Reo Hatate has endured a disappointing international break with Japan, having been left out of the matchday squad for both of their fixtures.
After being left out of Japan’s match against China, Reo Hatate learned on Tuesday night that, again, he has not been included in the matchday squad against Bahrain. [SofaScore]
Despite being called up by manager Hajime Moriyasu for the World Cup qualifying games against China and Bahrain.
This omission comes even after the 7-0 victory over China, where he might have hoped for some minutes against Bahrain.
This decision has raised questions about the utility of his inclusion in the squad, as Hatate ended up not participating and accumulating substantial travel without any game time. Moriyasu previously expressed concerns about the quality of the Scottish Premiership, which impacted his selections, yet Daizen Maeda, another Scottish Premiership player, was called up and used in the games, while Kyogo rarely receives a call-up.
This inconsistency in selection criteria, coupled with the pointless travel and missed training opportunities back at Celtic, could be frustrating for Hatate, who might have benefited more from staying in Glasgow for additional training sessions under Brendan Rodgers.
Meanwhile, Maeda has started on the bench, and at the time of writing, with the game at halftime, he’s yet to come on. He came on against China and scored with a header.