Ayase Ueda named Player of the Month for October
Ayase Ueda (Feyenoord) has been named Eredivisie Player of the Month for October. The striker stood out based on Opta’s performance data.
Topscorer
The 27-year-old Japanese striker has made an impressive start to the season, scoring in seven of Feyenoord’s first ten matches. With 11 goals, he currently leads the race for the Willy van der Kuylen Trophy (Topscorer award).
Joining elite company: Makaay, Pellè, Kuyt and Giménez
Ueda scored five times in October, netting twice against FC Utrecht and completing a hat-trick versus Heracles Almelo: opening the scoring in both matches.
Having also struck first against FC Groningen (28 September), Ueda became only the third Feyenoord player this century to score the opening goal in three consecutive Eredivisie matches. A milestone previously achieved only by Roy Makaay (2009) and Graziano Pellè (2012 and 2013).
His hat-trick against Heracles also put him in elite company: Ueda is the fourth Feyenoord player this century to score a first-half hat-trick, following club icons John Guidetti, Dirk Kuyt and Santiago Giménez.
In October, Ueda registered 14 shots, 10 of which were on target. Despite an Expected Goals total of 3.1, he scored five times: four with his right foot and once with his left. Ueda also noted 30 touches inside the opposition penalty area.
First Japanese monthly winner
This is Ueda’s first Player of the Month award and makes him the second Feyenoord player this season to win, following Jordan Bos in September.
In the nine-year history of the monthly awards, Ueda is the first Japanese player ever to claim the honour. In January 2022, Yukinari Sugawara (AZ) was the first - and until now, the last - Japanese player to win a monthly award, when he was named Johan Cruyff Talent of the Month.
Ayase Ueda scored against FC Utrecht and Heracles Almelo.
About the awards
The Player of the Month and Johan Cruyff Talent of the Month awards are based on Opta performance data, with over 60 individual statistics taken into account. These same metrics also play a role in determining the Player of the Year and Johan Cruyff Talent of the Year, presented at the Eredivisie Awards at the end of the season.
The monthly awards are an initiative of Eredivisie CV, in collaboration with ESPN, VriendenLoterij and the Johan Cruyff Foundation.
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