From the likes of Shinji Kagawa once of Borussia Dortmund and Wataru Endo, to Ritsu Doan and Daichi Kamada, Japanese footballers surely know how to make a claim in the Bundesliga. Another name that is asserting themselves within the band of top Japanese players within the German topflight is Hiroki Ito, a 22-year-old centre-back, playing currently at VfB Stuttgart. The young defender started his professional career with Jubilo Iwata in the Japanese second division; and during this time, Ito was making appearances for Japan at U20 and U21 level. Hiroki Ito is slowly but surely climbing the footballing ladder and making a name for himself amongst the Stuttgart faithful, and is showing all the elements of a top defender within the football landscape.
In this tactical analysis and scout report, I will cover the strengths and weaknesses of Ito’s game while also discussing how he adapts to different positions on the pitch when deployed.
Technical quality & quality in possession
Hiroki Ito can play in a plethora of positions, but for Pellegrino Matarazzo’s Stuttgart, Ito mostly occupies the left side of their back three. When stationed within this position, Ito can drive within the left half-space, and when this movement occurs, the defender can become a danger to the opposition. Ito gets a quality passing range, whether at short, medium, or long-range distances. Besides Ito showing his quality of a pass across all three thirds, the defender also showcases the variety of passing he gets. Hiroki Ito can play an accurate long drive pass downfield to a teammate, making a penetrating run into the box or pushing out-wide, as he can generate wonderful power and connection with the ball.
Here, positioned on the left side of a three Philipp Foster making a wonderful, blindsided run against the Mainz 05 back-line. Ito has the vision to see this run, along with the capability to quickly complete this long-range pass within three actions. The first action is the initial touch, the second; getting the ball out of his feet, and the third is the execution of the pass.
His passing pedigree does not stop there, as Ito has shown to have a good disguise when passing, to catch opposition markers off guard. Here, Ito receives the ball from his centre-back counterpart, and once in full control of the ball, the Stuttgart defender drives into the left half-space.
