Liel Abada: A rough diamond with so much more talent to unearth

It would be hyperbolic to describe Liel Abada as the forgotten man but perhaps “lesser-spotted” would be fitting.

After Daizen Maeda picked up a knock during the first half of Celtic’s 3-1 win over Ross County last weekend, Ange Postecoglou summoned Abada from the bench and the 20-year-old Israeli justified his arrival by curling in Celtic’s third in stoppage time to ease any fears of late drama.

Abada may not feel like a prominent figure at Celtic but he took his opportunity in the spotlight, providing a reminder that he has plenty to offer this season — and that he relishes the challenge of fighting for his place.

“There is a good chance that any of the players in the squad can be chosen for the starting line-up,” Abada told the Daily Record this week.

“If I’m not one of those, I’ll still do my hard work and be positive. Then, when I do have a chance, I want to make sure that I help the team. I’m still young and after a game, I like to do good recovery so I can be ready for the next one.”

This feels like a seismic season for Abada, one in which he can reach the next level, having already impressed in his debut season.

He made an impact after arriving from Maccabi Petah Tikva as the first major signing of the Postecoglou era last July, providing a combined 26 goals and assists, and being named the club’s young player of the year. He scored crucial goals against Ferencvaros and Rangers, and the most manically celebrated late winner against Dundee United.

It was a seamless transition from his boyhood club, whose average attendance was in the hundreds, to one whose stadium capacity goes beyond 60,000 with supporters in every corner of the world.

However, his form dipped in spring just as Maeda’s made him undroppable. The Japanese forward, who arrived in January to provide competition for Abada, Jota, James Forrest and Mikey Johnston, may have taken a while to find his feet but was outstanding during those final few months of the title run-in. Maeda’s performances, combined with Jota’s status as Celtic’s most gifted and creative forward, meant that Abada spent much of the second half of the season on the bench.

It was a similar situation with David Turnbull. After returning from his three-month hamstring injury in March, Turnbull found game time rare, with Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley arriving in January and excelling. Turnbull started only two of the remaining nine games he was available for. This was not the fault of Turnbull or Abada. Such is the nature of an improving squad that players of their quality have to compete earnestly.

Celtic want to add another winger this window, having enquired about Barcelona’s 23-year-old Alex Collado this week, which will only increase the difficulty of Abada’s task of breaking back into the starting XI.

Yet he has used adversity and competition as motivation. Abada started all three of Israel’s UEFA Nations League games in June, grabbing his first international goal against Iceland and an assist against Albania. Back at Lennoxtown, Abada may have lost his compatriot, close friend and “big bro” Nir Bitton — now back in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv — but he is believed to be even more committed in training than last year.

He is intent on improving himself physically and technically. Those quotes from the Daily Record were not by-the-numbers answers — he is a Postecoglou-ism devotee.

How exactly, then, can Abada become a regular again and develop further as a player?

His 15 goals and 11 assists last season made Abada Celtic’s second-most productive attacking player behind Jota (27 goals plus assists). He started the campaign as a teenager and his underlying stats were impressive, too, with 0.45 expected goals per 90 minutes and 0.51 expected assists per 90. If he were to replicate that output this year, it would represent an excellent season.

Instead, the areas where Abada can improve are more intangible. When pundits talk about how a player does everything else well and they just need to add goals and assists to their game, Abada can be considered the opposite. He is a great finisher with a poacher’s instinct and is capable of precise passes and crosses, but he needs to improve his decision-making on the ball, the consistency of his delivery, his close control and dribbling. Those attributes are some of Jota’s best.

The Ross County game was a pertinent example. Abada had a frustrating game after coming on, with failed dribbles and overhit crosses, but he compensated for those issues by scoring a lovely, important goal.

Those 45 minutes captured what he excels at and what he needs to work on. Abada’s attacking stats are good but honing his fundamentals can elevate them. By improving his dribbling, he can get into more promising goalscoring positions and by refining his decision-making and crossing, he will create even more chances.

This is not a desperate crossroads, where the arc of Abada’s career rests on how the next 10 months pan out. He is still young, not turning 21 until October. He has time to transform erratic potential into fully-formed and consistent greatness, regardless of how successfully this season goes.

Abada is an exciting and capable player, but he also has the quality to be so much more. It will be fascinating to see if that elite-level talent begins to emerge this year.

(Photo: Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)