything Hatate touched last night, well, it went to a Brugge player.

If it didn’t, it just went nowhere in particular, row z, random parts of the field, random parts of the box, anywhere but where it mattered.

His passing was slack, his ball play was loose, and by his body language, he knew it.

This was noticeable from very early on in the tie.

So, I asked myself why Rodgers stuck with him?

Did he hold out hope that he would come good when the equaliser was scored?

Did he think Hatate would feed off the heightened atmosphere in the second half after Maeda scored?

I don’t know.

But I was positive when I saw Bernardo being readied to come on that Hatate would be the player to make way.

Yes, I know Engels was more, or less, a passenger for the 60 minutes he played.

But what little he did get of the ball, he managed to distribute to a fellow team mate.

He wasn’t inclined to be as generous as Hatate was, and hand it back to the opposition.

But it was Engels who made way.

Which at the time was fair enough, like I said, maybe Rodgers held out hope Hatate would up his game.

But that’s just it, he didn’t.

And the more we attacked, the more those attacks petered out whenever Hatate was involved.

It’s hard to understand how a player who was literally on fire against RB Leipzig could transition from that, to what we saw last night.

By about the 75th minute, I resigned myself to the fact he wasn’t going to deliver in any way, shape or form.

Aside from the one decent shot that he had, which fizzed past Mignolet’s right upright, Hatate was just poor.

What I couldn’t understand was how Rodgers, who is normally ruthless in these kinds of situations, didn’t think that too?

He had Luke McCowan on the bench, I’ve no doubt he would have made a better fist of it than Hatate for the last 15 minutes or so.

Even when we had our final attack in stoppage time, the ball came to Hatate, and what did he do?

He just played a nothing ball.

Into a wide open space in the box, where nobody was available.

That final ball from him just about summed his night up.

When the camera zoomed in on him, he was shaking his head and looking to the heavens.

Even Hatate himself was wondering what the hell had gone wrong with his game?

I’m not being harsh, but I feel if Rodgers had hooked him in the second half, we’d have won that game.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Hatate when he’s on his game.

But when he has nights like last night, he’s beyond frustrating.

In the second half, Brugge were there for the taking.

With a little bit more penetration from midfield, we could have got the job done.

Hatate was the weak link.

We have to hope in our next Champions League game that he’s back to himself.

If not, Rodgers needs to be ruthless in Zagreb.

Another evening of watching Hatate feel sorry for himself just won’t cut it at this level.

I’m sure Hatate knows that himself too.

So let’s hope he learns from it.