Daizen Maeda Links | Vital Football

Daizen Maeda Links

I like him, I think he's a good player. My only question would be where he fits in to the team. He's listed as a secondary striker who can also play as a CF or as a winger. He's got the work rate and energy of Christie at his best but his size and way of playing makes me think more of Maloney.....strange combination but in theory one that makes a lot of sense! 18 goals and 3 assists in 30 appearances. He was only signed by Yokohama in February this year and is contracted until the end of January 2024 with a current market value of £990k; so likely value of about £2m-£2.5m maybe? He's definitely worth that but as I say, who is he in competition with for a place in the team? Another striking option? Can only see him being used as 3rd choice so is that ideal, probably not for the player. Another attacking midfield/second striker option? Absolutely! We need more cover in that area to help out Turnbull and Rogic and he could get a good amount of playing time rotating with them. Or would he be competition for Abada on the right wing? Abada has looked great at times but some of his performances have seen him rather quiet in games. I think he might be struggling a little with the expectation and could probably do with being rotated out. We also have Forrest to come back in at RW. LW we have Jota and Mikey Johnstone so are fairly well covered there too. Of course we also have the option of putting Kyogo out on one of the wings if needs be and playing Giakoumakis through the middle.
 
I think Postecoglou sees him as a perfect player to give Jota competition as I believe we will take up the option on his loan deal. For all the best will in the world, and I hope I'm wrong, maybe Postecoglou doesn't see wee Mikey as a player good enough for the team?
 
I remember back when Mikey got injured in pre-season along with Karamoko that he said he was gutted because both players were the sort he liked to have in his team. The fact Mikey has been getting off the bench recently would suggest Ange likes him enough. I think the bigger question is whether he can stay healthy now. Maeda might be better in the attacking midfield role as he's not afraid to work back and win the ball when his team loses possession. We could do with more work-rate in that area of the pitch. It's all about who drops out of the team to make way for him really.....it's not an easy choice at all.
 
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