End of Season Player Review: Maya Yoshida

Maya Yoshida played RB and CB this season. His natural position is at CB, but many times this season was called to start at RB over Cuco Martina and Cedric. It was weird that Maya was selected over the two players brought in for the position in the summer, and weird for the fact that RB isn't his best position.

Maya Yoshida played 20 games, with half of those as a sub, scoring one goal with no assists. His goal was the decider in a 1-0 win for Saints against the team with the greatest and most hyped 7th-place finish ever, West Ham.

According to Who Scored, Maya Yoshida had a 6.14 rating at RB, while he had a 7.02 rating as a CB, only furthering my, and many other fans' thoughts that Maya is not a very good RB, but can do a job at center half.

Maya is a player known for mistakes. He is an incredibly hardworking player, and doesn't give up throughout the match, but his first team football talent just isn't there. He will be a good squad player for next season with the extra games, but if he is ever looking to jumpstart a career with everyday playing time, he may need to look elsewhere.

At RB, he gets beat too often and he just doesn't look natural. At CB however, he is fine defensively. He's fine when it comes to marking and tackles, but turns the ball over at times in Saints own defensive area, creating a few problems. He doesn't make THAT many mistakes, and definitely shouldn't be a player hearing shtick from the crowd.

SMM FINAL GRADE: 5.5/10

SMM Summary: A good squad player at CB. Maya is a bit out of sorts when it comes to RB, which is okay because it's not his normal position. Yoshida is a nice guy, and a hard worker. If Florin Gardos stays with the club this summer, it may be time for Maya to move on to a better place with more first team football.