This is Tomohiro Taira, a consistent, albeit not incredible centre-back that has been at Tokyo Verdy since the start of the save. He's played pretty regularly for me, in a number of different systems. He's been my covering centre-back in a back 4, he's played on the left of a back 3 as a more aggressive ball player, and as the title of the post suggests, last season he was my Libero-in-chief.
His attributes don't suggest that he can play the role effectively. In fact, they would suggest that he actively can't play the role, especially his technical attributes. Even taking into account the relative quality around us in the J.League, attributes like Dribbling of 6, First Touch of 7, Long Shots of 4 and Flair of 7 aren't really good enough to contribute in attacking areas.
Despite all of that, the 2022 season, where he played almost exclusively as a Libero, was his best season to date and the most productive attacking season of his career. Don't get me wrong, the numbers aren't incredible, but for a 32 year old 2* CB, I can't really complain.
RANGE OF PASSING
He may lack flair, but his passing and vision are both very good for this level at 12, and that starts to explain his good performances in the role, especially when we dive into the Analysis tab to have a look around.
3-2 Away win vs Yokohama FC
4-0 Home win vs Fagiano Okayama
6-0 Home win vs Nagoya Grampus
4-0 Home win vs Vissel Kobe
I've picked out the analysis of these 4 matches in particular for a couple of reasons, Taira played well in all of them and scored in 3 of them, plus they're a nice mix of games where we had more of the ball, and games where we had to settle for less possession and hurt teams when we countered them.
The main positive I see in Taira's play in the Libero role is the regularity and success of his balls out to each wing-back. This is evident in each game, and is a factor of our build-up whether we are dominating the ball or using the wing-backs as our out ball. The passes shown are only successful passes, so there are naturally times where this doesn't come off, but it's an effective way of stretching the play and allowing us to attack with a fairly wide 5, rather than a very narrow 3.
As the ball is switched from right to left, the wing-backs are in line with the attacking midfielder just behind the front two, which eventually leads to a 5v4 and a goal.
The majority of his key passes also make their way wide, showing an ability to look up and stretch the play, leading to a crossing opportunity, which is where a lot of our goals come from.
33 assists have come from crosses in our last 50 games (inc friendlies)
Looking at the heat maps, it's interesting to me that Taira doesn't seem to receive many passes around the half way line. Instead he is generally the goalkeeper's main passing option, and then after playing the ball himself, often out wide, he isn't used until he has taken up a position on the edge of the attacking third. This makes him available as a pivot point when the attack slows, he can receive the ball from one flank and switch to the other where necessary to change the angle of attack and stretch the opposition defence.
IF YOU DON'T BUY A TICKET...
This part isn't really analysis as such, well at all really, I just wanted to show what a man with long shooting of 4 out of 20 can accomplish from time to time.
Of course as I mentioned earlier, Taira is 32 and won't be around forever, so with the system working well it's important to find a replacement.
Yoshinori Suzuki is a player we brought in at the start of the current season (2023) and is capable of playing the Libero role, although similarly to Taira lacks a lot technically, although his mentals and physicals are far, far superior.
Klebinho is a player that was at the club when I started the save, although originally on a 2 year loan. After a year back in Brazil getting no game time I signed him on a free and immediately saw him as a future Libero. He has comfortably the most impressive technicals of the 3, and actually other than Positioning of 9, has very solid mentals too. The downside is his physicality, he's 5'5", has strength of 2(!) and jumping reach of 6, so as a traditional CB he would become a liability. In a back 3 though, he has two others that can win the headers for him, so what he offers offensively makes it worth the obvious downside.
The goal and analysis above are both from a 4-2 win over FC Tokyo, our main rivals. His passing from the defensive line seems to be more central, looking to find the DLP and allowing him to start the move. 3 of his 4 key passes in the game head out wide though, showing that when he does try to find those passes it can start effective moves.
I've never done any kind of tactical or analytical post before, so hopefully what I've said here makes sense. It's just what I noticed in a role that I've never properly used before, so if anyone has any extra observations or even corrections, please let me know with a comment or over on Twitter.
Thanks for reading.
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