felmani26
SC Supporter
- Jan 1, 2008
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PART 2
DRIBBELING
(As this subject is somewhat a point of contention amongst us here on SC I figured I’d do a bit if a deeper dive on Kubo’s ability on the dribble)
I know there seems to be some debate as to his ability but really Kubo is very good at running with the ball. He would easily be our most accomplished dribbler in the wide areas, bar Solomon, if we were to bring him in. He is fast, has exceptional technique and acceleration especially from a standing start, good balance, very quick reaction time, runs with his head up, and computes things very quickly. When he runs he keeps the ball extremely close to his foot in order to change directions in a split second. If I was nitpicking I would say that he looses concentration from time to time and his touch can be a little heavy but it has improved over the last few season's and it's never been a significant problem. He averages 2.51 miscontrols per game which, as I have highlighted elsewhere, really isn't much to write home about. Whilst he primarily uses his left he will engage his right when receiving a pass or to stop the ball when cutting but doesn’t tend to use it when going on the outside. Instead he favours using his left to move the ball across his body. Because of how quick his feet are this doesn’t tend to be a problem which it can be for some that favour a dominant foot. He doesn't really use any elaborate tricks bar the odd step over but is excellent at dropping his shoulder or fainting in one direction in order to get a reaction. Just ask Tony Kroos who he nutmeged after a drag back causing the German to foul him on the edge of the area in Real Sociedad's 2-1 loss to Real Madrid last September. In general his first half display that match was a pure masterclass of a performance and well worth watching if anyone is curious to see how impactful a player he can be when on song.
Why then do some think he is a poor dribbler, after all I just listed pretty much every skill needed to be a top class ball carrier. Well for a start Take is a reactive rather than proactive dribbler meaning he bases his movement on the actions of his opponent rather than necessarily taking the initiative. Kubo will regularly come to a complete stop, face up his opponent and look for the slights shift in balance that could give him an opening to exploit. If one arises he will use a burst of pace to beat the first man then slalom through the gap between the other defenders who are trying to quickly reposition and cover the now vacant spot in the defensive line. If he fails to find an opening then he will opt to move the ball via a pass or cross rather then trying to force the point. Due to this slightly more passive style he may sometimes seem like a less proficient or effective player when running with ball but it isn’t entirely true. He just uses his running ability in a different way to other more aggressive wingers that look to dominate their opponent.
Kubo likes to pick and choose when to make his move rather than constantly trying to take on his opposite number. While he clearly loves running with the ball for him it is just another tool in destabilising a defence rather his primary go to. This in turn might make him seem underwhelming in this area but really he is still very effective just in a different way to someone like Nico Williams for example who is an atypical high volume dribbler that tends to be a lot more direct in his approach.
On paper when looking at his statistics Kubo is up there with the best in the league. He is joint 5th with Nico Williams for carries into the the penalty area with 60, he's 7th in the league for progressive carries, he has a 46.4% successful take on percentage per 90 which is better then the likes of Niko Williams 44.6% and Vinicius Júnior 36.9% although he averages significantly fewer overall dribbles in comparison, Take- 4.9 attempted/2.3 successful, Nico - 7.68/3.42, Vini -8.50/3.14. Take is also one of the most fouled wingers in the league winning 52 in total this season, the same as Lamine Yamal and only two less than Vinicius on 54.
What is also interesting is that Take didn't look out of place at all in the CL, he even got Nuno Mendes on a yellow and needing to be subbed on the 62nd min in the 2nd leg of La Real's clash against PSG. Although in truth Kubo wasn’t great overall that game and had a better performance in the first leg. Much like his passing stats his numbers in this area are actually ether better, on par or just under his league numbers, something that is rather impressive considering the other teams in La Real's group. Really this isn't actually that surprising as he has put in high level performances against the likes of Real Madrid and Barca but it's certainly still worth noting. He is the opposite of a player like Francisco Conceição of Porto whose league numbers put him right near the very best in Europe but take a significant nose dive in the Champions League. Although Take's successful take on's drop to 44.7% his average number of dribbles went up to 6.12 and his carries into the penalty area goes up to 3.54 which puts him into the 96th percentile of wingers in the competition. In general his number of carries goes up from 32.19 to 34.45 as does his average touches in the opposition box from 5.11 to 5.31.
So that's all pretty impressive, what is the downside? Well the biggest question mark with Kubo as a dribbler, and probably the key issue were we to go for him (not just for the issue in of itself but also how it effects his all round game), is his lack of strength on the ball. This is certainly an area that he struggled with from the moment he started getting regular minutes in the league for Mallorca. For all the electric running it was always rather easy to push him off the ball. Now Kubo does have a low centre of gravity when he runs and he is much more tenacious then Bryan Gil for example, he won't fall over at the first bit of physical contact, but ultimately he is still very small. He's only 5ft 8 and doesn't really have a stocky build ether. I would say that his strength has greatly improved since his first season of La Liga football, his performances in the CL this season are testament to that, there is however still a significant jump to the PL that should not be underestimated.
Take’s weaker physicality is something he himself is clearly very aware of and what we have seen is him constantly tweaking his running game over the past few seasons to cover for it. These days he will be a lot more selective about when he take's on an opponent and if he thinks the odds are not in his favour he will opt to offload the ball instead. He doesn't tend to engage with defenders unless he thinks he has a good chance at beating them and in general he always tries to leave separation between him and his opponent. In the past you would often see him trying to run through tight gaps and getting easily out muscled, he doesn’t tend to do that so much now. That being said when he does end up being shoulder to shoulder he won’t wilt.
To elaborate on that, due to his physicality and being a reactive dribbler I do find there is a marked decrease in Kubo’s effectiveness on the dribble when entering the opposition area in certain circumstances. When he gets into the box you can clearly see a slight hesitation in his progressive movements if the opposition has had time to set themselves. Somewhat understandable as space is often at a premium. As I’ve mentioned previously, he will regularly come to a complete stop and if he can’t see a gap ether opt for the short pass outside, circumnavigate the defender until playing a short (often sideways) pass or cross if he’s found an angle. Rarely does he look to move past his defender, rather he just moves away from them whether that be on the inside or outside. On rare occasions he will even back off into midfield if a defender or midfielder presses him hard enough. Whilst he won’t often loose the ball in such situations he can unintentionally halt progression. Also Kubo doesn’t tend to win a lot of pens, he didn’t win any this season and during his entire 5 seasons in La Liga he’s won a total of 4. (2 of those coming in his first season when he was more a more gung ho ball carrier.) This again shows that he rarely gets defenders to commit when on the ball in the area.
Essentially when on the counter or following a high turn over Kubo is excellent, against a packed defence, not so much.
I find this is one area I don’t think the statistics necessarily tell the whole story as on paper his dribbles into the box and avg touches in the box per game are very good as I pointed out above. I find that his dribbling tends to shine most further down the pitch where there is overall more space to move into.
To further my point, bellow you can see footage of his performance vs Villarreal back in February. It was a an altogether very solid performance from him, he ended up with 3 key passes, 85% pass completion including 4 or 4 long balls. In the first leg back in December Kubo actually ended up with a goals and an assist but the assist was from a corner and the goal came from a pressured turnover on the left side of the final third with Kubo being found in acheers of space on the right side of the box. As I may have mentioned when talking about Villarreal in the Baena thread, when out of possession Marcelino likes to fill the box and they tend to be well drilled defensively. They are very compact when given time to set. I feel this performance nicely highlights some of the things I have mentioned about his overall play in regards to both his movement/oft deeper positioning/ball progression in attack and where/how he utilises his dribbling ability. It was also a game in which he went to the byline more than usual which is helpful as it highlights his right foot delivery.
Ultimately Kubo is a very good technical dribbler who in the right situation can be very effective but I don't find his ability in this area to be a stand out asset. Rather one of several assets that culminate in a very talented yet still not fully rounded player. While there is certainly the potential to be a more incisive dribbler in the future (if he bulks up) what Kubo currently offers most is not the ability to run aggressively with the ball and cause havoc in the box but rather intelligent ball movement from the wider areas. Again another signifier that really Takefusa Kubo is developing into more of a wide playmaker than a forward or winger.
DEFENSIVE OUTPUT
I am going to keep this section as brief as possible, mainly because there really isn't much to say in this regard. Defensively Kubo is a player of two halves. In the opposition half Kubo presses reasonably well, he harries opponents and looks to pick off wayward or slow passes. Due to his acceleration and ability to read the game he will get the odd interception. Considering Alguacil tactics, whilst Kubo's defensive capabilities are rather limited he holds his own, as I’ve mentioned previously La Real are excellent at winning the ball high up the pitch and he certainly doesn't shy away from the defensive work in the opposition half even if he isn’t particularly skilled in this area nor does he directly force many turnovers.
The problem comes when the ball reaches his own half. Unless he is already engaged with his opposite number or the ball has gone out for a corner he pretty much shuts off when the ball crosses the halfway line. He will tend to jog back and not really try to involve himself with any real conviction. His defensive positioning in general needs a lot of work. He tends to hover quite a bit without being completely clear on where he needs to be.
Thing is he can actually do better. If he was the reason for a turnover he will track back with pace and try to win back the ball as long as it has remained in the right side channel. But in general he significantly needs to improve his overall defensive output as currently he only does half the job and even then it could be better. He averages 1.09 tackles per game and win's 0.71. That puts him in the 29th and 34th percentile respectively.
What I would add tho is that if it’s true that we hold interest I'm sure this is something Ange would be very well aware of considering their past together. Whilst obviously he has greatly changed as a player in regards to his technical skills, he was only 17 when they worked together, i'm sure the mental side of his game will be somewhat similar. Ie if Ange thinks he is capable of putting in the hard yards then there is a good chance he can now. After all what we can see from his attacking game is a player that follows tactical instruction to the letter given his compliance in positioning himself wide and pressing high. One could also surmise that it’s quite possible he hasn't been tasked with defending his own half as rigorously as he does the oppositions after all he is often one of the highest attacking outlets following a turn over. But i'm just hypothesising at this juncture.
FUTURE
With the regularity in which younger players have started breaking though into the first teams of clubs across the world, Yamal (16), Páez (17), Cubarsí (17), Estêvão (17), Mastantuono (16) etc, it is easy to forget that 22/23 is still very young for a footballer. Kubo still has a long way to go. Personally I think his overall development this year has been very encouraging despite his lower G&A return but he certainly has some areas he clearly needs to improve upon. I would really like to see him stamp more authority on matches, especially in the final third. He clearly has the skills he just needs to refine and develop them further. I find it really hard to tell how far he could go because so much depends on the next two years. If he can conquer his consistency issues he could be formidable. That being said I don't think he will ever reach the World Class bracket, whilst he has a lot of very good skills he doesn’t really have any that significantly stand out. It’s more about the overall package with him. That said I do think he could develop into a top draw wide playmaker. So much of what Kubo offers comes in flashes, he will go through periods of matches were he is just unplayable and no defender wants to go near him then he will go quiet for large periods and you will forget he's even on the pitch. Due to his stature I struggle to see him ever really being effective in a more central position, certainly not in a physical league at least. That said you never know, size doesn't seem to be an issue for Bernardo Silva who is also 5ft 8 for example so maybe it is just a question of physical development. Kubo has played AM for Japan in the past and there’s every chance I’m being a little over critical here!
As for his immediate future Take is in a little bit of a tricky situation if he does decide he wants a move. Due to Real Madrid's 50% sell on clause I would be surprised if Real Sociedad decided to sell for below his €60 mil release clause which he just isn’t currently worth. Supposedly that sell on clause runs out in 2027 but if he really wants to make the most of his potential he needs to move on long before that. So really it will come down to ether La Real getting so desperate for money they are willing to sell for a significantly reduced fee or Take has a storming 24/25 season making the 60 mil look reasonable. Maybe there’s also space to get creative with a part swap deal, those are often tricky tho. Currently the absolute max I’d consider paying for him is around 35 to maybe 40 mil Euros, not Sterling, at a push which I just don’t see them accepting.
CONCLUSIONI realise I have probably gone on a little too much with this one and I appreciate those of you still reading. In regards to a target for us, whilst it's true that ultimately I’m not entirely convinced he is what we need I wouldn't dismiss it entirely. At least not in theory. As a player I really like him. He does suit a possession based high pressing side and whilst he might not satiate our cravings for an aggressive winger he would offer something very different, rather than necessarily an improvement, in the wide areas. Whilst that might not sound entirely sexy, the idea of more technically gifted players with vision, good ball retention and tactical intelligence in our front line isn’t the worst idea in the world. Plus he still has a lot of room to grow. Again I think he is a player who Ange could very easily mould given how tactically adaptable he clearly is. I do think there is a huge amount of untapped potential with Kubo, the right manager and system could really help him go up several levels assuming he gets over his inconstancy issues that have somewhat plagued his time in La Liga. That being said I'm not entirely sure he will ever become a direct winger and really I think it's the playmaking side of his game that shows the most promise. And aside from all that I think there is a very real question about his suitability for the PL, more so then some of the others we are looking at like Alex Baena.
I would also add that if we really wanted a left footed wide playmaker, despite not being as fast (which would in reality probably be the sticking point), I think I would prefer Matías Soulé to Kubo. Despite being almost 2 years younger and significantly less experienced at a high level Soulé’s vision, creativity and passing between the lines is just superior to Take’s. Yes he also has low assist numbers but that is primarily down to Frosinone's awful front line (there’s little wonder they got relegated). I think once he develops, in the right system, he could become a creative force.
On the surface and going by our tactics last season I don’t see Take as a comfortable fit for us. In general what you get from Kubo in the attacking areas is a clever inside forward/wide playmaker who cuts in, plays with his head up and tries to influence play all through the middle and final thirds via clever movement, good vision, short passes, speed of thought and technically astute dribbling. But what you don’t get is incisiveness, proactive dribbling or direct play against a set defence and that for me is what is currently most lacking in our wide areas. At present he is more influential outside of the box rather than in it. An exciting, all be slightly flawed, player but he is not a wing forward. Considering now that we are retaining Werner and potentially looking at just one WF arriving permanently this summer I'm not convinced Kubo should be that one player. That being said I do like him and if we did get him I would be very curious to see how Ange could mould him into the player he needs. He is after all, a talented player who was a true wonderkid in his early youth.
As always, thank you for reading
Will give this a good read later but tremendous work as always Ghost.
