Last week, the 2023 J1 League season got underway.
This league has grown in stature in recent years, with some clubs in a few of Europe’s top leagues, such as the Scottish Premiership (notably Celtic), the Belgian First Division A, the EPL and the German Bundesliga all turning their heads to the Japanese market to bolster their squads to great effect.
In addition to this, there’s an extra buzz around Japanese football at the moment coming off the back of a very solid showing in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Japan claimed the scalps of both Germany and Spain in the Group Stage, ensuring their advancement to the knockout stage of the competition over Die Nationalmannschaft before going on to lose narrowly in their eventual Round of 16 penalty shootout versus Croatia.
The J1 League is firmly established as one of the top leagues in Asia, so for anyone looking to expand their football consumption to a new area, this league represents a good option.
It’s obvious from the level of talent that’s come out of this league in recent years that there is an abundance of ability in the J1 League.
However, even still, when researching for this article, I was taken aback by the level of talent on show in the league.
With the J1 League expanding its broadcasting coverage to dark markets this season through the utilisation of their international YouTube channel, which they’re using to broadcast top-flight matches, there’s no excuse not to give it a try and sample some of the talent on show before they perhaps follow the footsteps of Kaoru Mitoma, Kyogo Furuhashi and Junya Ito.
This tactical analysis is a scout report highlighting five Japanese U23 players we’ve picked out as ones to watch in the 2023 J1 League.
Our analysis will factor in each player’s individual role within their team’s tactics, what roles might also suit them and the key strengths and weaknesses within each player’s game to provide a clear overview of their talents and abilities; what they can offer their team and what their team needs to mask for them.
All performance data used in this analysis comes from Wyscout, with our pizza charts using data from the 2022 J1 League season.
Makoto Mitsuta Scout Report 23 years old, 170cm/5’6, 60kg/132lbs
We’re starting hot with Sanfrecce Hiroshima’s Makoto Mitsuta — one of the most established prospects that will be discussed in our analysis.
Mitsuta just about makes the cut as he’s going to turn 24 on the 20th of July.
Th
