Rodgers must brutally drop Yang to unleash Celtic’s “magic” wizard

Celtic are in action in the Scottish Premiership for the final time in 2024 as they prepare to welcome St Johnstone to Parkhead this afternoon.

The Hoops head into this match off the back of a 4-0 win over Motherwell last time out, thanks to goals from Arne Engels, Daizen Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn, and Reo Hatate.

Despite the impressive win, one player who should be dropped from the team is centre-forward Adam Idah, who Football FanCast published an article on after the match.

The article explained how he fluffed his chance to impress, with zero goals and zero assists in his time on the pitch, and Kyogo Furuhashi should come back in today.

The Ireland international, who lost 100% of his duels in the game, should be ditched from the side, but he is not the only one who Brendan Rodgers should drop.

The Celtic forward who should be dropped alongside Adam Idah

Hyun-jun Yang was handed another opportunity to impress from the start, with Kuhn not deemed fit enough to play more than a bench role, and failed to do enough to justify his place in the team moving forward.

The South Korean winger was largely anonymous throughout his time on the pitch at Parkhead but did play a crucial role in the opening goal, by winning that penalty that Arne Engels scored from. He made a run across the goalkeeper, who appeared to catch him, and that provided the Belgian with the chance to open the scoring.

Outside of that, however, Yang did not create a single chance for his teammates and did not register any shots on target in 63 minutes on the pitch.

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The 22-year-old forward, who also lost six of his nine duels, should be brutally binned from the starting line-up in order for the Hoops to bring Kuhn straight back into the team after his cameo on Boxing Day.

Why Nicolas Kuhn should start

Firstly, the German winger made a greater impact in his 27 minutes on the pitch than Yang did in 63, scoring the fourth goal for Celtic and creating a chance for the team.

Secondly, Kuhn’s overall form in all competitions for the Scottish giants so far this season suggests that Rodgers would improve his side by putting him back into the starting XI.

The former Bayern Munich youngster has racked up an eye-catching 13 goals and 11 assists in 24 appearances this term, which shows that he has provided regular quality as both a scorer and a creator of goals from the right flank.

24/25 Premiership	Nicolas Kuhn
Starts	11
Goals	6
Big chances created	7
Assists	6
Key passes per game	2.2
Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Kuhn’s performances in the Premiership have been particularly impressive, with more goal contributions than starts.

The German wizard, who was described as “magic” by Rodgers in pre-season, is a star in this Celtic side and should be starting when he is fit enough to do so.

Therefore, Rodgers must bring him straight back into the starting line-up this afternoon against St Johnstone after he impressed off the bench last time out, with Idah and Yang both dropped from the XI.