Leeds United's World Cup bound midfielder Ao Tanaka believes his best Premier League game this season was one that some will remember for his costly error.
Tanaka's season went a little like his club's, with ups and downs before a flourish to finish. The Japan international had spells in and out of Daniel Farke's first XI and then spent seven straight games on the bench before finally cementing his place and starting six of the final seven league fixtures. The highlights from supporters' perspectives might well have been the thunderous strike that found the Chelsea net at Elland Road - a goal he himself still has on repeat - and his dramatic late leveller at home to Liverpool. But along the way Tanaka appears to have settled on a new and perhaps healthier perspective on his 2025/26 campaign
"But even players at the so-called 'Big Six' clubs in the Premier League have bad games. If you could perform brilliantly every single match at this level, everyone would be a Ballon d’Or winner. There are days when you can produce a 90 or 100-point performance, and days when you’re only at 30 points. I started thinking I should be a little kinder to myself for competing here in the first place. I’ve worked hard enough. Because I make difficult things look easy, maybe my value is harder to notice, but now I’m okay with that."
Tanaka rarely speaks during a season, beyond the media duty that comes as part of the job for a Premier League player. Members of the Japanese media have come away from Elland Road and other Premier League grounds without the post-game encounter they hoped to have with the Leeds man. When he does grant interviews - he was brought to the mixed zone to speak with local reports once this season and was visibly keen to keep the appearance brief - Tanaka can be a man of few words. So the interview with Sports Hochi is a relatively rare and revealing insight into the mind of a midfielder who remains incredibly popular with fans. He was asked to pick out his best performance for Leeds this season and revealed that he sometimes disagrees with the general assessment of his individual displays. And the performance that gave him most pride might surprise others.
"My standards are pretty different from other people’s," he said. "Sometimes others say I played well but I think I was terrible, and other times people say I was bad when I actually thought I was excellent. My best game this season was actually the away match against Bournemouth on April 22, where I lost the ball in the 60th minute and it led to a goal. That one moment was bad, but apart from that I was perfect. Even the manager told me: 'Nice game.’ If I hadn’t played, we probably would’ve suffered much more.”
While others in the Leeds changing room will be enjoying a well-earned break, some of them because their countries did not qualify for the World Cup and others because they missed out on selection, Tanaka's work will continue. He and Japan face Netherlands, Tunisia and Sweden in the group stage, so the 27-year-old will once again find himself swimming in deep water if he's put in the middle of the park. But he's spent almost two years training with and against a player he describes as 'incredible' and this season made 28 appearances against some of the world's most fêted stars.
"Players like Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Jérémy Doku, Chelsea’s Moisés Caicedo and João Pedro — they’re exactly as good as you imagine, so they don’t surprise me," he said. "But beyond those stars, there are also incredible players who aren’t that famous globally, like Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke, Aston Villa’s Matty Cash, City’s Antoine Semenyo, or Ethan Ampadu, who plays alongside me in midfield at Leeds.
"I’ve gained confidence from competing every day in the Premier League against players who used to feel like monsters from video games. I gave everything every single day. If it still isn’t enough, then it isn’t enough. But if that happens, I’ll have absolutely no regrets."
Beyond the World Cup Tanaka and Leeds face that traditional tricky second season and what is expected to be another survival fight. He's got his eyes on a piece of Japanese footballing history, too.
"I want to get past six goals as soon as possible," he said. "Kaoru Mitoma is first with 23, Shinji Okazaki is second with 14, and Maya Yoshida, Takumi Minamino and Shinji Kagawa all have six. I’m on two now, and I want to reach seven. You can accumulate appearances just by staying in the league, but no matter how many matches you play, if you don’t score, people won’t remember you. What’s amazing about Kaoru is that so many of his goals immediately come to mind because they were incredible goals.”
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