Introduction:
Ryotaro Tsunoda was signed from Yokohama F Marinos last January before immediately being sent on loan to Kortrijk for important experience in a high quality division. His time there was extremely positive, and he adapted well to the new league and style of play extremely quickly.
His Kortrijk side, including other Cardiff loanees Isaak Davies and Sheyi Ojo, had a completely different tactical approach to Yokohama. Yokohama top the J.League for possession with on average 60.1%. Kortrijk however only averaged 43.6% possession, which was the second lowest. It’s not easy to change tactical styles this quickly but Tsunoda did with ease, and it helped him a ton.
His 2 years of success at Yokohama were catalysed by how much possession the side averaged. This allowed Tsunoda more time on the ball which improved his decision making and progressive passes. These passes quickly became a trademark of his, and translated well to the tactical approach of Kortrijk.
(Link to Tsunoda’s progressive passing)
Tsunoda is an extremely smart player. His anticipation has improved over the years, and his game awareness + speed act as a catalyst for the staggering amount of defensive duels he’s won both at Yokohama and Kortrijk. Like Perry NG, you don’t have to be the tallest to win aerial duels. Yet while Tsunoda isn’t ‘amazing’ in them, he’s still got great timing and awareness of his surroundings to know whether to attempt a duel or not.
Kortrijk’s style:
Kortrijk like mentioned allowed the opposition possession, focusing on a counterattacking approach. This was a completely new test to Tsunoda, as there was less time on the ball for him, and a lot more defensive actions to deal with. Obviously, this was beneficiary for Tsunoda to gain more aggression and improve his timing in duels.
Tsunoda stood out in progressive passes and defensive duels won in his half-season stint at Kortrijk, and it’s no surprise. He already excelled in these areas at Yokohama but Kortrijk was a different test in terms of physicality and actual quality of the sides. Although this, Tsunoda was excellent no matter the opposition. I’d even say his best performance was against Anderlecht due to his anticipation in countless duels and precise progressive passing that day.
Kortrijk opted a 5-3-2 formation while Tsunoda was there which translates well to both Yokohama and Cardiff. This decision was due to Kortrijk’s new manager Freyr Alexandersson using a 5 back while managing Lyngby. The photos below show what Tsunoda dealt with week-in, week-out.
Adjusting to Cardiff:
I feel the adjustments from Kortrijk to Cardiff aren’t drastic for Tsunoda. The ‘counter-attacking’ approach is similar in some regard, and tactically in possession Tsunoda is used to what Cardiff would use him as. I won’t change Bulut’s style too much, so Cardiff should still start with a 4-3-3 on paper.
In possession however, Tsunoda should be used as a 3rd centre-back, preferably while the right-back is more attacking focused and has the freedom to go further up the pitch.
Tsunoda’s wide defending improved during his stint at Kortrijk, and this 3 back of Cardiff’s would help Ryotaro out a lot. He’s not the slowest in any regard either, and times his duels to perfection. Once back from him unfortunate injury, I can see him being an important player at Cardiff.
Summary of RT’s statistics at Kortrijk:
— 7.10 average rating
— 66.7% dribble success rate
— 61% duels won
— 1.93 interceptions per 90
— 2.50 aerial duels won per 90
Summary of RT’s statistics at Yokohama:
(J League 2023)
— 86.6% passing accuracy (56.4 per 90)
— 1.20 tackles won per 90 (72.7% won)
— 2.48 interceptions per 90
— 0.45 chances created per 90
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