There is no stopping Daizen Maeda at Celtic right now.
When Kyogo Furuhashi left Celtic during the January transfer window, fans were surprised and annoyed that he hadn’t been replaced.
Many felt that Brendan Rodgers’ side were left short and light up top, as they were heading towards the final few months of the campaign.
But, fast forward to the present, and Celtic are well clear at the top of the Premiership table, including a realistic chance of a Treble.
A lot of that is down to the goalscoring might of Maeda because he has gone crazy in that forward area since his fellow countryman left.
Maeda is heading towards being Player of the Year, including scoring a brace at the weekend as Celtic beat Hearts 3-0 to take his tally to 30 for the season.
But some interesting comments have now been made about the Japan international, despite his improvements and level of goal-scoring.
Ross McCormack questions the level of Daizen Maeda’s finishing at Celtic
Not only has Maeda gone to another level on the domestic stage, or ever since he was handed that forward role, but he has also been doing it on the Champions League stage.
But, former Leeds striker Ross McCormack says that Maeda ‘isn’t an unbelievable finisher’ despite the levels he is hitting right now.
This left his fellow Open Goal pundits, Paul Slane and Si Ferry, shocked, as they disagreed with McCormack’s controversial take.
“Four goals away from beating Kyogo’s all-time tally at Celtic,” said Slane. “He is incredible. He really is. He is actually better up front. One of you said that.”
McCormack then stated: “Aye, because he hasn’t got time to think about things,” before Slane added: “But he is an unbelievable finisher. He really is.”
McCormack then asked: “Do you think he is an unbelievable finisher, Maeda?”
Slane and Ferry agreed: “Aye, I think he is good for us. I can’t remember many chances he has missed,” before McCormack then claimed about Maeda’s finishing: “No, not overly.”
Slane added: “The type of finishes, he is good in the air. The one v Brugge at home was unbelievable, where he has whipped it far corner. He has got a lot of different types of finishes. You don’t seem keen on him.”
McCormack then explained: “Listen, he is an unbelievable player. Somebody you want in your team, but as an out-and-out finisher, I don’t think he is technically like that.”
Ferry was shocked: “Really? I think he is good for us,” before Andy Halliday agreed: “I don’t think he is an unbelievable finisher. That’s what you are saying. I think he is a brilliant goalscorer. I know that sounds stupid. I look at Alfredo Morelos, who was a brilliant goalscorer, but he wasn’t an unbelievable finisher.
Types of Maeda’s finishers this season
Before this season, one of Maeda’s problems was the fact that he wasn’t clinical enough in front of the goal.
But was that because he wasn’t the main man up top, and now that he has that responsibility, he has taken his game to another level?!
Here are the types of finishers from Maeda in the Premiership and Europe this season, as posted by WhoScored.
