Tomiyasu Takehiro: The Versatile Defender Excelling at Arsenal and Beyond

Japanese national team defender Tomiyasu Takehiro (26 years old) has become a key player at Arsenal in the prestigious Premier League. Playing in England’s defensive area, which is different from other countries, is a challenging task. So, how did Tomiyasu end up winning success?

With repeated right knee injuries and uncertain futures, let’s take a look back at Tomiyasu’s polyvalent style of playing (flexibly capable of playing multiple positions) that has been exquisitely functioning in his home country of football.

Polyvalent players, also known as utility players, are players who can play in multiple positions, making them a great asset for the manager. They can be used again when someone is injured or when tactical changes are made. On the other hand, the expertise of a certain position can be reduced and become dexterous. The key is how highly performant you can perform in different positions.

Tomiyasu is able to play at a high level not only as a defender but also as an anchor (the rearmost position of the defensive midfielder). Since his time at Avispa Fukuoka (2015-2017), he has played in multiple positions, including defensive midfielder, showing his polyvalent ability.

Until he came to the Premier League, Tomiyasu played mainly as a center back (CB) in Belgium (STVV 2018-2019) and Italy (Bologna 2019-2021) among the defenders. At Arsenal, he is often playing as a right-back (fullback: FB), so let’s think about why.

If Tomiyasu plays for the J.League or in the Japanese national team, the manager would use him as the CB unless there is a special tactical reason. This is because there are rare players in Japan who are as tall as Tomiyasu, at 188cm.

However, at Arsenal, they are more likely to be seen in positions other than CB. Arsenal’s CB is often taller than Tomiyasu. Tomiyasu is also fit enough to play in CB in the Premier League, but it’s the world’s top Premier League with more than that.

Although he has a large height and strong physicality that can rival air combat, he also has the ability to move around up and down the pitch, agility, and momentum, and he also demonstrates high abilities as a FB. In addition to that, defensive midfielders require skillful ball handling and build-up skills, but they do well without any problems.

With the recent changes to the goal kick rules, there has become a significant trend in building up from the defensive line, and Tomiyasu’s skill in handling the ball with his feet has been made even more useful.

In England, they tend to kick diagonally forward from kickoff. The defensive is by far the advantage in the first match, but the intention is to pick up that second ball. Teams who value the ball don’t use it, but in England, this is so mainstream that it can be said to be the standard for kickoff. In that air battle, FB will also compete.

Kick-off is easy to understand as the play begins in a fixed position, but this kind of situational judgment of kicking forward occurs frequently in each scene of the game. They put a long ball into the opposing defense line with one or eighth. It is what is called the traditional English tactic: “kick and rush.”

In addition, not only are there many large players in general, they tend to prefer larger players. This is because there are many aerial battles and physical competitions.

It is often seen that six players, including four defensive line players and two defensive midfielders, will be suited to CB if they go to a league in other countries. This is the speciality of the defensive team in England.

CB-like players play in different positions. In other words, England is often required to have a CB with polyvalent abilities.