Why Celtic's Kyogo needs to revert back to being a striker

The Japanese striker has earned comparisons to the likes of Kenny Dalglish and Henrik Larsson, with the Japan striker even being mentioned in the same breath as that exalted company in terms of his movement, deadly eye for goal, quick brain as well as his finishing prowess. There is no argument here. For the record, Dalglish bulged the net 173 times in 388 games for Celtic. Larsson did it 242 times in 315 appearances for the men in green and white.

Kyogo - who signed a new four-year deal in the summer tying him to the club until 2027 - is well on the way to becoming Celtic's next centurion. Or at least he should be.

However, the arrival of Brendan Rodgers as boss for a second stint has seen the Japanese talisman's game tweaked ever slightly. The Northern Irishman has preferred to deploy Kyogo in a much deeper position, with the manager wanting him to also become a link man and become more involved in the build-up play.

Earlier this season the player himself had this to say when he was asked about his new-found role in the Celtic team.

READ MORE: Why Kyogo will be the next Celtic striker to be crowned king

Kyogo said: "There may be times when I participate in the build-up and connect with everyone to attack. There may also be times when I get away with one chance. I want to be prepared to respond to any of them."

After the 1-0 win at Ibrox back in September Rodgers was at pains to state that nothing much had really changed with regards to Kyogo.

The 50-year-old said: "I have not tinkered with anything at the top end of the pitch. They just needed to connect the game. There are other sorts of areas that we tweaked but from the front end of the pitch is just about them doing what they are doing and adding little bits to that.

"His (Kyogo's) strength is on the last line but you can see he can drop in and add that variety as well. He was there for the finish and it was a brilliant finish. He is such a threat playing on the last line, he was very good."

Celtic have dropped points on just three occasions in the Scottish Premiership this season. A 0-0 draw against St Johnstone in August, the same against Hibernian at Easter Road in October and last weekend in the 1-1 draw with Motherwell.

Each match was a carbon copy of the other. The common denominator was that Kyogo was not on the scoresheet in any of them. That was largely down to the poor service the 28-year-old attacker received in all three encounters.

READ MORE: Celtic's Rodgers compared to Postecoglou in xG differential

However, there is a school of thought emerging that Celtic under Rodgers are not playing to their lethal attacker's strengths. A truly startling and worrying statistic emerged from Saturday's first-half display against Motherwell and it was that Kyogo only touched the ball five times. Five times! None of them resulted in a goal either because despite Kyogo making the type of runs that he has long been associated with in his time at Celtic the pass did not arrive.

The supply was cut off to Celtic's main man due to Motherwell playing in football parlance what is known as the low block. Kyogo has one goal in his last six appearances in a Celtic shirt. That fate has only befallen him once before in his Celtic career so far. It does tell you that there is a circuit not quite connecting when it comes to Kyogo not doing what he does best and that is to play on the shoulder of the last defender and be in and around the box trying to sniff out goals.

Ironically his last goal for the club in the 6-0 home Premiership routing of Aberdeen was typical Kyogo. Matt O'Riley got to the dead-ball line and cut it back. Kyogo has made the trademark run to the near post and side-footed it home. It was a goal that was witnessed so many times under 'Angeball'.  It became Kyogo's currency. The striker should have taken a patent out on it as that's how many times Celtic scored that kind of goal with the 2 v 1 overload from wide positions.

There is a gaping hole in the middle of the Celtic attack when Kyogo is not functioning as an out-and-out striker. He didn't find the net in all three matches against St Johnstone, Hibs and Motherwell, which led to the champions spilling precious Premiership points.

READ MORE: Kyogo reveals Celtic goal target as he praises team-mate

Why take a player out of his natural habitat? Kyogo is of no use to Celtic's attack when he is playing with his back to goal or is 30 yards from the opposition's net. That's not his game.

Celtic were relatively speaking a free-flowing football team under Ange Postecoglou. Kyogo was a vital cog in that green and white machine. His movement was electric.  He was to all intents and purposes a lethal striker and one hell of a team player in the previous regime. It wasn't broken, so there was no need for any kind of fix. There was no real need for Rodgers to put his managerial stamp on a player like Kyogo.

The low cutbacks were meat and drink to Kyogo. They still are. He devoured them, but that creativity and spark has dried up lately for both the Celtic team as well as the player.  It also beggars the question if Kyogo was a new recruit this season would he have already been written off by certain sections of the Celtic support for his contribution or lack of it in some matches?

READ MORE: The Celtic numbers: Brendan Rodgers' side slip up at home

Ironically after Celtic's recent 4-1 win over Tynecastle, Rodgers praised Kyogo to the hilt when he uttered these words: "Celtic over the years have always had a talisman up front, but it's about the team, really. He’s a wonderful little striker, he gets goals, he makes runs, he can make more runs. Overall, he’s a fantastic focal point for us."

A talisman and a wonderful striker who gets goals. The King, The King of Kings and the heir to Dalglish and Larsson's throne all have one thing in common. They all know where the net is.  In short, they are out-and-out strikers. That's all Rodgers needs Kyogo to be.

There's 'focal point' in Kyogo being anything else for Celtic - is there?