The Athletic wrote that Zion Suzuki quickly adapted to Aston Villa after joining, thanks to his ability to play out with both feet and his passing range.

Zion Suzuki is tall and has a commanding presence. He is 1.88 meters tall, but with broad shoulders and strong muscles, he looks even taller.

"He's incredible. I've never seen a goalkeeper with such good physique, and such dynamic, explosive jumping ability," Zion Suzuki's goalkeeper coach at Belgian Pro League club Sint-Truiden, Dennis Rudel, told The Athletic. "It's almost inhuman. In my first week training with him, he was doing resistance training with a band around his waist. He was so strong, I thought he was going to snap the band."

Rudel said: "This incredible strength means his hands are also very powerful. So when he makes low-force saves, the ball travels a long way after contact. Many goalkeepers let the ball slip past their hands when saving, but with him, his hands are big and strong."

After joining last month, Zion Suzuki quickly found his feet at Aston Villa. After only a few training sessions, teammates were privately impressed with him. Although so far he hasn't been tested much in terms of basic goalkeeping skills like making saves in matches, his distribution has been quite eye-catching.

The Japan international is equally proficient with both feet, calm and composed, with a wide passing range. Since Zion Suzuki joined, Villa's build-up play from the back has become more diverse.

Before his move from Parma, Villa insiders, speaking anonymously, mentioned Zion Suzuki's excellent long-range passing. They expected the 24-year-old goalkeeper's kicking ability to help the team advance faster, either by accurately sending the ball behind the opponent's defense or directly to open teammates in the attacking third.

These assessments were confirmed in Zion Suzuki's Premier League debut against Arsenal. Less than half an hour into the game, Zion Suzuki spotted George Hemmings running from the left behind Ben White, who was directly marking him, and then effortlessly passed the ball to Hemmings' chest. In just a few seconds, his vision created a very dangerous crossing opportunity.

In the next away game against Hull City, Zion Suzuki again found Hemmings, this time trying to send the ball in front of the 19-year-old.

Emiliano Martínez's lengthy departure gave Villa enough time to plan for the future. For nearly two summers, the club had been looking for Martínez's successor, which allowed the scouting department to provide extremely detailed candidate reports. Zion Suzuki was the first choice this summer, even though Villa at one point believed they had lost out to Paris Saint-Germain, just as they missed out on Lucas Chevalier last summer.

However, throughout the process, Villa believed that Zion Suzuki preferred to join them rather than Paris Saint-Germain. So Villa decided to go all out to pursue Zion Suzuki, regardless of Martínez's future. Villa agreed to pay a transfer fee of 30 million euros, potentially rising to 35 million euros with add-ons. Of that, 3 million euros will go to Sint-Truiden. Zion Suzuki played for that team for one year in the 2023-24 season before moving to Parma.

Rudel recalled: "The first time I saw him throw the ball, I realized how strong his distribution was. He could throw the ball almost 60 meters."

"In one of our first few training sessions, we had a crossing drill, and Suzuki had to collect the ball. I said, 'Suzuki, I want to see how far you can throw.' He caught the ball, and I turned around to look at the pitch ahead. The ball flew out like an arrow. I turned back and told him, 'Suzuki, don't kick the ball, throw it out like I said.' His English wasn't very good, so he just pointed to his right arm."

"I just thought, 'What the hell is this?' I'd never seen anything like it before. He's just a monster, always in the gym, incredibly professional. I even told him he didn't need to rent an apartment because he practically lived in the gym."

In Villa's 3-2 away win against Club Brugge on Tuesday, Zion Suzuki also made a similar move: he first controlled the ball, then launched a counter-attack with a throw. A Villa staff member in the stands shouted, "What a great throw!" and then applauded.

Rudel said: "When he came to Belgium, his technique was already developed. This quality is purely talent. You can train, but without innate technique and strength, it's impossible to reach such a high level."

Rudel also recounted an anecdote. After an away game for Sint-Truiden, the team bus was blocked by fighting hooligans ahead. Head coach Thorsten Fink jokingly told Zion Suzuki to take off his shirt and go sort out the situation. Because Zion Suzuki is very polite, he even seriously considered whether he actually needed to do so.

Ricardo Rodríguez, who coached Zion Suzuki at Urawa Red Diamonds for nearly two years, recalled: "After training, he would do squats in the gym. He had all the weight plates on his shoulders, and other players had to wait to use the equipment. He was only 18 then, but he could lift over 120 kilograms, which was astonishing."

Zion Suzuki received similar evaluations from multiple sources at his former clubs. Villa staff are also very satisfied with his attitude and politeness, whether it's thanking staff for food at lunch, pushing his chair back in place, or proactively speaking to a Japanese reporter after the two Premier League games he played.

Rudel continued: "He's really a very good person. We do a lot of video analysis, and he always wants to know about his progress and opponent information. It's a pleasure to work with him because he's so open to learning."

Zion Suzuki's career trajectory demonstrates his strong learning ability. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become the first Japanese goalkeeper to play in the Champions League. His rapid development is also reflected in the fact that Zion Suzuki only spent one season in Belgium before Sint-Truiden sold him to Parma for four times their initial investment.

Considering how calmly Zion Suzuki executes Unai Emery's tactic of luring opponents to press high, the fact that he was more often asked to kick the ball long directly at Parma might be overlooked. This playing style perfectly utilizes his long-passing strengths, which Emery continues to exploit.

When Villa decides to bypass the opponent's press, Emery places John McGinn and Nicolas Jackson, their best players at receiving the ball with their back to goal, upfront to create a 2-on-2 situation, and then Zion Suzuki accurately delivers the ball to their feet.

Zion Suzuki's passing accuracy allows him to find Villa's attackers in different ways. Against Hull City, he delivered the ball directly to Jackson's feet with a low pass.

Rodríguez said: "He has the ability to pass the ball a long way from goal. My philosophy is to treat the goalkeeper as the team's first attacking player. Over time, his decision-making and accuracy in long passes have improved."

Rodríguez also stated: "He was already good at long passes, but now he has gone further, combining long, medium, and short passes and making the best judgments."

Overall, Parma last season would often resort to direct long balls at the slightest sign of pressure. Zion Suzuki averaged 3.2 passes into the opponent's box per game, most of which were unsuccessful, ranking first among Serie A and Premier League goalkeepers, with Everton's Jordan Pickford ranked second. This indicates that, like Pickford, Zion Suzuki also has the ability to deliver the ball over extremely long distances.

Zion Suzuki completed the 13th most long passes among all Serie A players, which also brought his overall passing success rate down to 62%. In contrast, Martínez, who had more freedom in distribution, had a passing success rate of 73.7%.

Under pressure, Zion Suzuki only made 0.6 line-breaking passes per 90 minutes. However, his Parma teammates' relevant data was also low, suggesting this was more of a tactical requirement. In contrast, Martínez led in this category with 2.2 per 90 minutes, reflecting Villa's willingness to lure opponents forward under Emery.

Now under Emery, Zion Suzuki has the same distribution authority that Martínez once had. Against Hull City, his passing success rate reached 94.7%, higher than any of his Serie A games last season. This is partly due to Villa's more mature possession play and partly because Hull City rarely pressed high.

Zion Suzuki has already adopted some of Martínez's habits. One commonality between them is that they both gently roll the ball with their foot to stop it, then wait for the opponent's forwards to press.

On Tuesday night, Club Brugge tried to position Carlos Forbs and Nicolo Tresoldi upfront to cut off Zion Suzuki's passing lanes to the center-backs. But Zion Suzuki can play out with both feet, so he calmly threaded the ball between them, passing it to open teammates in midfield.

Analyzing Zion Suzuki's progressive passes individually, it can be observed that he has a tendency to loft the ball towards the left wing. Against Arsenal, Zion Suzuki diagonally lofted the ball to left-back Ian Maatsen within 3 minutes of the start, which was his first seemingly bold pass for Villa.

Rudel said: "Because he is so ambitious, sometimes he wants to do too much. In games, he sometimes forces the play or really wants to get involved in the attack. One thing I taught him is that a goalkeeper cannot force any action. So the hardest part is guiding him, making him calm down a bit, and not needing to prove he's the best goalkeeper in the world in the first three games."

Rudel added: "But he has the potential to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He will soon be in the top five globally."

Zion Suzuki will inevitably face tests and will have fluctuations in form as opponents exploit minor weaknesses. However, with the fundamental abilities of a goalkeeper, coupled with excellent distribution, strength, and a top-tier mentality, he is ready to compete at the highest level.

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