Kawasaki Frontale have won four J1 League titles in the last six seasons. They could have won a fifth title but lost it on the last day of the 2022 season. The 2023 season has started, and teams have already played three matches. Kawasaki Frontale have not made the start that they expected and have earned four points in the first three matches. Now they need some early momentum if they want to register their fifth title in seven seasons. One of the players that they will heavily rely on is their veteran midfielder, Akihiro Ienaga. The 36-year-old veteran joined the club back in 2017 and has won four league titles with them. He has a lot of experience and has even played in La Liga. We now look at some of the stats of the player that show why the veteran could be the go-to man for Kawasaki Frontale.
A creative winger
Akihiro Ienaga is a right-winger who is still delivering performances for his team at this age. Ienaga has featured in all three games played by his team this season. In these three matches, he has scored a goal and also has an assist to his name. Both contributions came in the same match against Kashima Antlers. The above heatmap shows that Ienaga has featured as a right-winger and as a centre-forward for his side.
Last season, the winger scored 12 goals and had four assists to his name. The above pizza map shows the percentile rank of the player in comparison to right-wingers in the league. It can be observed that Ienaga is rated high for attempting passes and accurately delivering them. His aerial duels win rate was on the higher side.
Reliability in front of the goal
The veteran winger is one of the most reliable players when it comes to scoring goals. Akihiro Ienaga scored 12 goals last season and already has one in the current season. Of his 12 goals last season, five came from the penalty spot. This shows that the team relies a lot on him for taking the penalties. Last season, the player averaged 1.41 shots and had a 43.5% accuracy rate. Most of the shot attempts came from the right side.
This season he has attempted five shots and only one has been on target. His only shot on target came off the penalty spot.
Creativity down the flanks
Akihiro Ienaga runs down the right flank and attempts dribbles to go past the defenders. He also likes to deliver crosses and that has resulted in a few assists as well. Last season, he averaged 2.63 crosses and 3.02 dribbles per 90 minutes. One of the key observations is that all the crosses were delivered to a similar point inside the opposition penalty box.
These constant deliveries into the opposition penalty box resulted in four assists last season and one in the current season. Ienaga delivered 4.34 passes to the penalty box per 90 minutes last season. He managed to deliver 64.8% of such passes. This shows that the player is quite accurate in delivering these passes into the penalty box.
Betting analysis
Akihiro Ienaga’s inclusion in the team will automatically lower their odds of winning the match. He is a creative force and that will also have an effect on the over/under lines. The over lines are expected to thrive.
Kawasaki Frontale haven’t made a good start to the season. However, these are still early days and they can turn around the season. Ienaga is a key player on their side and his experience will play a key role in changing the fortunes of the team.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
