Liel Abada reveals secret Celtic homework Harry Kewell sets as the Socceroos legend looks to fire the winger to the next level
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Liel Abada wasn’t even born when Harry Kewell was lighting up Leeds United and was still in his cot when the Aussie ace was loved at Liverpool.
But the Hoops ace admits he’s been going to school on the Parkhead coach’s career and the valuable lessons are helping him get top marks at Celtic. Boss Ange Postecoglou drafted in the Socceroos legend in the summer to bolster his backroom team alongside John Kennedy, Gavin Strachan and Stevie Woods. At 21-years-old, Abada didn’t get to see Kewell at his peak when he was an English Premier League mega star.
The Hoops coach was picked up as a kid in Sydney by Leeds United and was part of a golden period at Elland Road which included a run to the the Champions League semi-finals. He would hit even greater heights after his £5m move to Liverpool – where he became the first – and only – Aussie to get his hands on the Big Cup alongside Steven Gerrard in the famous night in Istanbul when the Reds blazed back from three goals down to see off AC Milan.
Abada hadn’t even started school by that stage but he did his homework on the hero having lapped up the training sessions and he’s convinced the coach can help take his game to the next level. Abada said: “I didn’t watch Harry as I was still young. I don’t remember that. I watched videos after I met him and he was very, very good and had an amazing career. It is a pleasure for me to learn from this player. Just work hard and it is very good he looks after us.
“I think we can learn a lot from him because he played in the Premier League and had an amazing career. He teaches us a lot about the football because we are young players and want to get better all the time. It is very important for us that he looks after us.”
Israel ace Abada can sense the improvement in his game. The wide man was one of the stars of last year’s campaign after an explosive first season in Scotland following his £3.5m transfer from Petah Tikva.
He rattled 16 goals in the title winning term and created a barrel load more – and he’s maintained the form this year with another 11 goals in the bag already. Abada has already bagged three winner’s medals with the Hoops after Sunday’s Viaplay Cup triumph against Rangers but he isn’t done yet and he believes he’s still got more to come too.
Abada said: “I feel like I am a better player than I was last season to be honest. I think I can still learn a lot from the manager and his coaching staff to get even better.
“Gavin and Harry do it with me every time. I just want to get better for me, the team, the club, everyone.
“Everyone has helped me to get better, that’s the coaches and the players too. I look to improve my performances every time I get to play for the club.
“You have to do your best every day and that’s what I try to do. I think this season to get the left-back one on one more and get confidence. “The players help me with that and the coaches do extra with me after training.
“Help me with what to do, what not to do, what is better for me, what is not better for me. I just learn and want to get better and better.”
Abada hasn’t started as many games at he would have liked of late as Postecoglou has gone with a more settled starting line up in the recent run of fixtures. But that hasn’t diminished his role in the team. The Hoops manager puts huge important on his substitutes and the likes of Abada are expected to come on and make an impact.
More often than not he has. It was the same on Sunday when it looked like Rangers were creeping into the contest but the wide man helped shift the momentum back, along with Oh Hyeon-gyu and Sead Haksabanovic.
A battle that could have got nervy ended up with Celtic threatening to run riot by the end. Abada admitted he is not the kind of guy to be chewing his gaffer’s ear to make the starting XI. He’s just determined to play his part when he gets the chance.
The youngster said: “When I went on the manager told me to just work hard. That’s it, just work hard and when we are attacking be focused 100 percent.
“I’m really happy about Sunday. It was very important for us and we’ve got more targets this season and we keep going.
“It is up to the manager who starts the game or not. I just wanted to come on and try to impact the game and to win for the team and everyone connected to Celtic.
“I just have to work hard and try to do my best to help the team when I get the opportunity. I think the manager has built a team that stays together no matter what is happening.
“We are all in it together and we work hard every single day to have success. We always look to play the Celtic way but that togetherness is the key to our success.”
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