Daichi Kamada is seriously struggling at Crystal Palace.
The man from Ehime arrived at Selhurst Park on a free transfer to much fanfare back in July – having made a name for himself as a fantastic footballer at Eintracht Frankfurt under Oliver Glasner.
In 93 appearances working with the Austrian in Germany, the Japan international respectably scored 25 goals and assisted a further 12 – helping Eintracht Frankfurt win the UEFA Europa League in 2022.
The Crystal Palace No.18 also boasts 36 caps and eight goals for Japan.
Daichi Kamada – in this respect – is evidently not as bad a footballer as he looks in red and blue, so let’s take a look at what Glasner can do to restore him to these levels.
Where Oliver Glasner used Daichi Kamada at Eintracht Frankfurt
Glasner primarily used Kamada – who is now banned for three games – as an attacking midfielder in Frankfurt.
57 of those 93 appearances came in a central attacking midfield role, where the 28-year-old scored 15 goals and provided six assists.
That would suggest Glasner is much better served pushing Kamada higher up the pitch, instead of using him as a holding midfielder in a No.6 role – where his attacking qualities are not really able to be showcased, and he looks physically weak in the Premier League.
Interestingly, the Japanese midfielder was also deployed on the left flank five times as a winger, where he did well with two goals and two assists.
Crystal Palace fans witnessed Kamada’s effectiveness when cutting inside from that area onto his stronger right foot in the recent 2-1 Carabao Cup win over Aston Villa, so this position could be fruitful for him.
How Crystal Palace can get Eberechi Eze clicking with Daichi Kamada
Reading the above, some may argue that these are the areas Eberechi Eze tends to do his best work in.
That is admittedly true, although both the England international and Kamada have proven to be strong operators on their left foot throughout their careers, and are both experienced enough to be able to interchange between two attacking midfield positions.
Of course, Kamada – who was a Glasner signing – has not done enough to warrant moving our better players to shoehorn him in, but if our attacking woes continue, pushing the summer arrival higher up and more to the left could well prove fruitful based on what we saw at Eintracht Frankfurt.
