Daizen Maeda

That's the best description of Maeda ever

 

That's no actually a photo from training, it's a rehearsal for season 2 of Shogun

 

Raging bull


Raging Daizen

 

Absolute belter of a pic.

 

Can imagine him getting annoyed when he gets beat on his xbox

 

New screensaver obtained

 

When you came back and were in Japan, Daizen played three or four games over there through the middle and you were quite excited about the prospect playing there and you thought you could get more out of him as a centre-forward. Do you still think that's something that could work?

100%. I actually can see a lot of more natural, instinctive striker movements that he has in how he plays the game. I think if you track back to when he came in, if you look back on your stats, I think you'll see his numbers. From when he came in, from Yokohama, he was playing as a striker.

He was up 23 goals in something like 33 games or something.

The point is that I think probably in modern times, we would go through the tradition of a traditional number 9. But he’s a goal scorer. And he's done it in Japan and now you see him doing it here.

Whether he's wide or he's through the middle, if you think of that hat-trick in Yokohama, when I played him up front earlier in the season, when Kyogo didn't play, he scored two. It was the most pressing and penetrating runs that we had of any striker. Way above Kyogo's levels, all penetration running. And he scored two and could have had more. So he's a goal scorer.

He scores a header like Henrik Larsson the other day. So I don't think you can doubt, he might not do some other bits that other strikers will do and be a traditional number 9. But how I ask my number 9s to play and to run and set the game quickly and create space for other players, then I have absolutely no doubt that he can do that.

I didn't want to have to do that, but I know that's something that we can use him



He's been so used to running away from the ball, I think you described it, but do you think he can get on going towards the ball and link-ups?

No, I'd like them to play the space rather than the position.

And sometimes the space is in front, so you set the game up. And if you don't set up, you create space for the man. That's why our wingers get so many goals.

For me, I'm not precious around who scores. I don't need the striker to score 40 goals because the wingers are getting 3 and 4. The team has scored so many goals this year, I don't know how many it is, but they've scored a lot of goals. And I'm not going to sleep worrying about whether the striker scored or not.

As long as the team is scoring numbers and winning games. Strikers want to score goals, of course they do, but I'm very comfortable with whoever scores. And I think that he can do that from the side, from a central area, if required

 

He looks like the ruler of a Japanese prefecture there.

 

Rodgers clearly stating the bold Daizen can easily play through the middle if required.

Be unreal seeing him up top with Jota and Kühn either side.

 

I mean we've seen Maeda up top plenty of times. He's fine.

He's at his best on the left terrorising and getting in behind full-backs.

Should absolutely never be in the position where we're taking him away from that.

 

Couldny care less mate, he'll be every bit as good through the middle as he is on the left.

 

That's the point for me though mate, he isn't.

Plenty of times he's been totally ineffective through the middle. I can remember a couple of decent performances, but for the most part we need a proper natural striker there. Maeda isn't it. Should be rotating him with Jota and Kuhn down the flanks.

Then again our failure to get a striker might force Rodgers into this more than he would've wanted.

 

It's obviously no Rodgers' first choice to play him there, but he's said today it's more than viable. He actually said that he made penetrative runs against Yokohama to a level that even kyogo couldn't get anywhere near. That is a huge endorsement.

Think a lot of folk are downplaying it because they're raging we didn't get a striker in, makes no sense to me tbh.

 

He’ll say that now because we didn’t get a striker in. If Maeda was so great up top it would be his first position. It isn’t.

People have this idea of Maeda as a centre forward that’s massively different to the reality of it. They think he’ll just easily nip off centre-backs, run through on goal and slot them home.

It’s a hugely different role and one we would rather Maeda wasn’t doing. Shouldn’t be taking him away from the role that’s been so effective for us this season

 

But it was his first postion? Kyogo played left and meada played up top..

Surely idah as a striker can manage the odd 90 mins in game we need meadas pressing on the left?