Today, part two of three of my end of season player round up posts. Part one was yesterday and part three is coming tomorrow.
13. Miki YAMANE (DF)
4203 minutes played
In previous bad seasons I’ve been pretty hard on Yamane. That is in part because he’s been so good in seasons when we haven’t been terrible. At the start of this year, I think Yamane was perhaps playing his worst football he’s ever played for us. Things picked up a bit later on in the year, but he still clearly had a bad year. At the start of the season, Oniki was experimenting with a tactic where Yamane would move into central midfield to set up attacks. It didn’t work, but of course we still persevered with it for ages. When we reverted to the same old stuff he picked up a bit, but he was nowhere near his best in 2023 scoring less goals and getting less assists and being generally less effective than in previous years. But at the same time, he was ridiculously overused by Oniki and I’m sure no-one plays their best when they have to play every single game. If the rumoured transfer to LA Galaxy goes through, I’m not going to be too upset. With Yamane in the squad and Oniki in charge he will probably be starting every game so replacing him becomes more difficult whilst simultaneously his level drops. I think a fresh start works for both player and team.
14. Yasuto WAKIZAKA (MF)
3527 minutes played
Our only player who made it into the team of the year, and to be honest, at the time, I thought it was a bit of a stretch to put him in there. Looking back at the stats, I think I’ve been a bit unfair on him. But at the same time, a lot of his goals came from penalties. Clearly he’s a hugely talented player, but at the same time, I think often his amazing turns, touches and passes are followed up by really horrible mistakes. His corners have been pretty awful all year too. But you can’t really criticise him for that as we have other people in the squad who can take them but aren't given the opportunity, which I'm sure is not his decision. I think it’s fair to say that it hasn’t been his best year, but he’s still done better than plenty of our squad have done. And like Yamane, he’s probably played way too many games this year, being almost as undroppable/unrotatable as our right back. After the Emperor’s Cup win it apparently sounded like there was a chance he might be leaving and in recent days there have been some rumours circulating, so perhaps we might be seeing someone else in the number 14 shirt next year.
15. Shuto TANABE (DF)
573 minutes played
Feel a bit sorry for him as when we had our defensive crisis, (hang on, which defensive crisis? It seemed like 2023 was one defensive crisis after another), he was recalled from his loan at JEF, came in to play a few games and then was unceremoniously dropped from the matchday squads when anyone else was available. I thought he did a pretty good job when he was called on. His versatility, (can play all across the back) might help him in 2024, as it looks like we’ll have a few shakeups at the back. Younger that some might imagine as although he’s been around for a few years, he didn’t go down the university route. So fingers crossed for the future.
16. Tatsuki SEKO (MF)
2640 minutes played
Was a bit in and out of the side as Oniki struggled to find his perfect midfield, (by playing some players out of position and refusing to rotate others at all). On the rare occasion he was allowed to take a free kick, he scored it against his old team, and then was immediately substituted. I think he was criticised unfairly at times because sometimes his passes went astray. The truth was, he was usually trying to attack rather than safely and pointlessly play the ball backwards like the team had been instructed to. I feel like 2024 might be a good year for him. I hope so!
17. Daiya TONO (FW)
1764 minutes played
A tricky year for our striker who was almost exclusively played in midfield. Scored quite a few goals though and always looked a danger when he was able to attack. Don’t know why he was asked to do the tough midfield stuff though as he clearly is more of an attacker. And this was shown by his red card against Kashiwa. There have been big rumours about him leaving us before the start of next season and I wouldn’t be surprised as he presumably doesn’t think he’s going to play up front much for us with Oniki in charge. I don’t want him to go though.
18. Chanathip SONGKRASIN (FW)
328 minutes played
Very sad that he left in the summer but totally understandable. His departure probably says something about the state of the club behind the scenes at the moment with the new chairman not exactly seeming that in touch with Frontale, or even with football. Got hardly any chances and basically seemed to be a player signed for his commercial value without anyone consulting the manager who it seemed didn't rate him/didn't know what to do with him. Can’t really speak about his season from a footballing point of view, but really happy he got to come back to Todoroki in the ACL and we got the chance to give him a proper and emotional farewell.
18. Bafetimbi GOMIS (FW)
426 minutes played
Somewhat weird signing, presumably made with the imminent departure of Damiao in mind. But is older than Damiao and has yet to totally get into his stride. Three assists late on in the season from only 426 minutes played is pretty impressive but it would have been nice if he could have got his first goal before the season ended. And also, was a bit of a shame he missed his penalty in the final. Whether getting a pre-season in means he’ll start the season banging or whether the passage or time will dull his effectiveness, well, we’ll see I guess. But I hope it’s the former as we all want to see that goal celebration.
20. Shin YAMADA (FW)
1476 minutes played
Has made himself a real fan favourite, for both his all effort performances and his no megaphone Vai La after our occasional victories. Like plenty of others, feel like he hasn’t benefited from our formation and tactics up front. Definitely one for the future and think he’ll only improve next year.
21. Shunsuke ANDO (GK)
0 minutes played
A quiet year again for Ando. He wasn’t even on the bench for some of the ACL games this year, suggesting that perhaps Hayasaka is now ahead of him in the pecking order. There’s nothing else to say really about someone who hasn’t been involved at all.
22. Yuki HAYASAKA (GK)
0 minutes played
Similarly to Ando, hasn’t been involved but was on ACL benches occasionally. And therefore there’s nothing to say.
23. MARCINHO (FW)
1673 minutes played
Difficult to write this one. Given than when he was available he always played and was pretty much our only attacking route thanks to our lopsided formation, you’d think it was a good year for him. But the truth is that he probably didn’t make the most of the chances he had or almost created. People said that his pace was too much for the opposition but often his pace was too much for us too as there was often little or no support for him. Our one dimensional tactics probably meant that things were tougher for him as it was always obvious what we were going to do. Had a few injuries in 2023 and finished the season injured too, which got me wondering if he was going to move on. We’ll see, I guess. Hopefully we can see the best from him in 2024.
24. Toya MYOGAN (MF)
152 minutes played
A great hope at the start of the season but another player who had hardly any chances. His first action was against Shimizu away in the Levain Cup and he was subbed at half time, apparently being blamed for our absolutely terrible first half performance in that game. Still young and will perhaps hope that he can make a Mitoma like contribution next year after a first season of not much happening. Equally he could go out on loan in the way that others have. Oniki does like to get the young players in the squad for a year and then loan them out for a year. Either way, hopefully there will be a bit more to say next year.
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