Yosuke Ideguchi confesses to bizarre Celtic injury disaster as star wiped out by rogue MANNEQUIN
The midfielder has achieved success back in Japan but couldn't get going at Parkhead under Ange Postecoglou.
Yosuke Ideguchi has lifted the lid on what went wrong for him at Celtic - and admits a lack of ego couple with a rogue mannequin put paid to his Parkhead chances.
The midfielder was one of the Japanese cohort Ange Postecoglou brought to Parkhead from the J League in his first term at the club. But as Kyogo, Daizen Maeda and Reo Hatate thrived, Ideguchi struggled and was sent out on loan to Avispa Fukuoka earlier this year. After recovering from an ankle fracture, the midfielder has turned into a star turn for Shigetoshi Hasebe's side who achieved glory this weekend.
They beat Urawa Red Diamonds 2-1 to claim Levain Cup success and fans and commentators were left raving over the Celtic loanee. Nikkan Sports claim the 27-year-old is an 'indispensable' player and Fukuoka are now "aiming to acquire Yosuke Ideguchi on a permanent transfer." Speaking to Auone, the man himself admitted he had to get out of Glasgow with playing chances few and far between.
He said: "I felt that I had no chance of playing at Celtic, but when Avispa approached me, I came without hesitation. But at first I felt like too much was expected of me. Of course, there were many players, staff, and supporters who didn't know me, and I felt like they expected me to play both offense and defence. "However, during my injury. I was able to objectively look at Avispa's style from the outside and think about it. The first image is to pull back and defend, then take back and attack, mainly with crosses.
"I thought if I could add an accent to that, if I could play more calmly, things would go well. They came there to bring about change. When it comes to defence, before, I was instinctive and would definitely go out and take it if I thought I could get it, and play freely, but now I look at my surroundings and pay attention to other players so that there are no holes left in the team. I think it became. Even in that, don't lose your (characteristic) aggressiveness. I think that's a little different from who I was before."
Ideguchi also revealed the bizarre circumstances behind one of the injuries that derailed his Celtic spell. He said: "When I played in Germany, I tore my posterior cruciate ligament just after I finally got the starting spot, and at Celtic, I got hit by a mannequin-like doll used in practice and tore my knee.
"However, I went (overseas) at the timing I wanted. Other than injury, I think the reason why I couldn't play in Europe was that I wasn't demanding enough (of those around me), or I wasn't egotistical enough. Since you can't catch the ball by yourself, there was a time when you couldn't decide where to aim. At Celtic (a strong team), we didn't really use defensive players in midfield, so it was difficult for me to realise that what the team wanted was not my characteristic."