Akito Suzuki Scout Report
In our latest scout report, we turn our attention to Akito Suzuki, a striker currently making waves in Japan's top-tier J1 League for Shonan Bellmare.
At just 20 years old, Suzuki's performances suggest a wealth of untapped potential and a sporting maturity well beyond his years. Despite being remarkably young, he has shown considerable talent for ball recovery, ranking in the top 20% of strikers in the league. This can provide his team with significant opportunities for counterattacks.
However, Suzuki's style of play comes with a catch: an inconsistency marked by his staggered ball retention records, falling in the lower 40%. This might be an area where he could focus on improving moving forward.
That being said, notable is his goal efficiency, falling comfortably around the 70th percentile, illustrating his eye for the net. This goes hand in hand with his impressive xG (expected goals) per 90 percentiles, verifying the striker's threat in front of goal. His chance creation index is higher than average, showing his versatility and effectiveness in setting up opportunities for his team.
With a moderately high goal threat level and aggressive shooting stats, his encounters with the opposition goal offer solid returns. I would underline, however, a weakness: his progressive carrying ability ranks alarmingly low, indicating a style of play more suited to finishing moves than initiating them.
Suzuki, crucially, needs to up his game in the successful dribbles per 90 percentile, a clear weakness in his current skill set that could likely impact his overall performance and limit his ability to weave past defenders. Yet, his assists per 90 and pass accuracy per 90 indicate an effective team player who can distribute the ball convincingly when required.
In summary, Suzuki has shown considerable promise as a young striker in the J1 League, blending his natural goal-scoring ability with a knack for ball recovery. His key areas for improvement appear to be in ball retention, progressive carrying, and dribbling. With age on his side, it's exciting to watch where Suzuki's career will progress from here.