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Episode 232: Player Profile - Kuryu Matsuki
109 Plays23 days ago
Southampton –Returning to us after a loan spell at Goztepe, Matsuki promises to be one to watch this season for sure, gauging his involvement in pre-season so far. Zak has taken a deep dive into his career so far, and why he has potential to be our breakout star of the year!
Research Sources:
https://targetscouting.com/2024/04/16/kuryu-matsuki-fc-tokyo-scout-report/
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Transcript
Introduction to the Daily Southampton Podcast
00:00:09
Zak
Hello and welcome to the Daily Southampton part of the Global Sports Podcast Network. I am your host, Zach Ingo Finch. And as always always, I am joined by my co-host, Gregory Elliott.
00:00:23
Zak
doing, bud?
00:00:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'm really good mate, how are you?
00:00:25
Zak
Yeah, too bad. It's cooled down a bit now, so I can ah can can start to exist again and a world that isn't, you know, feeling like it's on fire. say
00:00:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Now I missed the heat. so
00:00:37
Zak
No, I do not.
00:00:38
Zak
i mean Being able to sleep is extremely important to my well-being, and I've been able to the last e couple like the last evening, so... It's been good.
Wildcard Wednesday Episodes
00:00:46
Zak
Right. So today is going to be a Wednesday, which is traditionally a wildcard, which has traditionally most recently been a lot of research episodes.
00:00:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:00:55
Zak
That came to an end with the end of our whole management run ah with Will still being appointed manager. So then I did some staff profiles. And now we've done our staff profiles. I was recommended by one of our ex-followers, Madman Maka, who was asking to do a research episode on a couple of players. So thought, yeah, could do some research episode on some of our young players. and and kind of collectively, and you know, that that will easily fill 20 minutes.
Spotlight on Player Matsuki
00:01:17
Zak
So I've done a 25 minute episode on Matsuki because it turns out that actually this is probably going be a series and I'm probably going to do a lot research into each one of the individual players. And it's kind of the players that are breaking through into the first team that have a bit more of a background. Because like, you know, you could do Jay Robinson, but realistically he'd just be talking about his under 21s, right?
00:01:39
Zak
And although Matsuki is only 22, he's had a bit of a a career mate so far. So, up yeah, I thought, you know, i'd I'd crack on with that. So how does that sound? Do you look forward to it?
00:01:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, mate, I'm excited for it I love your research episodes. You enlighten me and make me a more knowledgeable man when it comes to these things. i look forward to it.
00:01:57
Zak
Good. I've even got some sort of tactical information today, and I've i've tried to get sort of um some scouting reports from both sort of Europe and also some scouting from reports from when he was in Japan by sort of like domestic people that follow the domestic league over there.
00:02:09
Zak
So, yeah, hopefully we'll learn some things. So, he's a central midfielder that's been listed as being able to play as both a defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder. So, he's a bit more versatile than I think we kind of give him credit for.
00:02:22
Zak
He is kind of part of a footballing family. And by that, I mean his older brother also played for the same team that he did, which is Murawan Oswa FC. And when I was like, oh, that's cool. He played, oh, hang on. He played for FC Tokyo and a whole other. This was when he was seven to 12. He played part of a yeah quite a, played for a team, right?
00:02:43
Zak
And then from there, he joined a his junior high school and high school team. And in 2021, Greg, he actually had a trial with Lyon. but returned to Japan to help in a school tournament where he both scored in the semifinal and final.
00:02:58
Zak
So, sort of football fored through and through since he was young, right, is what I've come to an end with this. And I think there was a lot of noise around sort of when he was getting to the sort of like 17, 18, that he was going to go to Europe, right?
00:03:15
Zak
And that that wasn't necessarily the case because ah big influence sold on him was Yutu Nagatomo, who, if you know him, he played for AC Milan. went back to FC Tokyo about the same time that Masuki joined and basically said it would be really good to get a few domestic seasons under belt, right?
00:03:32
Zak
It's the same kind of things that we talk about with, like, Tyler Diplin maybe be staying with us for a season or two to get a bit more experience and then going onwards. So, yeah, that's what he also... like decided to do.
00:03:44
Zak
He ended up staying at FC Tokyo and had a look at who his agent was and I realised his agent is the same as Nagatomo, so that's probably how they know each other as well. His agent is the same agent as Kamada at Palace, that's probably the most well-known name.
00:03:58
Zak
Other than that, it's sort of a lot of a couple of players around the J League. So he spent three seasons at FC Tokyo, appearing over 71 times.
Matsuki's Playing Style and Recognition
00:04:08
Zak
Not massively amongst the goals, he scored five goals in that time.
00:04:12
Zak
you know, still still but young, still plenty of sort of plenty of time to work that into his game. And I don't think that his game has really been about scoring the goals as such.
00:04:26
Zak
They described him in their sort of team sheet as a midfielder with excellent ball-winning ability and scoring prowess, possessing both strong competitiveness and a strong mentality. They bring energy to the team with aggressive play.
00:04:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
thank you
00:04:38
Zak
that was like his official tagline on their website when he was a player there, which I thought was interesting. I don't know if we have anything like that. and We just have the name and the number, right?
00:04:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, sometimes not even the number. i don't think.
00:04:49
Zak
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:04:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think it's...
00:04:51
Zak
So he was actually named the Asian Youth Footballer of the Year in November 2023, and at that time was captaining the under-20s national team as well. And he's pretty been much been part of Japan's youth setup since the under-15s, and he helped win the under-23s Asian Cup, I want to say, the year or be five before on that he joined us.
00:05:12
Zak
So he's like solidly an international as well. So he's sort of did well in the domestic lead, spent three seasons at a good team and, and sort of transitioned initially from being part of a, like ah different formation to similar formation to where he would play, be playing now. Right. So very, a lot of the, the sort of benefits of him as a player that have been by all these different scouting networks is he's a very, very good boxer, boxer midfielder.
00:05:38
Zak
So that's kind of where we should expect to see him.
00:05:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Good. Great.
00:05:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
Means got an engine on him. That's exactly what we're looking for and exactly what Will still looks to be looking for.
00:05:44
Zak
Yeah, well'll we'll get
00:05:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
That's great.
00:05:47
Zak
we'll get into all of that as well.
Matsuki's Loan to Gestepi
00:05:49
Zak
And obviously, he eventually signed for us in but on the 30th of July, 2024, and immediately went on loan to Gestepi, right? And at the time, Russell Martin was talking about how he will be assessed on his return from Gestepi to see how well his loan does.
00:06:04
Zak
They are happy with him and want to see how he progresses and go from there. And obviously that has now arrived. We are like three managers later. However, that sort of agreement still seems to be in place. And as you can see, he's been in and around first team.
00:06:18
Zak
ah He's not been loaned back out to Gestepi, whereas some of the players who technically play for us are at Gestepi. Liss isn't one of them. but I can't remember the name of the guy, but there is somebody else who, who is at Gestepi now, Greg, who hasn't been, a yeah, it hasn't been agreed that he's, it hasn't been like posted anywhere that he's agreed in extension.
00:06:29
Global Sports Podcast Network
Is it Juan?
00:06:37
Zak
However, he's in training over there. So I guess there's just an assumption there.
00:06:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:06:41
Zak
Uh, so yeah, this is, this is the thing, right?
00:06:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
I mean, sister clubs, right? Like the...
00:06:46
Zak
It's, it's, it's getting bit, It's going to be a bit difficult, but it's one of the it's the first time we'd have probably seen the fruits of this multi-club model come into play.
00:06:57
Zak
And during his time at Gestephi, he appeared 34 times and scored a total of six goals. So he scored more goals in it last season than he did for his entire career at FC Tokyo.
00:07:10
Zak
Four of those goals came in six appearances in the National Cup. So I don't know if that just says that he was willing to have a go more at teams that were lower. I haven't been able to do that much. I would have been sat here for significantly more hours than i already spent on this.
00:07:24
Zak
So that's kind of where where we're up to now, right? Obviously, he finished his loan spell, he's come back, he's been in pre-season training. We've seen him a little bit around the club.
00:07:35
Zak
There was a whole Daily Echo article about how hopefully the Sigoura effect will help him, because obviously you having a countryman anywhere you go makes life a little bit easier. And now we've seen him in action. and it's It's all positive things, but In the next part, we'll go over two separate scouting reports, one that is sort of European-based, one that's Japan-based.
00:07:54
Zak
And then I will go to you for your thoughts, Greg, on making up his mind. So let's go on to the next part after a word from our partners at Bionique.
00:08:15
Zak
Thank you.
00:08:42
Zak
And we are back. So yeah, before the break, we kind of learned about his career, how he got here.
Scouting Report Insights
00:08:49
Zak
you know, sort of what his sort of statistics were and bits and pieces.
00:08:53
Zak
But now I thought I'd do something that I don't usually do, Greg, which is talk a little bit more about the tactical side and the sort of player profile side of of it. So found a, there is a scouting report from targetscouting.com.
00:09:07
Zak
One of the co-founders of of this website actually has gone on to now be a scout for Hiberian. So like, They're pretty good what and they they They kind of go around and do you sort of scout various players and then kind of make a decision of to where they think they will probably go.
00:09:24
Zak
But it's interesting because both profiles have certain things that match up, which gives some signs of positivity, right? So... yeah He's described as being quite strong in the ball, and he also does very well to draw fouls in some some situations where it's it's useful to draw fouls.
00:09:42
Zak
there is a problem where he can be a bit slow carrying the ball. So decent sets of speed, sort of long distances when needed, but but sometimes court of flight just takes a little bit too long.
00:09:52
Zak
He has really good timing in Aerial Duels and is very combative, but has mixed results due to his reach. Which, like, unless you're really, really tall, like that's kind of how Aerial Duels go, right?
00:10:02
Zak
Like, unless you're tall, Paul.
00:10:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:10:05
Zak
In which case you miss the ball entirely and everyone gets underneath you.
00:10:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:10:10
Zak
So he is described as having excellent stamina. And as you can see from the fact that he's sort of, that's been described in multiple places at this point, plays with high intensity and works incredibly hard, which is something we've been talking about that we need in our team completely.
00:10:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
Praise be Jesus. Oh, man. player that can run. Imagine...
00:10:28
Zak
yeah Well, that's the thing, right? And I think that's maybe what sort of impressed the EC game as well. They've said that his defensive positioning needs some work, as sometimes he allows bit too much space in between the lines and has been observed a couple of times to fail to block the passing lane.
00:10:45
Zak
However, that doesn't mean that he's like terrible defensively. He tries to disrupt the opponents in transitions, but sometimes to do that, as we've talked about, he needs to give away a foul. He reads the game very well and near the box, which is something we also actually need. What I can think of is like if the ball has been given away near the box, how often we're bad at like dealing with that situation.
00:11:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:11:06
Zak
And having a player that we know is like people observed is good at dealing with that in sort of that position we're going to need him to be in, right?
00:11:13
Zak
that That will be hopefully a good thing. like Between him and Downs, I'm hoping stuff will be covered. But we'll see. Defends 1-2s well due to his constant scanning, so he often makes very, very good off-the-ball decisions.
00:11:28
Zak
The problem with that, though, is the timing of him stepping up can be a bit sporadic. And sometimes he can either be a bit too early or a bit too late. But again, like, we put a lot judgment on this lad who's like, what, 22, 23?
00:11:41
Zak
like like Like, he's got plenty of room to
00:11:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:11:44
Zak
we'll see what the conclusions will be. He was at the base of most of the attacks for FC Tokyo and has a clean first touch under pressure.
00:11:55
Zak
He has a clean passing technique, but can be sloppy passing between the gaps. He very, sort of when he's under pressure, he's very good at the sort of like just playing one touch. And he usually somehow works out well for him.
00:12:08
Zak
And we'll see comparisons with later on, because the Japanese analyst sort of had a look at it and said kind of the same thing, where sometimes he'll just take strikes from long range.
00:12:20
Zak
And sometimes it works out successful for him. Other times, not so much. but the problem with that in itself is it's like, that's an issue because when you've got someone who's got the confidence to just strike from really far out and it doesn't work out, you kind of break up and attack, right?
00:12:33
Zak
But we don't we haven't really had anyone that's had a go at the ball in so long.
00:12:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
I don't think any of our players know how to shoot, so I'll take it from long distance, short distance, wherever.
00:12:37
Zak
LAUGHTER
00:12:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
Like, a shot on target is an improvement over last season. You've got remember that. There were multiple games last season where we didn't have a shot on target.
00:12:51
Zak
mrs This is true. But again, like him being the base of the attacks is is is good, right? that's That's a positive thing to hear because that means that he can drive the pull forward and we can actually like sort of build something from them.
00:12:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:13:03
Zak
Not necessarily the back, but when it gets to it he knows what to do. He has a clean passing technique, but can be sometimes sloppy passing in between gaps. And as I said, usually plays one touch, but works out quite well for him.
00:13:16
Zak
His defensive ability, while a good level, said he's much better as a box-to-box in a 4-2-3-1 as one of the two holding midfielders, which is kind of what we assumed he'd slot in.
00:13:28
Zak
And also, sort of when FC Tokyo kind of switched to that position and he played a sort of a double pivot, He did a lot better in in that position as well. So again, like there's plenty of room for adaptation and stuff, but it's just this is just factually where he's ended up playing better, right?
00:13:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
00:13:45
Zak
So the article sort of ended, and bear in mind, this was just before we signed him, like couple months before we signed him, saying that he could be, that they reckon that clubs battling for him could be like Champions League quality, or he would actually sit suit a team like Borussia Dortmund, depending on his development and player choices, which I thought was very interesting, because that is also a comparison that's laid Mater on, right?
00:14:08
Zak
So...
00:14:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
00:14:09
Zak
or specifically Bundesliga, for him to end up here. But yeah, so so now what we've learned, Greg, is that he's good. We've sort of seen that. Lots of sort of him him play. He played very, very well when he was at FC Tokyo.
00:14:22
Zak
lot of people took notice. Again, I don't think you get into sort of the the positions of like part um there's something like you know captaining youth teams. and And I guess having this much notice, there's very much a... but he After he won the AFC Young Player of the Year,
00:14:37
Zak
There seems to be anyone that was following before he went to us, there was an inevitability that he would go to a bigger European side, right?
00:14:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:14:44
Zak
And chose us, which is great. Obviously, probably because we would go back to the Premier League at the time, but let's not think too much about that. if he If he gets a run in this season, happy days.
00:14:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:14:54
Zak
So...
00:14:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
Look, he's here now, and it's potentially within his hands to make it Premier League next season, so...
00:15:02
Zak
I'll put make sure that the the link's in the show description for the article that I i read. And it's Jeroen Tiglas, which probably is pronounced extremely bad. um he's one of the co-founders and owners of the website.
00:15:13
Zak
As I said, he, one of his co-founders, left to become a professional scout at Hyberian FC. And they've done quite a few J League players. One of the things that I noted was that they did a profile on Endrik who when he was at Palmares saying that he's probably going to be one of the best players of his generation.
00:15:30
Zak
And he's now Real Madrid. So, know, pretty good.
00:15:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah. Some good information. I like it.
00:15:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
really do.
00:15:37
Zak
Right.
00:15:37
Zak
So we've got now one more. We've got a domestic view of him and a look from Ryo Nakagawara at Shogun Soccer. But we'll we'll get to that after a word from our partners at St. Casta.
00:15:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform, and Zencaster came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone and AI editing that automatically removes all those ums and ahs, it's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great and is delivered efficiently.
00:16:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
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00:16:14
Zak
Rightio. So we're back and having a look at Shogun Soccer's article Matsuki. And ah ah this was kind of the first sort of researchy, proper scouty profile that this guy had done. And he but basically watched pretty much all of the 2023 sort of coverage with him in it of the J League season, where he played originally a box-to-box in a three, but he really came into his own when the formation changed to a 4-2-3-1, which I've kind of alluded to previously.
Tactical Analysis by Shogun Soccer
00:16:43
Zak
And this was when FC Tokyo was under the management of Peter Klamovsky. And I'm hoping that's right. However, he was and also just weird side tangent, but he was an assistant previously to Ange Postacoglu, right? So obviously we know Postacoglu started in the J League.
00:16:58
Zak
So i'm guessing, you know, some of his staff stuck around. So despite his young age at the time, he became like a staple there, right? And the bits that people thought he excelled at were tackling, interceptions and loose balls.
00:17:10
Zak
So i basically where we want him to be. There was some question around his discipline because over two seasons, he had like he picked up four yellows and a red. And then season before, he picked up five yellows and a red. But that kind of comes with that territory, right?
00:17:22
Zak
It is an ongoing joke that Flynn Downs gets carded every single game, right?
00:17:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
00:17:27
Zak
So I'm not really too surprised. And I think that's because like he tries to physically out-muscle people and sometimes fails. So that's when he'll commit foul and that sometimes they don't they don't work out in his favor.
00:17:40
Zak
So
00:17:42
Zak
he has less fouls than expected, realistically, because of the amount of work he kind of puts in. And he can use both feet, which is nice, but he does have a stronger left foot and favours his left foot.
00:17:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hmm.
00:17:53
Zak
While one-to-one isn't his strong suit, he can be good at passing into space. So there's a bit it's a bit of overlap and contradiction there, because sometimes he can be sloppy passing into space. But again, it's I guess it's like what people have watched and what people have seen at the time.
00:18:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:18:04
Zak
So I'm not really going to...
00:18:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
And it depends, right? Like, it depends how long of a period they're making these observations for from a scouting report.
00:18:12
Zak
Yeah, exactly.
00:18:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
I mean, it's not unheard of to have a couple of games where you're just not quite clicking into place, so...
00:18:18
Zak
Exactly that. So i think that his biggest criticism was that he doesn't try to turn face forward despite having space, especially in his own defensive third, which can be detrimental to the buildup of the game, which like that is a thing that we can be frustrated by, right? Like just messing around at the back is a thing that we constantly complain about.
00:18:35
Zak
But they they also highlight that he has a great switch in transition and also has a really good one touch.
00:18:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
okay
00:18:41
Zak
which is a thing that we've kind of always struggled with, right? We've watched our players get the ball and they sit with it for ages. ah over We talked about with Dibbling last season about how sometimes he just takes a touch to too many, right?
00:18:52
Zak
So having players that don't have that anymore or having anyone that tries to kind of not have that as much, especially in the fast sort of paced world that Steele wants to live in is a good thing. So a good but not excellent passer is how he's how he's described.
00:19:07
Zak
And sometimes he can just get the weight wrong, but I feel like that's just everyone who plays football.
00:19:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:19:12
Zak
Occasionally you're to hit the ball and it's not going to go where you want it to go. sun
00:19:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:19:16
Zak
so I said, when web web he has good gut threat from long range and his ball is like, and he can hit the ball well, but this can be problematic in his decision-making because occasionally, as I said, he might have a go And the thing is, Greg, is I know you say, oh, well, you know, none our players even have a shot.
00:19:31
Zak
That also reminds me a bit sometimes of Sulemana, where Sulemana would go run off and then like, Then he would just hit the ball and you're like, what are you doing? That's nowhere near the goal. And it would go skywards. And I kind of kind of worry about seeing a bit more of that.
00:19:43
Zak
I guess like it will be at least go down as a shot on the board, which is what we're really backing with a lot of the time. But...
00:19:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
Look, if b blood put it this way, if he scores, if he gets in positions like that and has shots that are considered outrageous and wild 20 times in the season but scores three of them,
00:20:03
Zak
That's not too bad, really, is it?
00:20:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
like I'll take it.
00:20:05
Zak
We like the fact that he's in 20 positions to do that, mate, to be honest, in your mind.
00:20:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
Exactly, right? That is an improvement. Yeah.
00:20:11
Zak
This is true. So during his time FC Tokyo, he was also commonly took set pieces, both corners and free kicks, probably because he was a bit versatile with his feet. But obviously from his goal ratio, you see it's something they expected more of in his game.
00:20:23
Zak
And since leaving FC Tokyo, he's already managed to get more goals in that one season at Gestepi. So that's only a good thing. It's only something that's improving.
00:20:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
lefty as well isn't he so that'll help with certain corners and and certain angles of free kick presumably it helps to be left footed on that side of the pitch so
00:20:35
Zak
Yeah.
00:20:42
Zak
For sure.
00:20:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
it
00:20:43
Zak
So, and this is the summary. So the summary of him as a player is the but the German Bundesliga suits his is front foot all action type of play style as he thrives greatly on transition moments.
00:20:53
Zak
so I won't say he's ready for the Premier League despite his good physicality. It may be worth watching him in national team setups outside of the J League context or see him in another European league to gauge his readgie readiness for a larger physical step up.
00:21:06
Zak
Matsuki is a fantastic prospect with a varied skill set that can be molded further with the right coaching environment, which I think is very telling because what the conclusion he comes to is very similar to the conclusion that will be come to sort of maybe six months after this by the other article, which again is just a different, a completely different scout, completely just a different guy.
00:21:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:21:25
Zak
so So they've all seen sort of similar qualities amongst him. And yeah, I think that it's actually, it is a going to be, when I say he's going to be a baller, mate, I think it's a bit of a sleeper.
Potential and Future of Matsuki
00:21:36
Zak
It's one we've kind of fallen asleep on because we didn't really expect much of it. Most people would forgot he'd even arrived. It was a Castelli most of last season. And now he's come back and, you know, I think it will almost feel a bit like ah ah a new transfer.
00:21:48
Zak
Just hope that he can adapt to sort of the physicality of the championship because that is one of the things that they've said that he can be quite physical and quite fast, but has been ah like, you know, out-muscled a little bit.
00:21:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
hmm
00:21:59
Zak
But either way, I think all of these things are positive. And it it feels like one of those almost football manager wonder kids that you find. And yeah yeah then all of a sudden you find that other people have found him.
00:22:11
Zak
And then, yeah, then it goes from there. So I'm very excited for his future, regardless of where it ends up. And hopefully, you know, it doesn't peter out really, really early on.
00:22:21
Zak
I think that the fact he's involved in preseason and he wasn't a Spores or a still hire says it's a lot to how well they think his development's going. don't know what you think.
00:22:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:22:32
Zak
So, Greg, there you go. there's that There is our our new supposedly box-to-box midfielder, central midfielder, Kriyu Matsuki, returning from loan from Gestepi, now in and amongst the first team.
00:22:44
Zak
What do you think?
00:22:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
Great. Look, I'm excited. You've got me excited. It sounds like he could has the potential to be a great player. Obviously, we alluded before that having like a fellow countryman in in and about the squad can only be a good thing, too, for both of those players.
00:22:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
it's always
00:23:00
Zak
You
00:23:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
you know It's always like we saw it a bit with Tudor Mana and Tallpool last season, where you know i know that I want to use the word chemistry, but not in likeka FIFA sense of the word, right?
00:23:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
like
00:23:14
Zak
you mean human chemistry, right? Like you've got shared experiences, you've got shared cultural things to do and have fun.
00:23:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:23:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:23:20
Zak
And like you've got the probably shared activities that you'll do. And bits and pieces like that. So yeah, all that kind of stuff's really helpful. And also, you know, transitioning, it's not, I feel like going from sort of Tokyo to sort of Turkey, and then suddenly back to Southampton of all places must be like, really weird culture shock. So yeah, I think anything to help you is going to be handy, right?
00:23:42
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, and look, I hope that he has a great season. I hope that he is the breakout that it sounds like he has the potential to be. And yeah, I mean, any time that a lone player can come back and be as positive as effectively a new signing is...
00:23:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's going to be good. and
00:24:00
Zak
Yeah, for sure.
00:24:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah We've seen him get a chance so far in preseason. I'm sure as preseason develops, will we'll be able to gauge more if that's going to be the case and how involved he's going to be. and Definitely one to keep an eye on, I think, for sure.
00:24:13
Zak
Yeah, i think I think that's where I'm at. It's whether or not he can hack the physicality of the championship is going to be probably key to how well he does. But by the sounds of it, he he has a lot of potential. It's just having the right coaching.
00:24:25
Zak
And I guess it will be a real example of how well our coaching setup is now as to how well he does this season. Obviously, it takes a bit of both from both sides, right? But there's just a lot of potential there in in a player that I think a lot of people didn't even realise we'd had.
00:24:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, absolutely. nearly That's great.
00:24:44
Zak
i So, yeah. And then, obviously, next week, I might dive into sort of Wellington or Kaya Sander or Korshi. haven't quite decided who yet. I just started with Masuki because we were talking about it, i think, yesterday evening. some sort We were talking about something, I'm sure.
00:25:00
Zak
And let's face it, I'm like a weed. I also watch the J League on the side, right? Because, again, if you don't know, J League will offer... the ability to watch it through YouTube. So, so every match, like they'll put like a, a match up on a Saturday and you can watch it live.
Cultural Differences in International Soccer
00:25:16
Zak
And sometimes during sort of the off season, quite fun to do that. It means that I still get to watch football. Although I know we've had the Club World Cup, but it's not. As Greg said yesterday, it's not.
00:25:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
That's not real football, mate.
00:25:27
Zak
Yeah.
00:25:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's not.
00:25:27
Zak
And it's's it's fun to you know see see how other countries do it. And my favourite thing is the English chants that don't have English words, lyrics to them, but somehow keep to the beat. It's great. Love it.
00:25:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
I love it.
00:25:37
Zak
Anyway, so yeah, thank you very much for everyone for joining us. Thank you once again to Mama Maka for the suggestion of i looking into this, because it turns out I fell into a little bit of a rabbit hole.
00:25:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you, Zach, for doing the research because your research episodes are some of my favorite episodes that we do.
00:25:49
Zak
Hopefully...
00:25:50
Zak
Don't
00:25:54
Zak
worry, mate.
00:25:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
i really enjoyed it.
00:25:55
Zak
you're very You're very welcome. I will send all of the sources and bits and pieces to you, Greg, for this, because I think it's important because obviously this is some articles that people have put some work in that maybe, don't know if they ever thought they'd get read, but they've been read and they've been useful and though they've they've got us a little bit excited.
00:26:12
Zak
So yeah, please, if you fancy reading articles yourself, them out. They'll be in the show description. And what what else? oh Oh, social medias. Yeah, the normal thing. Facebook, Twitter, Slash X, Blue Sky, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, all that fun stuff.
00:26:28
Zak
We're there. We're always there. There's at least two posts a day. They usually link back to the podcast. It's how we get our name out there. I'm rambling. It's time for me to end this episode. Thank you, everybody, for listening.
00:26:39
Zak
Thank you so much for Greg, Greg, for being my guest and fantastic co-host as always. And we will see you in the next one.
00:26:53
Zak
Woo!