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Player reportPremier League 2026

Ao Tanaka

Leeds
Ball-winning 6 (destroyer) DM
14.2 defensive actions/90
Capability Analysis
Breaking Pressure
only 41 pressured-passing actions across 2 high-press matches -- not enough sample (needs 5+ matches and 12+ actions)
Progression46%vs 25 central mids
"Can he move the team forward with a pass, not just recycle it sideways?"
Progressive passes /902.9832%
Line-breaking passes /901.1836%
Threat added by passing /900.82xT36%
Pass accuracy83.94%80%
Ball-Winning69%vs 25 central mids
"How actively does he win the ball back?"
Interceptions /901.1396%
Ball recoveries /904.7368%
Tackles /901.9960%
Duels won /900.6652%
defensive middeep-lying playmakerpress resistancescreening
496
minutes
7 apps
229
passes
87% completed
87%
pass completion
229 passes
20
progressive passes
3.6/90
78
defensive actions
14.2/90
18
tackles + interceptions
40% tackle win
19
recoveries
3.4/90
11
line-breaking passes
2.0/90
Overview

The player

Who he is and how he compares with his peers.

01

What Patterns Define Him?

His repeatable signature. A step only appears if its reliability score (sample size × match coverage) reaches at least Medium confidence — pattern mining, not anecdotes.

RECEIVE
drop between the centre-backs — mostly in the middle third (67% of his 229 passes)
87% completion · 229× in 7/7 matches
↓
ESCAPE PRESSURE
turn out of a tight central area
67% won · 6× in 5/7 matches
↓
PROGRESS CENTRAL
break a line through the middle
3.6 prog/90 · 11× in 6/7 matches
↓
SCREEN / WIN BALL
protect the back four
6.7 ball-wins/90 · 37× in 7/7 matches
↓
RECYCLE / PROGRESS
keep it ticking, feed the final third
3.3 f3-entries/90 · 18× in 6/7 matches
Signature: drop to receive → escape the press on the turn → progress centrally or recycle → screen the counter. Block the central lane and press his first touch to force him backwards.
17

Where is he influential — vs where is he merely present?

Red fill = raw touch territory. Gold rings = zones where his influence (xT added, progression, line-breaks, key passes) outweighs how often he's actually there — one combined map instead of two separate maps to compare by eye. Red with no ring: present but not dangerous. A ring on faint red: rare touches, outsized impact.

own goal left, attacking →
33
passes / match
14.2
def actions / 90
20–53
pass range (matches)
11
clearances
Pass range = his fewest and most passes in any single match this season (20 at the low end, 53 at the high) — a measure of match-to-match involvement, not pass distance.
In possession

In possession

What he does with the ball: build-up, progression, creation, carrying and finishing.

10

How dangerous are his carries?

Real ball-carries

52 tracked carries (9.4/90, 9 progressive, 458m total) — the ball moving with his touches, a different signal from dribbles below (beating an opponent 1v1). even a player who rarely dribbles past a man can still carry the ball forward constantly in build-up; this is that.

4%6%2%6%17%15%6%23%17%4%
progressivelateral/short% of his 52 carries originating in each zone · own goal left, attacking →
Every carry, exact path — median 7m, longest 28m
By zone — where the carry started → where it ended
8Outside → Inside
32Inside → Inside
11Outside → Outside
1Inside → Outside
First (17)Second (14)Third (13)Fourth (8)grouped by carry pattern (start + end position), largest group first
startendown goal left, attacking →

Beaten in the tackle

How often an attacker gets past him in a 1v1 defensive duel — the closest signal the data has to "dribbled past" (no attacker-beat-defender field exists directly, so this counts tackles he attempted and lost).

15
tackle duels
6
won
9
beaten · 60%
brighter band = more tackle duels · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 80%
OUTSIDE 20%
Tackle-duel location — 12 inside · 3 outside
Right Wing
0 · 0%
Right Half-Space
3 · 20%
Central
4 · 27%
Left Half-Space
5 · 33%
Left Wing
3 · 20%
Vision AI beaten in 9 of 15 tackle duels (60% loss rate) — a real defensive leak worth flagging.
Every tackle duel, exact location
wonlost — dribbled pastown goal left, attacking →

He attempted only 6 dribbles of his own all season — dribbling is not part of this role; his ball-carrying is covered above, his defending against the dribble below.

03

How does he build & move the ball?

How does he escape the first line?

14%
vertical passes
17×
2%
switches
3×
24%
carries
29×
59%
short circulation
71×
Answer: he escapes the press primarily through carrying — stepping out with the ball.

How he moves the ball — his 4 busiest progression routes, not where every pass starts and ends separately. Arrow width = how often, colour = xT gained, dashed = switch of play. The full breakdown is in the lane matrix below.

own goal left, attacking →
Lane transition matrix — when he receives in a lane, where does it go?
TO →RWRHSCLHSLWRW683%517%1RHS2536%944%1112%38%2C564%221%1246%2620%119%5LHS6313%837%2325%1625%16LW502%122%1134%1742%21FROM
Rows normalised: each row sums to 100% of that lane's completed passes. Grey number = passes from that lane.

Primary route: the left half-space in the middle third → central areas in the middle third — 3 progressive passes (18% of his progression) at 0.025 xT each. He moves it inside.

His progression is inward: 59% of progressive passes move the ball toward the middle versus 0% going wider — he cuts in rather than holding width.

8% of his passes are cross-field switches — he changes the point of attack often.

Quality behind the volume: 6 line-breaking passes and 18 final-third entries, -0.5 total xT added.

Origin and destination are measured on the same event row — no receiver inference. Receiver identity is not recoverable from this data source.
All passes — origin zone share
Filter: from to
0%4%5%2%0%10%11%13%2%12%23%12%6%0%
completedincomplete229 passes · any zone → any zone · own goal left, attacking →
229
passes
87%
completed
29
lost
Vision AIIn line with his 87% season completion rate.
04

How does he progress play?

How much he drives the ball forward. Progressive = completed pass advancing ≥15 toward goal.

20
progressive · 3.6/90
18
final-third entries · 3.3/90
1
box entries · 0.18/90
12
progression index /90
Progression index: one composite number — progressive passes + progressive carries + 2% of total distance progressed + 8× positive xT added, all per 90. Weights VOLUME and THREAT together rather than counting progressive actions alone.
11

How does he create chances?

0 key passes (0.00/90), 0 of them assists — where his chance creation specifically comes from, 18 zones (6×3), showing his share of key passes originating there.

Chance creation — key pass origin zone share
Filter:
chance creation (0)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
05

Where does he become vulnerable?

31 times he gave the ball away. For a defender the danger is where — a loss in his own third can turn into a chance against; higher up it costs little.

9
attacking third (cheap)
16
middle third
6
own third (dangerous)
Vision AI 29% of losses are in the attacking third — a notable share happen deeper, which invites transitions.
Mistake danger (proxy): 2.13 danger-index/90 · 0.379 avg/turnover. Weights each loss by threat conceded at that location. True xT-conceded needs the opponent possession model; positional proxy.
06

What is his passing profile?

229
passes attempted
38%
mostly backward
52%
mostly medium
Direction
Forward
75 · 33%
Sideways
68 · 30%
Backward
86 · 38%
Length (completed)
Short (<15m)
88 · 44%
Medium
103 · 52%
Long (>30m)
9 · 4%
07

Preferred Progression Routes — xT-weighted

His progressive passes as zone→zone routes, weighted by expected threat (xT) added — arrow width and the number are the total xT generated on each route, not just how often he plays it. This is where he actually moves the needle.

0.340.310.210.150.130.12
own goal left, attacking →
Highest-value routes (xT)
0.34
Left Wing Mid third → Left Wing Mid third
5 passes
0.31
Left Half-Space Att third → Right Half-Space Att third
1 passes
0.21
Left Half-Space Mid third → Central Mid third
2 passes
0.15
Left Wing Mid third → Left Half-Space Att third
1 passes
0.13
Left Wing Mid third → Left Half-Space Mid third
1 passes
0.12
Left Half-Space Mid third → Left Half-Space Att third
1 passes
08

Where Does He Receive?

The zones where Ao Tanaka gets on the ball — his top three ball-collection areas highlighted (gold = primary). Reception is proxied by where his on-ball actions begin (no explicit receiver is recorded).

123
1 = primary, 2 = secondary, 3 = third · own goal left, attacking →
His collection zones
23%
Primary
Left Half-Space, Middle third
17%
Secondary
Central, Middle third
14%
Third
Left Wing, Middle third
These are the zones where he collected the ball most.
09

Where Does He Operate? — Every Zone

Every on-ball touch (pass, dribble, shot) binned into a 6×3 grid — raw counts of where Ao Tanaka actually gets on the ball. Hover any zone for its breakdown by action type, its share of all touches, and the exact coordinate range it covers.

Filter:
3152271312225291231111151
own goal left, attacking → · brighter + higher number = more touches

Passes only — completed vs incomplete, by zone

Same zone grid, restricted to passes so completed/incomplete and match filters actually mean something — a shot or a dribble has no "completed" in the pass sense.

0%4%5%2%0%10%11%13%2%12%23%12%6%0%
own goal left, attacking →
12

Every Pass This Season — completed vs incomplete

Every pass this season, plotted individually — green = completed, grey (dashed) = incomplete, gold = key pass. Filter by outcome or isolate one match below.

1Cross
20Progressive
11Long ball
5Switch
By zone — where the pass started → where it landed
30Outside → Inside
112Inside → Inside
26Outside → Outside
32Inside → Outside
By direction
75Forward
86Backward
68Sideways
own goal left, attacking →
02

Tactical patterns — how his football actually looks

Three clustered sequence diagrams from his own event data — his three busiest routes: the way he progresses, the pattern behind his chances, and where a turnover turns dangerous.

own goal left, attacking →
How does he progress the ball forward?
His most common route for progressing play: he plays straight through the left wing in the middle third — 5 passes worth 0.34 xT.
Where does he lose the ball most?
This is a RATE, not a raw count — the share of his touches in each zone that end in a turnover, so a zone he simply plays in more often doesn't automatically look riskier. His weakest zone is the left wing in the final third: 38% of his 8 touches there are lost (3 times).
—0 touches · too few—4 touches · too few0%0/16 lost21%3/14 lost12%2/16 lost—3 touches · too few14%3/22 lost7%3/41 lost13%7/54 lost9%3/34 lost—3 touches · too few—3 touches · too few—5 touches · too few—6 touches · too few38%3/8 lostRWRHSCLHSLWDEFMIDATT
Out of possession

Out of possession

Where and how he defends and presses.

13

How & where does he defend?

78 defensive actions across the season (14.2/90). Where he wins the ball, and how — the core question for a defender. Aerial duels are not recorded for this competition, so aerial dominance is not measured here.

click a card to isolate that action type · own goal left, attacking →
15
tackles · 40% won
3
interceptions · 0.5/90
19
recoveries · 3.4/90
11
clearances · 2.0/90
7
blocks
41
avg action height
13
won high (att 3rd)
30
middle third
35
own third
Vision AI A mid-block defender. He wins the ball mainly by stepping in — tackles, interceptions & recoveries outweigh clearances. 37 proactive ball-wins (6.7/90), tackle success 40%. He defends high, stepping out to intercept — suits a high line.
14

Can he play under pressure?

Split by how hard the opponent pressed (opponent PPDA — lower = more intense press). Can Ao Tanaka still play out when the opponent presses high? His build-up quality split by press intensity — the key question for a ball-playing defender. Tiers of ~2-3 matches — directional evidence, not proof.

press tier
completion
prog /90
line-breaks /90
xT /90
High press (PPDA 3.1, 2m)
82%
0.8
0.8
0.32
Mid press (PPDA 4.6, 2m)
90%
2.6
1.3
0.67
Low press (PPDA 5.7, 3m)
88%
5.7
3.1
0.77
Team

Team context

How much of the team runs through him, and what changes without him.

15

Impact on the Team

Leeds's output per match with Ao Tanaka (7 matches) versus without him (1 matches). Insufficient evidence — the without-sample is only 1 matches; treat every Δ below as noise until more games exist. What his own defending should move — goals conceded and results — leads; attacking output (largely out of a defender's hands) is shown after, for context. A proper on-off model needs many more minutes.

WITH (7)
WITHOUT (1)
Δ
goals against /match
0.86
0.00
+0.86
points /match
1.14
3.00
-1.86
goals for /match
1.14
1.00
+0.14
xG for /match
1.31
0.69
+0.62
16

His Share of the Team

Of everything Leeds produced this season, the categories where the biggest share ran through Ao Tanaka specifically — his share of the team total, not a per-90 rate.

category
share
him / team
zone-14 entries
5%
14 / 267
ball recoveries
5%
100 / 2093
interceptions
5%
24 / 533
Recruitment

Style and verdict

Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.

18

Playing-Style Profile

Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 258 defensive mids in the pool (min 450 min). This is what separates players who post similar numbers but play differently. Proxy dimensions are inferred from on-ball data; true off-ball running / under-pressure context is not measured.

Deep-lying playmaker53%Tempo controller52%Ball-winning 649%
Why Deep-lying playmaker 53%: a weighted blend of build-up 58 (weight 30%) + progression 54 (weight 30%) + retention 52 (weight 20%) + press resistance 46 (weight 20%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
Elite
box threat
Strong
—
Average
crossing, line-breaking, through-balls, build-up, defensive aggression, progression, retention, territory (wide vs central), final-third threat, press resistance, ball-winning, carrying, transition
Weak
dribbling, receiving zones, creativity, passing directness
Unknown
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Box threat
87
Crossing
63
Line-breaking
60
Through-balls ~proxy
58
Build-up
58
Defensive aggression
58
Progression
54
Retention
52
Territory (wide vs central)
51
Final-third threat
50
Press resistance ~proxy
46
Ball-winning
43
Carrying
43
Transition ~proxy
41
Dribbling
39
Receiving zones
38
Creativity
36
Passing directness
18
19

Similar Players — in style space

Closest comparables measured on the style scores above, within the same position family — so it separates how players are alike, not just how much they touch the ball. Each line explains the shared strength and the divergent mechanism. A light physical-profile term (height / weight; this player: 180 cm / 75 kg) is included at a quarter of one style axis's weight — enough to break ties between stylistic twins, not to override style. Scope: pooled across the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A, percentiled within each player's own league before comparing — a match from another league is marked with its league name.

Style, not quality: a high match here means two players tend to produce the ball in similar ways — it is not a ranking, a scouting recommendation, or a claim that they are equally good.

Alessandro Romano Cagliari · Serie A · 180 cm / 73 kg
75%
Driven by: passing directness (28%), box threat (20%), creativity (13%). Different mechanism — Tanaka more via box threat; Romano more via through-balls, dribbling.
Daniel Muñoz Nottingham Forest · 181 cm / 78 kg
57%
Driven by: box threat (21%), passing directness (19%), transition (14%). Different mechanism — Tanaka more via build-up, dribbling; Muñoz more via territory (wide vs central), line-breaking.
Nicolás Domínguez Nottingham Forest · 179 cm / 72 kg
56%
Driven by: box threat (40%), crossing (16%), transition (11%). Different mechanism — Domínguez more via territory (wide vs central), passing directness.
Mouhamed Diop Troyes · Ligue 1 · 182 cm
56%
Driven by: box threat (25%), creativity (16%), passing directness (13%). Different mechanism — Tanaka more via line-breaking, progression.
Samú Costa Mallorca · La Liga 25/26 · 185 cm / 78 kg
55%
Driven by: box threat (29%), creativity (14%), transition (13%). Different mechanism — Tanaka more via retention, build-up; Costa more via territory (wide vs central).
András Schäfer Union Berlin · Bundesliga · 179 cm / 70 kg
54%
Driven by: box threat (32%), passing directness (18%), transition (14%). Different mechanism — Tanaka more via build-up, progression; Schäfer more via dribbling, territory (wide vs central).
20

Summary

Ao Tanaka is a deep-lying playmaker: 87% completion, 11 line-breaks and 3.6 progressive passes /90, resisting pressure with 67% dribble success. A central controller. [Off-ball screening position and scanning need tracking data.]

Based on 7 matches (496 minutes) — an early read, treat with caution until more minutes are logged. He profiles as a deep-lying playmaker — best used in a system built around that identity. His biggest room for growth is press resistance — even a modest improvement there would meaningfully lift his overall deep-lying playmaker profile.
✨ This report is interactive

Click any stat card to filter its map, hover a dot for the exact match, and use the dropdowns to slice passes zone-to-zone. Nothing here is static.

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