Celtic will be looking to get back to winning ways in the Scottish Premiership when they take on Kilmarnock in their first match since the first international break of the season.
The Hoops travel away from home to face Kilmarnock in the fifth match of the campaign, having won three and drawn one of their first four outings in the division.
Brendan Rodgers may look to hand debuts to new signings Kelechi Iheanacho and Sebastian Tounekti, who both signed for the club after the 0-0 draw with Rangers last time out.
The Celtic boss will be without Alistair Johnston once again at right-back, though, because he was ruled out for 12 weeks after picking up a hamstring injury against Kairat last month.
Rodgers confirmed at the time that the club would not look to dip into the transfer market to sign a replacement right-back because of the injury, which is exactly how the rest of the window played out.
Instead of going for a new signing to fill that gap, academy graduate Anthony Ralston has stepped in once again to provide cover in that position.
Why Celtic should drop Anthony Ralston
The Scotland international should be ruthlessly dropped to the bench by Rodgers because he does not provide the attacking thrust and quality that the team need in that area of the pitch.
There were several moments in the bland 0-0 draw with Rangers when a teammate went to find Ralston with a pass but he was sat too deep and not on the front foot and ready to move forward to receive the pass.
He does not possess the attacking qualities that Johnston has or the front-footed mentality that his fellow right-back has, which is evidenced by his form in all competitions so far this season for the Scottish giants.
Appearances
5
Minutes played
332
Shots
2
Goals
0
Key passes
1
Big chances created
0
Assists
0
As you can see in the table above, Ralston has created one chance, and no ‘big chances’, in 332 minutes of action across five appearances this term, which speaks to his lack of quality on the ball.
Johnston, meanwhile, provided four key passes and created two ‘big chances’ in his two appearances in the Premiership this season before his injury, per Sofascore.
The Canada international also scored four goals, created 15 ‘big chances’, and delivered ten assists in 32 appearances in the Premiership last season, per Sofascore, which shows that he can provide a huge threat in the final third from a right-back position.
Celtic have clearly missed his quality down the right in the last two matches, as they created just two ‘big chances’ in 210 minutes as a team against Kairat and Rangers and failed to score a goal in either game.
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This is why Rodgers must drop Ralston to experiment with Reo Hatate in a brand-new role for him at right-back, inspired by Arne Slot’s decision to play Dominik Szoboszlai in a similar role for Liverpool in the Premier League.
Why Celtic should unleash Reo Hatate at right-back
It is not a completely unfamiliar position for the Japan international because he did play four times at right-back during Ange Postecoglou’s time at the club in the 2022/23 campaign.
However, he has not played a single match outside of central or attacking midfield in two-and-a-bit-seasons since Rodgers returned to the club in the summer of 2023, which means that this would be a brand-new role for him in the current system.
The Northern Irish head coach has utilised inverted full-backs in build-up for a lot of his time in charge of the club, with Greg Taylor and Johnston inverting into central midfield and Callum McGregor dropping between the centre-backs to create overloads in central positions during build-up.
Hatate could suit this role perfectly in the short term until Johnston is back from injury because he is a natural central midfielder, who is also combative and can hold his own defensively.
The Japan international, who was hailed as “incredible” by Rodgers earlier this year, was only dribbled past 0.6 times per game and won 53% of his attempted tackles, per FotMob, which shows that he can stop opposition players from getting past him fairly effectively.
Goals
10
Top 1%
xA
7.95
Top 3%
Assists
4
Top 11%
Dribble success rate
88%
Top 12%
Touches
2,101
Top 5%
Duels won
95
Top 32%
As you can see in the table above, Hatate is a well-rounded midfielder who is incredibly comfortable on the ball in midfield and in the final third, whilst he also excels at winning his duels.
This suggests that he could be well-suited to playing in an inverted right-back role under Rodgers because he has the defensive qualities and the possession-based attributes to pull it off effectively.
Of course, having a player who can make an impact at the top end of the pitch with goals and assists in that position would also improve the team’s chances of creating more in matches than they have with Ralston in recent weeks.
As aforementioned, Ralston has not done enough on the ball to make up for the attacking quality that has been lost through Johnston’s injury, which is why Hatate should be unleashed in this brand-new role in the meantime.
This move would also free up Luke McCowan, who scored eight goals and provided eight assists in the Premiership last season, to play in the middle of the park with McGregor and Benjamin Nygren.
Overall, Hatate’s qualities on and off the ball and his prior experience at right-back in a different system under Postecoglou could make him the perfect candidate to fill in for Johnston in a brand-new role under Rodgers against Kilmarnock on Sunday.
This is why the Celtic head coach should ruthlessly drop Ralston from the starting line-up to see how the Japanese star fares in a new position this weekend.
