Could Jota be the difference maker for Celtic against Hearts?

On Sunday, I got to see Felipe Jota back in a Celtic jersey for the first time in 18 months.

I know it was only a substitute appearance, and I know we only got to see him for the closing stages at Fir Park.

But I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

He did not look like a player coming back from 18 months out

What stood out to me more than anything else was that he was absolutely fearless.

Think about what he has been through.

A lay-off that long would have most players playing with the handbrake on, worrying about every tackle and every twist of the knee.

Not Jota.

He looked like he was champing at the bit to get going again, and it showed in every touch.

There was no hesitation, no caution, none of the nerves you would half expect from a man who has spent the best part of two years watching from the stands.

In fact, he looked like the total opposite of a player carrying the baggage of a long injury.

And that, for me, is the real story of the afternoon.

We have been starved of this kind of quality on the wing for so long

What I noticed immediately was his quality.

I say that because we have been lacking it out wide for such a long time now.

Sebastian Tounekti is a decent player at times, I’ll give him that.

But the difference between the ball Jota can deliver and the ball Tounekti delivers is night and day.

Don’t just take my word for it.

Bill Leckie in the Scottish Sun put it like this, as he compared the two:

That’s what Jota did within 30 seconds of his Celtic return at Fir Park. Exactly what the man he replaced doesn’t do nearly enough.

I couldn’t agree more.

Where it stood out most was in Jota’s ability to cross a ball.

It sounds like such a simple thing, doesn’t it?

A winger who gets his head up and puts the ball into the area where the striker wants it.

Yet we have missed that so badly over the past year or so that seeing it again felt like a luxury.

And the man who stands to gain most from it is Kasper Hogh.

A striker who has been starved of service will be licking his lips at the thought of a few of those whipped in at pace.

Because Hogh can’t score from nothing, and nobody should expect him to.

Give him good delivery, though, and we might just see the player we thought we signed.

Hassan and Jota both looked like they were thriving

It wasn’t only Jota, either.

Haissem Hassan on the other flank looked every bit as lively, and both of them seemed to be enjoying the freedom of the pitch.

They ran at defenders, they got to the byline and they put balls into dangerous areas.

It lifted the whole team, and it certainly lifted the travelling support.

Which brings me to the question that has been rattling around my head since the final whistle.

Could Jota be the difference maker for us against Wouter Vrancken’s Hearts?

I don’t mean that he starts.

Nobody is suggesting we throw a player into a game of that size after 18 months out.

I mean that he comes on again like he did yesterday, and makes an impact when we need it most.

I said in a previous article that we shouldn’t put too much pressure on Jota upon his return.

I stand by that.

But we can also take a lot of heart from what we saw yesterday.

Maybe 4-3-3 is the answer after all

Now, as much as we’ve all wanted a move away from 4-3-3, it seems to be the ideal formation for someone like Jota.

And, of course, for Hassan.

Wingers who want to run at people need the space that system gives them.

You could see that yesterday.

The most outstanding stat from the game was 25 goal attempts, with 15 of them on target.

Twenty-five.

Against Motherwell, granted, but you can be sure it won’t be that easy against a Hearts side high on confidence after a 5-0 victory over St. Mirren.

I doubt we’ll have two thirds of the ball in that game, so I’m not getting carried away.

Then again, when we do have it, the quality of what we do with it matters more than ever.

That is why the delivery matters so much.

It was a dominant performance last Sunday, and in any other week we’d be talking about the score line.

If not for Alex Paulsen, that would have been a statement result…

Instead we’ll have to settle for the knowledge that we’ve got a weapon back in the armoury.

Sunday against Hearts will tell us just how sharp it still is…

And you know which winger I’d want coming off the bench if we’re chasing the game, don’t you?

Jota. End of.

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