Bundesliga Player Check Suzuki (24) adds steel to the silk in second Freiburg season
SC Freiburg attacking midfielder Yuito Suzuki signed off for the international break in appropriate fashion. The 24-year-old's superb first-time finish rescued a 2-2 draw away at Eintracht Frankfurt and preserved his side's unbeaten Bundesliga start.
Suzuki already has four league goals this season, matching the total he required 25 appearances to reach last year. The finishing surge attracts attention for obvious reasons.
Suzuki's broader development makes the numbers even more interesting. How has Yuito Suzuki improved at Freiburg?
Those keeping close tabs on Suzuki since his €7m-plus move from Brøndby IF last summer will recall that things did not begin smoothly. The Japanese international started Freiburg's first two league fixtures, looked decidedly ill-equipped for the physical demands of the Bundesliga, and subsequently received only two brief substitute deployments through Matchday 10.
By the winter, Suzuki's improving ability to cope with Bundesliga physicality had become one of the more interesting Freiburg development stories. Suzuki established himself as a regular from mid-November onward and finished his maiden SCF campaign with nine goals and seven assists across all competitions.
The technical quality was never terribly difficult to spot. Suzuki demonstrated immense calm amid heavy traffic in Freiburg's 5-1 Europa League win over Genk, scoring himself before setting up Maximilian Eggestein.
By spring, the 1.75-meter attacker was an important piece of Julian Schuster's side. A broken collarbone suffered against Wolfsburg on Matchday 32 brought an unfortunate premature end to that progress.
Suzuki missed Freiburg's Europa League Final defeat to Aston Villa and subsequently played only 12 minutes for Japan at the World Cup. He apparently returned determined to make up for lost time.
Suzuki required 778 Bundesliga minutes and 13 appearances to score his first three league goals last season. This year, a hat-trick against Werder Bremen on opening day took all of 55 minutes.