Phenomenal – How Nakamura set a new standard at Celtic

Gordon Strachan has named the two players that he feels were his best signings and points to personality traits that added to their success as footballers. One had a natural intelligence and the other was able to change the culture at Celtic due to the way he approached his life as a professional footballer.

Robbie Keane joined Coventry for record transfer fee. Manager Gordon Strachan with new Coventry City signing Robbie Keane.

“In terms of pure skill, there are two who really stick out; Robbie Keane and Shunsuke Nakamura,” the former Celtic manager said, as reported by Glasgow Times. “Robbie was a complete one-off and he had natural intelligence and an ability to take things in at the first time of asking. We worked with him on a few things at Coventry, but it became evident he didn’t need to be told things twice before they sunk in.

Shunsuke Nakamura and Koki Mizuno warm up during a Celtic training session ahead of their UEFA Champions league match against Barcelona February 19, 2008 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

“Nakamura was £1.6million and an absolute genius. He stopped playing at 44 if I’m not mistaken, and after watching one tape of him myself and the coaching team knew we had to sign him.

“One tape went to me, one to Jim Blyth, one went to Garry Pendrey and one to Tommy Burns. It was a unanimous decision by all of us. I have signed and managed better players, I must admit, but just his skill and his bravery were absolutely incredible.

“He set standards in training as well. After every single game, regardless of who we were playing, he would change out of his match day kit, get into clean training kit and go and do 45 minutes of strength work on his upper and lower body.”

Photo: imago/AFLOSPORT Shunsuke Nakamura, Celtic

Matt Corr has plenty to say about Nakamura in his latest book, Majic, Stan and the King of Japan and you can get a copy for HALF PRICE in the Celtic Star’s Winter Sale HERE. And Gordon Strachan clearly believes that The King of Japan helped change the culture around the training ground, as he recalls the influence Naka had on his Celtic team-mates.

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And tellingly Gordon Strachan warns that this attribute is ofter lacking when clubs are trying to recruit players. The former Celtic manager said. “It didn’t matter if we were playing Livingston, Manchester United or AC Milan, he was the last off the training ground. Then he would come in at 8am and do weights in the gym with a fitness coach. Eventually, Aidan McGeady was in there, Shaun Maloney was in there, as was Gary Caldwell.

“He set a new standard in training which was phenomenal. That’s something that data can’t tell you, about the humility of the player and the environment they create as well.

Shunsuke Nakamura, Celtic. Photo: imago/AFLOSPORT

“If your recruitment team doesn’t recruit people like that, then you won’t have a successful environment. They need humility, they need a work ethic, they need to be good with people and have an intellect in order to learn and develop as a football.

“It’s like in any business, you have to have the intellect to adapt and progress. Data is almost like the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ in the sense that it is useful, but you have to literally decode it and check for traits such as their ability to deal with people. Data is the easy part, but you have to look beyond the numbers.”

Maybe Strachan is right and Moneyball isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.