MAKE THEM EAT SUSHI – NAKA ATTACK HUMBLES HACKS
At the beginning of this week, following our ground out 1-0 win against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, the horrible hacks and pontificating pundits were lining up to question the abilities, the contributions and the value of Shunsuke Nakamura to the Celtic Cause.
And yet, amongst Celtic fans, few have failed to recognise that since the Japanese midfielder's £2.7million summer signing from Reggina, Shunsuke Nakamura has displayed some outstanding qualities as a player, not least of which has been his significant involvement in so many Celtic goals.
Conceded, Nakamura has not, in every game, grabbed the midfield by the scruff of the neck, but the vast majority of Celtic-minded folk have recognised that someone very special is wearing the Hoops.
Not that we should accept the wisdom of Hackdom: some of its inhabitants did after all describe Valencia as the Aberdeen of Spain and some would not know a Roberto Carlos from a Roberto Malcolm.
Henrik Larsson couldn't cut it in a tougher environment than the SPL, Hackdom insisted of the Celtic Legend. The Magnificent Seven made them eat their words in Europe for Celtic, in the international arena for Sweden and continues to do so at Barcelona .
So should Hackdom now prostrate itself and apologise for yet another outburst based on ignorance after Shunsuke Nakamura's sublime performance for Celtic in our midweek 5-0 mauling of Motherwell.
Nakamura was sensational on Wednesday night, his goal coming from arguably the perfect free-kick and with his range of passing beyond Beckham-esque.
Gordon Strachan recognises a player when he sees one, just as we, as Celtic fans, do. The Celtic Manager waxed lyrical about Shunsuke Nakamura's display in midweek, likening our Japanese Bhoy to Eric Cantona, with whom Strachan of course played at Leeds United.
Strachan said: “One thing about Naka is that he works really hard to perfect his free-kicks. I've watched him stay behind after training in the wind and rain with a bag full of balls to practise his free-kicks and when you work hard enough at something then, along with his natural ability, you are able to score the sort of goal he scored last night.”
Strachan continued: “In many ways, he reminds me of Eric Cantona when we played together at Leeds United. He would return in the afternoons and practice taking the ball on his chest and volleying it into the back of the net. And how many goals did he score like that throughout is career?”
Strachan enthused about Naka: “So it wasn't by accident that Naka scored such a wonderful free-kick against Motherwell. He works hard at it and got his rewards. I also thought his all-round play was excellent, but we know he is such a clever player.”
Incredibly, earlier this week, Gordon Strachan was forced to defend Shunsuke Nakamura against a cynical and some might say wholly ill-informed press pack.
Strachan said: “What is the real Nakamura? Nobody knew about him until he came here. All I know is that if you put down his assists and chances created then he is ahead of anybody at this Club. He tries to play the forward pass, the hard pass. That's what I brought him here for, but you can't succeed with them all the time.”
Strachan continued: “We play him in a position that allows him to roam at times because we know he can create and dig things out that nobody else can do. Just because he doesn't go about crunching into tackles doesn't mean he isn't working. He's working very hard.”
Strachan added: “The people who really matter are his team-mates and coaching staff and they are really pleased with him.”
Shunsuke Nakamura has journeyed to Paradise from Yokohama via Reggina in Serie A, and Gordon Strachan insists that the culture shock of Japan via Italy to Alba is difficult for any player to acclimatise to. However, the Celtic Manager is adamant that Nakamura is settling in very well, despite Scotland's frenetically hurried lifestyle – socially, culturally and in terms of football.
Strachan said: “We have a culture where we do everything quickly. We eat quickly, we drink quickly and that's what we are. If you got to France they take two hours to eat a meal. We take 20 minutes maximum and nobody speaks to each other. We just keep our heads down and rattle our way through it. If you go to America for a game of golf it takes five hours. Over here we fly round like maniacs and it takes two and a half hours.”
Strachan continued: “I can see what the fans want. They want the ball in the box and action. But there are different ways of getting the ball in the box. Fans are the same at every club. It's just that there are more out there and you hear them a lot more.”
And, needless to say, aside from Scotland's frantic, blood and thunder football, Gordon Strachan also played the meteorological card to help explain the difficulties for Shunsuke Nakamura.
Strachan joked: “You think it's a small thing, but it's not. To come from what he is used to and then put up with this weather is difficult. We have had everything recently. We had the tornado season three weeks ago and now it's the monsoon season. It's not easy for him. Even compared to Southampton the weather here is night and day and it does affects your training schedule.”
Nakamura is doing just fine, Gord.
Just keep spinning the hacks the weather forecast. Maybe they can understand that, as many of them know bugger all about football.
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