Sideways Sammy

After 100 games at Coventry City, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto has settled into the role of a reliably good player with the ability to be genuinely unstoppable for short periods at least once or twice a season. The Japanese player arrived at the club at a time when they hadn’t played with wingers for a few seasons and was so impactful that it forced a complete change of system to get him into the starting line-up. A couple of hot streaks of productivity in the final third have occasionally raised the prospect that Sakamoto may be something truly special, those spells may be infrequent but his consistent level of performance makes him someone that successive Coventry managers have not wanted to be without.

Tatsuhiro Sakamoto’s primary asset in the team is his ability to carry the ball into the final third, commit defenders and find space for a cross by turning and twisting inside or outside. On top of that, he can occasionally play these wicked lofted passes when cutting in from a deeper position, as well as providing excellent cover and combination play down the right side with Milan van Ewijk. Where he can struggle is a tendency to take too much time on the ball when looking to tie defenders up, allowing opponents to set into a position to defend the eventual cross. Additionally, he struggles to strike the ball with consistent power, which can see him fluff presentable chances.

Having been at the club for over three seasons, there is now an established sense of what Tatsuhiro Sakamoto is and isn’t capable of. While he has those occasional hot streaks, his value is in the consistent level of performance he’s able to provide as someone who gets the team up the pitch and works hard off-the-ball. It is not the fireworks that he’s capable of at his best that makes Tatsuhiro Sakamoto so valuable to Coventry City but that he so reliably benefits the team, even when the output in the final third isn’t quite there. Sakamoto may not be one of this team’s absolute star parts, but he has been an essential part of a side that has inched closer to promotion over his time at the club.