Kota Takai

Kota Takai



Current Club: Tottenham Hotspur.

Previous Clubs: Kawasaki Frontale.

Loan Clubs: N/A.





International: Japan 4 appearances.

Trophies Won: Japanese FA Cup 2023. Japanese Super Cup 2024. U23 Asian Championship 2023/24.





A very young, raw centre-back, Takai looks very much like an Ange Postecoglou player. He is very quick, but also extremely reliant on his pace and lacking in positional sense and good reading of the game, but he is only 20 and only just emerging as a player, so there is still room for a lot of improvement. Overall though, he is going to need to do a lot of improving if Spurs are not to continue with their same woeful defensive record, using the same type of defenders that just run very fast.



It is like watching Mickey van der Ven, constantly chasing after opponents because and throwing himself into challenges that he has no need to make if he was just in the right place to begin with. Yes, it does look exciting and makes for great highlight reels, but it is not actually good play. He loves a sliding tackle too and a lunge to try and win the ball, something which could be punished against better players.



He is very whole hearted, he will give his all, he is brave and willing to put his body in the way. Also good in the air, attacks the ball very well at both ends of the pitch. But overall, he has the tools to be an excellent defender except he is just not using them as he is happy to just let his pace do the work.



There is a reason why Postecoglou's defence was so poor, and it is not just the injuries, it is because all of the players they used were just like Takai - none of them use their brains. Rashness is seen as a positive, rather than waiting for the right moment to challenge. The one hope for Takai's development is the arrival of Thomas Frank as head coach.



Frank will make Tottenham a much more measured team, I expect, which will benefit a player like Takai and he will improve by using his head and thinking about where to be and developing more awareness of the play around him. Otherwise, he will just be another van der Ven - very quick and looks great on highlight reels, but ultimately he is simply not good enough defensively for the Premier League playing the way he does.



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