IWATA IS ANGE’S SHAPE SHIFTER

Tomoki has the nous to give Celtic greater tactical flexibility as boss bids to raise bar

THOSE looking for signs of Ange Postecoglou’s enduring hunger for managing Celtic would have been encouraged to hear him speak to the media on Friday afternoon. Relaxed and expansive after the conclusion of a deal for South Korean striker Oh Hyeon-gyu that has all but completed the club’s incoming January transfer business, the Parkhead boss offered an insight into his long-term strategy for his team.

New defenders Alistair Johnston and Yuki Kobayashi have already shown signs that they will improve Celtic but it’s the arrival of midfielder Tomoki Iwata that Postecoglou views as a potentially game-changing acquisition.

Previously the Australian’s midfield general at Yokohama F. Marinos, Iwata is the reigning J-League Player of the Year and one the manager believes possesses sufficient tactical nous and flexibility to allow him to change Celtic’s formation.

Since arriving from Japan in the summer of 2021, Postecoglou has deployed a set 4-3-3 shape with any variation deriving from the specific attributes of the players on the park at any given moment.

The arrival of Iwata (below), who debuted in place of Callum McGregor at half-time in last weekend’s Scottish Cup win over Morton, has fulfilled a wish Postecoglou has harboured since leaving Yokohama but neglected to act on earlier out of respect to his former employers.

That respect did not, of course, prevent him leaving Japan for the chance of managing Celtic in the first place. Furthermore, it would be naïve to think the 57-year-old views Scotland as his ceiling.

Yet while he may be ambitious, Postecoglou does not appear either bored or restless.

Having poured so much into building a young and exciting team, he sees clear potential for further growth and development.

‘The key thing is that Tomoki gives us more options and we can now change things around a bit,’ said Postecoglou. ‘We can change the formation at times. Not necessarily short term but over the long term we want to be able to do that.

‘Obviously Callum is outstanding wherever you play him. We had a period where he was out and we put Matt O’Riley back there. Matt did a great job for us but we didn’t have an obvious guy to come in and play that role.

‘Tomoki is a different type of No 6 and I think he and Cal could play together. You can move Cal and not lose any of his effectiveness.

‘That’s something we will look at. The key thing is it gives us more flexibility around the way we can set up the team.’

McGregor will captain Celtic in today’s league match against Dundee United at Tannadice, but Iwata’s personality has already made a strong impression on his team-mate.

‘The lads tell me that out of all our foreign boys Tomoki’s English is the best,’ added Postecoglou. ‘So he has obviously been working on that over the last six months in Japan.

‘I was really keen to bring him in and I’ve no doubt he will contribute to us.’

While Postecoglou’s words float the intriguing possibility of Iwata and McGregor starting today, there is little prospect of Oh parachuting straight into the starting XI, although a debut could arise from the bench.

‘He has had three weeks of pre-season training in Korea but he hasn’t played since November,’ explained Postecoglou. ‘So we need to get some game time into him. I will see how he is.

‘He has trained well but it has been a big week for him physically and emotionally with the move.

‘I will assess when is the best time to bring him in. If it’s not the weekend, it will definitely be midweek (against Livingston). I’m keen to get him involved.’

Out on his own as the Premiership’s top goalscorer, Kyogo Furuhashi will continue to lead the line for now.

Giorgos Giakoumakis has vied with the Japanese for the central striking role for much of their shared time in Glasgow but a failure to agree a new contract with the club has seen the Greek settle into a reserve role.

Oh’s arrival will present a new test to Furuhashi but Postecoglou has insisted Giakoumakis will still have a part to play if the transfer interest of Uwara Red Diamonds and Atlanta United wanes before the midweek transfer deadline.

‘There’s nothing

‘TOMOKI IS A DIFFERENT TYPE OF NO 6 AND I DO THINK THAT HE AND CAL COULD PLAY TOGETHER’

concrete but it’s fair to say there is still interest in him,’ continued Postecoglou. ‘There has to be agreement among all parties, the player needs to want to go to the destination and we as a football club have to be satisfied that our demands are being met. The interested club need to be happy, too.

‘I am relaxed about it. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t he stays part of our group moving forward and I’m sure he’ll get opportunities to contribute. ‘There are still a few days to go but with all the speculation around him it’s fair to say it’s uncertain.’ Giakoumakis hasn’t started for Celtic since they last faced United on November 5 and has been absent from even the bench in the team’s last two games due to an unspecified injury.

Even if he does not feature today, the Greek will remain indelibly associated not only with Celtic’s title win of last season but for scoring on the very night the team clinched the championship at Tannadice back in May.

The good vibes extended into the current campaign when Celtic returned to Tayside to issue a ninegoal thrashing of Jack Ross’s side back in August.

‘We were good that day but we didn’t score our first goal until late in the first half,’ said Postecoglou. ‘After that, everything went in and it’s fair to say they were going through a tough time under Jack.

‘They had been in Europe and that hadn’t gone well but since Liam (Fox) came in it has settled them. Just look at their performances and results since the break. They have been really consistent and you can see they are playing with more belief and confidence, so it will be a good test for us. Even last year they gave us a couple of tight games. We needed a last-minute (Liel) Abada goal to beat them at home and even the night we won the title it was a 1-1 draw.’

If Abada’s late winner felt like a touchstone moment of last season’s Celtic resurgence, the little Israeli provided another key moment in that meeting back in November.

A Dylan Levitt strike had hauled Fox’s men level with just three minutes of the 90 remaining. Abada and Furuhashi pounced to earn Celtic the win — but Postecoglou took note of United’s improvement.

‘Ive always felt they have really good individual players in their team,’ he explained. ‘Dylan Levitt has scored a couple of times against us and is definitely a talent. Guys like (Steven) Fletcher and others give them experience and in Mark Birighitti and Aziz Behich they have a couple of Aussie boys who I know really well.

‘Playing away from home is always a challenge but going to these places, focusing on ourselves and playing our best football makes us really hard to stop.’