Kento Tachibanada- Scout Report

 

Date of birth: 29 May 1998

Country: Japan

Position: Central Midfielder/ Defensive Midfield

Height: 168cm

Preferred foot: Right

Club: Kawasaki Frontale

Midfielders in the modern day compared to the previous era's look vastly different. There is a lot more work, a lot more pressing to go with the traditional skills. Although many midfielders have adapted to the change, many have not, however in the J league the box to box midfielder is the norm and I don't think there are many more that standout than Kawasaki Frontale's Kento Tachibanada.

Captain Kento has been with Kawasaki since 2020 having followed in the path of many Japanese players by coming into professional football directly from university. Having being made captain in 2023 he has cemented himself as first choice on the team sheet for the successful J league club. In his first season with the club he made 32 appearances helping the club win it's first J league title and his performances on the pitch have only gone from strength to strength.

Currently this season he has started all 15 games, making the team of the week 1 time, being consistent often recieving a match rating of 7.0 plus on SofaScore. Kento is best suited as a box to box midfielder although he mostly plays as a central defensive midfielder. The reason I suggest he is a box to box is his incredble combination of skills, excelling in passing and tackling. Per game this season he has made 90% of his 51.3 passes, including a phenomonal 26.7 passes in the opposition half at a 86% success rate. Interestingly his passes are almost 50/50 in terms of where they are made, with 24.8 made in his own half and 26.7 in the opposition half. 

When it comes to defending he excells yet again, making a fantastic 2.1 interceptions per game. For comparison a player playing in a similar style of play and postion, Celtic's Callum Mcgregor only makes 0.7 interceptions per game. Further comparison highlights the big difference between the two when it comes to defending, Kento making 2.5 tackles per game vs 1.5 per game. Kento's defensive consitency is something I am very impresssed by, simply knowing when to clear the ball out of harms way or when to stick to the possesion based tactic and play out from the back. While under pressure Kento is among the top 10 players in the league who handle pressure according to skillcorner, keeping possession under pressure at a fantastic 86% rate. Compared to European leagues in Belgium and the Dutch eredivise Kento is still among the top players in the league in this stat.

Playing in a possession based system has led to Tachibanada excel in many areas, however one area he is lacking is his lack of shots. Only attempting 0.5 per game with 0.2 on target there is certainly room for improvement especially when shooting from deep. There is of course an argument to be made for the need of long shots dying down in the modern game, however more opportunities are made from having a consistent long shot. 

Ideal Club:

A move to a low level club in Europe such as Auxerre in France, Basel in Switzerland or to Japanese owned Sint-Truidense in Belgium would be a very good move to get his foot in the European style of play. A surprise move to Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb is my choice however. With Dinamo recently moving into the Japanese market in the past year, bringing in 2 players on loan from the J league last season a move isn't unlikely given the fact the scouts are already looking at Japan. Dinamo play a very similar style to Kawasaki, are competiting for trophies, play in European competition and are notorious for developing players to sell on for a profit seem like a great stepping stone for Kento.