John Hartson has backed the idea of Hyeongyu Oh and Kyogo Furuhashi starting together for Celtic.
It’s not something Brendan Rodgers has tried or done before, with Kyogo Furuhashi being the obvious main goalscorer for Celtic and the club’s January capture playing the back-up role.
That was always going to be the case because of the magic and big-game moments Kyogo Furuhashi has produced.
But John Hartson is loving the type of impact Hyeongyu Oh is having from the bench for Celtic and how he is ‘roughing centre-halves up’, as he told Go Radio.
As a result, he would like to see Celtic’s two strikers starting together and he thinks it’s something ’the supporters would actually like to see’.
Brendan Rodgers himself mentioned in his pre-match presser ahead of the Hibernian game that he isn’t against the idea.
So, with Hibs visiting Parkhead on Wednesday night and then the trip to Kilmarnock at the weekend, perhaps fans will get to see it happen.
If it does happen, as John Hartson mentioned, it would require a change in formation.
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Hyeongyu Oh and Kyogo Furuhashi to start together for Celtic?
“Celtic are very thin, on the ground, in terms of centre-forwards,” said Hartson. “We know Kyogo is a fantastic goalscorer and a fantastic player.
“But sometimes you need to create and give Kyogo opportunities. He’s a box player. Sometimes, for me, you need a big centre-forward to feed off, if you like.
“Brendan has said that he isn’t averse to playing the two up top. I don’t think he has started the season with the particular two up. That means you might have to sacrifice a wide man. Maybe go to a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2, in order to get two players up there.
“What we have seen a few times and I have been impressed with Oh is he has come on in games when you need a physical presence – we have seen Oh coming on and making an impact in the game. Roughing up the centre-halves. Being physical. Putting his body on the line.
“I think the supporters would actually like to see, maybe now you have Hibs and then Kilmarnock at the weekend, maybe an opportunity to see Oh and Kyogo starting.”
Hyeongyu Oh playing a difficult role for Celtic
The name of Giorgos Giakoumakis has been brought up a lot when discussing Oh’s role and performances for Celtic, and probably unfairly so.
It’s not easy just playing a splash of minutes here and there without any consistent starts, especially when, as a goalscorer, you are judged on goals.
There is no rhythm to your game, so that needs to be taken into account, with Oh scoring three goals this term.
Yes, Giakoumakis was dynamite for Celtic and now the MLS is watching him thrive, but Oh needs some understanding that if he was starting more regularly then he probably would be far better.
Perhaps that can come in the form of starting Oh and Kyogo together because it’s something not even Ange Postecoglou did.