Player Review 12/13 - Yoshida
Friday, 31st May 2013 09:17

In our player review we are now in the central defenders, today we take a look at Japanese star Yoshida.

Its true to say that when Yoshida arrived from VVV Venlo in Holland as the summer transfer window drew to a close, the little known Japanese central defender appeared to be something of a panic buy, Saints had been linked with many centre halves over the previous four months, but had managed to sign none of them, supporters knew that what we had wasnt good enough and that it wasnt experienced enough, so signing Yoshida wasnt really what anyone was looking for.

In fairness to him though he has had a reasonable season, not a great one, but reasonable given that his versatility to play anywhere along the back four has offered us options and to be blunt even being reasonable earns him the plaudits of being our best defender in the central position and thats a sad state of affairs.

In many respects though Yoshida is a solid defender but he shares one trait with both Fonte and Hooiveld and that is the fact that although in games he can be solid for long periods, he tends to lose concentration at vital moments and often this has lead us to concede sloppy goals, this is best illustrated away to Wigan in the first game in February, both goals conceded were sloppy, but Yoshidas summed up not just him, but our defence as a hole, Yoshida was marking Caldwell at a corner, the ball came in, Caldwell dropped his shoulder and left Yoshida marking space, a free header allowed him to pick his spot, a soft goal to concede, but typical of the ones we let in.

Before anyone accuses me of being harsh I will point out that only four teams in the Premier in 2012/13 conceded more goals than us, that should tell us something, we dropped 29 points from winning positions, the highest in the division, that should also tell us something and too many of the goals we let in came from defensive errors and that again should tell us something.

Yoshida to be honest was the best of a bad bunch in the centre, the acid test would be to perhaps ask yourself, would any of our central defenders get into any other Premier side ? I think the answer is simple on that one, Yoshida is a good back up player in this division and thats what his role really should be at Saints, a good player to come in for an injured player, a good man to have on the bench in the fact that he can come on late in the game and add fresh legs, he can also come on and play full back, again another good option especially at home as it could free up space on the bench in other areas.

The Daily Echo has given Yoshida 9/10 in its review and says that he has added an air of calm to the defence, that may well be true, but all it has meant is that we have conceded soft goals in calmer circumstances, for long periods we are calm and assured, but thats no good when we then go on to concede sloppy uneccessary goals, again that Wigan game illustrates that fact, we controlled it for 90% of the game, should have gone in at the break at least one up, didnt because of a lack of concentration and basic defending, fought our way back into it and a lead going into the final minute and then threw it all away with sloppy defending again.

Someone pointed out in the earlier reviews that the marks surely cant be as high as i had given in such a poor defence, they are right, we talk of the two full backs as England candidates and as having great seasons, if you give Yoshida 9/10, how the hell are we letting in so many sloppy goals, if three players are so good.

For me Yoshida is a solid 7/10, he has brought a lot to the party, but sadly ruins it on too many occasions by a lack of concentration and poor judgement, alongside a decent defender he would be adequate in the Premier.

Photo: Action Images

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stmichael added 10:12 - May 31 Quite impressed with Josh. Slotted straight in with out a settling in period. A good 7 out of 10. If all our players were a good 7 out of 10 we would not have been involved in a relegation battle. Can see him being the partner to a marque centre half signing next season.
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SaintNick added 10:33 - May 31 I agree yoshida could be good alongside a good quality partner. If he could be plunged straight in then why wasn't Forren ? Not quite sure that if all were 7/10 we would be too much higher, our problem has been 1. several weak links which if plugged will see us take another step. 2. lack of strength in depth, after an initial 16 players the rest contributed little
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davepid added 11:01 - May 31

I have been impressed with Yos in every game Ive seen him and not just becasue he was a huge improvement on what we had before. It was a soft goal at Wigan ,I agree, but I also recall him clearing off the line once or twice,indicative of being able to read the game . I think a versatile, generally safe defender and with a bit of pace ,I seem to recall, deserves an 8/10.

winchesterbob added 11:26 - May 31 A very good assessment of Yos, Nick. I do think that he will continue to improved though and as you say his versatility is an asset.
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Paul_Soton added 12:22 - May 31

Just something about dropping points that stuck with me. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1649035-top-5-what-ifs-from-southamptons-prem

"the actual numbers suggests that Southampton wasn't as bad at holding leads as people may think. Southampton were actually 7-2-0 in games the team led at halftime, taking 23 out of 27 points in the process according to SoccerStats.com.
The Saints scored seven goals in the last 15 minutes, and conceded 13. Southampton was actually worse in the 15 minutes prior to halftime, scoring 11 and conceding 19.Even more interesting, if you took the results as they stood at halftime, Southampton would have a record of 9-15-14 for 42 points, just one point more than the 41 the Saints finished the season with.

Seems like the blown leads weren't that big of a deal at all."

Paul_Soton added 12:25 - May 31 Also that Saints did lose 29 points from winning positions, yet did win 9 points from losing positions. So it should be reported 20 points were actually lost if you're not going to mention the 9 points. http://stats.football365.com/dom/ENG/teams/Southampton.html Truth, lies and statistics eh :P
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SaintNick added 12:43 - May 31

No lies just the truth regarding how many points we dropped from winning positions as in this review its covering the defence not attack,

In regard from winning positions we came back from behind to earn at least a point on 8 occasions, but only 1 of those resulted in a win, this perhaps emphasises why Saints need to keep things tight at the back and not ship silly goals, they say that things even themselves out in football, we need to even this out

slynch added 13:06 - May 31 Reasonable back-up player, as you suggest. But if Saints are aiming at the top six, then nearly all the first team are.
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TimSaint added 10:21 - Jun 1

Yes I would say a solid 7/10 for the season - but why highlight so much negativity in you review Nick?
You seem so obsessed with the first goal conceded away to Wigan and made such a big point about it back then. Everyone makes the odd mistake or slip - sometimes these are genuine human errors and cannot be helped - even the best do this!
Yes our defence was renowned for the odd bit of pinball but to put it down to just concentration is a little strange.
Yosh made some crucial clearances and interceptions this season and had some great games. He was also unlucky not to get on the score sheet a few times - and although not a towering defender, was deceptively quick and got us out of many potentially dangerous situations.

TimSaint added 10:21 - Jun 1

Lambert added 11:51 - Jun 2 I think yoshi has had a good season couple of mistakes but he is only human i like him and i think with a strong partner next to him he could be a strong player next season
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