Satoshi Tanaka- Shonan Bellmare Scouting report





Satoshi Tanaka: A Promising Utility Man


Date Of Birth: 13 August 2002
Country: Japan
Club: Shonan Bellmare
Position: Left Back, Cdm, Central Midfield
Height: 172 CM
Foot: Left



Clubs now want players that can do it all: Play out from the back, work within a system of possesion based football and all be a solid player. And just like that I find Satoshi Tanaka from Shonan Bellmare, currently playing in Japan's top league who can make the leap to many European teams instantly.

The J league has become a hotbed for European teams looking to pick up top talent on the cheap and the players certainly pass the eye test. Stat wise the J league talents also fit the bill for fast paced European football as Japanese players run the most out of any league in the world.

Satoshi Tanaka has been having a flyer for Shonan this season, despite the fact the club sit in the bottom three at the time of writing. Having started 10 out the 11 games so far, he has appeared in the team of the week twice already. The 21 year old (22 in August) has already had experience in European football, having been on loan with Kortrijk in Belgium for 6 months in 2022-23 season. 

What position does Satoshi Tanaka play?


Often playing in front of a back three, he can also play as a central midfielder or left back but in my opinion his strongest position is a central midfielder. A typical box to box role suit's his hard working style best. An 82% pass rate so far this season combined with 2.7 tackles and 2.3 interceptions per game along with 6.1 balls recovered per game showcase his ability to break up the play on the press and also start a counter in a possesion based system. He is very alert defensively, seeing the play ahead of others, often intercepting attempted passes before looking to send it forward to those making a run upfield on the counter. Suprisingly he is also fouled more times than he gives away fouls with a 0.5 difference. This is due to his small 172cm stature combined with his fantastic balance and agility. 

What is his ideal position?


His stats regarding goals and assist don't jump out instantly however this is due to him playing in a more defensive role. I believe if he was played in a more advanced role from his cdm then he will bump his assists numbers way up. A very technical player who rarely passes backwards, his passing is easily his best strength especially in the opposition half, making 79% of his passes.  In the final third he rarely makes a mistake often taking his time, waiting on his team mates to make runs into the box. He is also very good at using fakes to confuse the defenders often showing his defender one way with a head fake before sending the ball into the opposite direction. If his team mates were better finishers then his assist's would certainly be more eye catching.

What are his weaknesses?


His height might turn off some teams, despite this he does win 46% of his ariel duels. I believe he needs to work on his finishing as he only has 0.1 shots on target despite having 1 shot per game. His right foot seems to be very weak compared to his left, however all of these weaknesses can be worked on as they are technical. Satoshi is a hard working player who works well with his team mates. Moving him up the pitch should enhance his dribbling abilities combined with some upper body strength and his improvement will seem huge. 

A player with a bright future is worth keeping an eye on. A regular for Japan's U-23's, there is potential for him to be in the National team. Just like many Japanese players that have gone to Europe in recent years, the potential for both club and player is high.  Expect to see him make the move to Europe again in the near future. 

Ideal Club:

A move to a top 5 league is a little too soon for him, but a move to a fast paced league like Croatian, Serbian, Swedish, French Ligue 2 or Scottish could provide the perfect situation to progress his skills and get settled in European football before moving on to bigger things. A club like Hajduk Split or Rijeka in the Croatian League or Red Star Belgrade in Serbia could be perfect. Each club plays fast paced possesion football, are competing to win trophies and eachclub has a great record of developing players and moving them on to bigger things is ideal for everyone. 

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