Japanese international Keiji Tamada has praised his new Australian teammate Joshua Kennedy for the impact he's made at J-League club Nagoya Grampus.Kennedy, who joined Nagoya in early July, scored two goals in his first two outings for the J.League club and has settled into the side smoothly.
Tamada, who played up front for the Blue Samurai in their 2-1 loss to Australia in Melbourne in June, sung Kennedy's praises in the Daily Yomiuri.
"He just plays a nice, simple game. If you're free, he has the vision to pick you out and he's so tall that he can win everything in the air," Tamada said.
"He's your classic target man. He's pretty good technically, and he can hold up the ball if we need him to. We didn't have a player quite like him before, and I personally wanted someone like him."
Since Kennedy's debut against Kyoto Sanga, midtable Nagoya's fortunes have improved, winning twice and drawing once.
The Australian has replaced Nagoya's Brazilian frontman Davi, who despite scoring 10 goals in the J.League season already, had been criticised for not linking up well with the team.
Tamada added, "Trust is crucial in football. You have to be able to trust the rest of the team, and they have to be able to trust you.
"If you can build a bond like that, then you're going to play good football. And Kennedy is the one who is making that possible for us."
Nagoya go to bottom club Oita Trinita this Saturday in the J.League.
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