Kyogo reveals reason for Celtic rough patch after 'bigger problem' this season

Celtic hero Kyogo Furuhashi has revealed the reason why the Hoops hit a bad patch earlier this season...teams are better organised defensively.

The Japanese talisman - left out of his country's squad for this month's Asian Cup - once again netted a spectacular Old Firm goal at the weekend which turned out to be the winner in a vital 2-1 victory against Rangers. But although the champions are at the top of the table, they have looked more vulnerable this season and have lost twice and drawn three games already.

And Kyogo himself has received some criticism for not being on top form despite scoring his tenth goal of the season in all competitions for Celtic at the weekend. And, in his magazine column in his homeland, he's put forward a theory for the downturn in form.

He said: "At the beginning of the season, our attacking play was working well as a team, but now the opposing teams have taken better measures. We were forced to try and break down teams in front of their goal, but from there we conceded a lot of goals through counter-attacks and also set-plays. How do you break down the opponent's defence in such a situation? This has always been an issue at Celtic, but now it has emerged as an even bigger problem this season."

And he's revealed how much joy his wonder goal against Rangers gave him as he helped send the Hoops eights points clear at the Scottish Premiership summit. He said: "My goal this year is to make the fans cheering me smile and have fun playing football myself. All I needed was a goal to do that because when you score a goal, you will naturally smile. I'm not the type to set big targets. I want to climb the stairs in my own way."