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Aston Villa’s Japan national team goalkeeper Zion Suzuki has been named to the BBC’s Premier League Team of the Week for his performance in Matchweek 5 against Tottenham. Not only did he pull off a string of fine saves, his long feed in the second half also set up the team’s second goal, helping Villa to a 3-2 win — their first league victory of the season. Pundit Troy Deeney commented that although Suzuki conceded twice, Villa — who were leading by three goals — had stopped defending seriously by that point, so the goals weren’t really on him. Reaction on 5ch was largely praise, though some pointed to the stark contrast with the harsh criticism he took at the Asian Cup, and questioned why Japan’s national team hasn’t made better use of that long-kick ability.
Aston Villa’s Japan international goalkeeper Zion Suzuki has been named to Britain’s BBC Premier League Team of the Week.
Starting in the Premier League’s Matchweek 5 clash with Tottenham on the 19th, Suzuki didn’t just make a string of fine saves — he also made his presence felt by setting up the team’s second goal with a long feed 22 minutes into the second half, helping Villa to a 3-2 win, their first league victory of the season.
BBC pundit Troy Deeney then picked Suzuki for the Premier League Team of the Week, commenting: “He conceded two against Tottenham, but with Villa (who were up by three goals) no longer really trying to push forward, the goals conceded probably weren’t his fault.”
Source: web.gekisaka.jp / Original article here
What people said
though it's still too early to say for sure
A keeper winning the "Marron d'Or" (a pun on Ballon d'Or)… not that I can recall in all of human history
Pros really do see the game differently
Villa got themselves a steal
Zion's surname is Suzuki
My surname's Suzuki too — guess I'm amazing (a joke riffing on how common the surname Suzuki is in Japan)
He doesn't really do those long kicks for the national team though
Was he told not to?
Yeah it is strange
Mitoma's even scored off a GK assist at Brighton
And we've got Ueda who's great at hold-up play and Ito with his pace
Maybe it's on Moripo's (manager Moriyasu's) instructions?
Zion's kicks drop right into space, so the issue is nobody on the team can read and exploit that
If it's just aiming for the forward, even with Ueda battling hard it's 50/50 at best
He's a wasted talent on the national team
Useless for the national team then
Exactly
That's why he hasn't used it much for the national team so far, and it's only just becoming a talking point now
You clearly haven't watched the games — he threads long passes on a low trajectory too
Moriyasu sticking with him was clearly the right call
He's grown a lot as an individual
But the national team's been wasting him
Maybe they just didn't want to build tactics around long feeds that bypass the midfield, given Japan's strength is midfield play
Though trying it a few times during matches wouldn't have hurt
It's pointless without players who can actually win duels against opponents tougher than themselves
Smells like some mystery pick to pander to Japan
So BBC's an AI and Troy Deeney's a fictional character, huh
Must be nice in your world
He really is a revolutionary player
Feels like he's not even in the same tier or category as guys like Onana, Maignan, or Mendy
Things are getting wild
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HSwJZDhWAAAMFCM.jpg?name=orig
Aston Villa's manager praised a standout Suzuki
Are you watching fake news clips or something?
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
The BBC’s “Team of the Week” isn’t an official league award — it’s a media selection led by broadcaster pundit Troy Deeney and colleagues — but it carries real weight as a weekly read on the Premier League, and it’s rare for a Japanese goalkeeper to make the cut. In the thread, a recurring topic was how Suzuki’s long-feed-centered distribution is rarely seen with the Japan national team. That’s likely less a matter of skill and more a product of Moriyasu Japan’s preference for midfield-based buildup play, plus the team lacking receivers as strong in aerial duels as those he has at club level — so it’s not really fair to call it a flat-out “wasted talent.” There’s also a common misunderstanding around the harsh criticism he took at the Asian Cup: back then, clear mistakes stood out, whereas this time the praise is grounded in strong club form — the two assessments aren’t actually contradictory and can both be true at once. A few posts also questioned whether the selection was even real, but it matches the reporting, so it’s safe to treat as fact.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] Zion Suzuki Named to Premier League Team of the Week!! Showed Great Defending & Set Up the Second Goal, Contributing to First Win of the Season.”
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