Yui Hasegawa has just moved to WSL’s West Ham United during this latest transfer window after playing for Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza and Milan Women last season.
The 24-year-old Japanese international has already proven her worth and showed that she can do well at the highest level, as her performances didn’t drop when she played against renowned national teams, and she didn’t find problems when adapting to the Serie A Women‘s playing style.
All this led us to concentrate on the player’s abilities and how she can fit into her new team especially when knowing that she actually made an important step in her career by choosing to play in one of the most competitive leagues in Europe and facing big teams like Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City.
In this Yui Hasegawa scout report, the focus will be on Yui Hasegawa’s main traits, especially in the offensive phase, as this will help in understanding how she can fit into the Hammers’ attacking and playmaking tactics.
The analysis will also include an extra focus on her passing and goalscoring skills without neglecting the positions that she can occupy.
Yui Hasegawa Positions And Roles
West Ham have made a very intelligent decision by choosing to sign a player like Hasegawa into their roster for this season.
She is a versatile midfield player who can occupy multiple positions, thanks to her flexibility and ability to adapt to the situation.
Hasegawa is mainly a left midfielder who has usually played in a 4-3-3 formation with Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza.
Yet, she also played as a left-winger with her national team, Japan, at many instances like during the 2019’s World Cup during which she was able to expose her talents and get even more fame by scoring a beautiful goal against the Netherlands after escaping from falling into the trap of the offside position on purpose as you can see below.
Moreover, Hasegawa was also employed in central midfield, in Milan’s 3-5-2 formation, as she was primarily used as a left midfielder.
Therefore, Hasegawa will more likely play as a left midfielder at West Ham.
Nevertheless, she was employed as an advanced playmaker on numerous occasions with Milan and proved to be very efficient in that role, as it helped her provide more decisive passes and be more dangerous in the final third, given her passing abilities and excellent vision.
Hasegawa can excel as an advanced playmaker, as she possesses all the qualities necessary for success in this position.
Playmaking, passing, creativity, shooting accuracy, and the ability to dribble in tight spaces, as well as well-timed penetrations, all these traits make her a perfect fit for the advanced playmaker position.
However, this will depend on how Olli Harder, West Ham United’s Head Coach, will line up his team and according to which formation.
Yui Hasegawa Heat Map
Yui Hasegawa Playmaking Skills
Hasegawa’s great tactical awareness and sense of positioning make her stand out and be one of the most impactful players, as she is usually aware of everything that happens on the pitch.
Her quick and unpredictable decision-making allows her to gain time over her opponents and create chances so often, either by moving without the ball or by passing.
Such efficient decision-making enables her to excel in terms of movement, as she consistently makes fruitful penetrations.
You can see below that she started penetrating in the final third and moved towards the box to receive the ball in a 1v1 situation with the goalkeeper, knowing that she was the player who initiated this whole action.
And in the end, she also scored this goal.
Hasegawa was also excellent during the 2020’s Olympics and showed once again how good she can be in terms of playmaking.
As you can see in the following example, Hasegawa’s quick and accurate passing, timed perfectly behind the opponent’s defensive line, can be decisive.
She often makes herself available to receive a pass, and then she usually prefers not to overcomplicate things by simply controlling the ball, taking a glance at the possible passing options for a second, and then passing the ball, unless she is marked and has to dribble or protect the ball.
Yui Hasegawa’s style of play can be helpful for any team, especially those that lack the final touch inside the final third.
She can be more than excellent in this regard, as she has the potential to become one of the best passers in the WSL soon if she continues to play at the same level.
Apart from passing, Yui Hasegawa can also be useful when moving towards the wings, and that’s something that she usually does.
She has the ability to dribble past defenders and avoid them while knowing exactly how and when to cross the ball from the players waiting inside the box.
The Japanese created many goal opportunities and made assists after penetrating and crossing from both wings, not only the right one.
Yui Hasegawa knows when to use each type of passing to reach her objective and serve her teammates in the most suitable way, and this is exactly how midfielders should act and think.
Having mastery over all types of passes and executing them according to need makes her decisions unpredictable for her opponents and invaluable for her teammates.
For instance, Mana Iwabuchi knew how to exploit her teammates’ different types of passes, scoring many of the chances created.
In addition to through passes and crosses from the wings, Hasegawa also excelled in long passes behind the defensive line, as shown below.
Such long passes can put strikers in perfect shooting positions and provide them with a one-on-one situation with goalkeepers.
Yui Hasegawa’s great control of the ball enables her to also play games with defenders, as she knows exactly when to pass the ball and how to confuse them.
She sometimes dribbles past defenders and confuses the last one of them by making a no-look pass and running in a completely different direction while passing the ball to a completely different one.
This leaves defenders confused and helps the receiver of the pass be free from marking.
Yui Hasegawa Goalscoring Abilities
The 24-year-old player uses both feet with great precision and control, and she even scores goals with her weaker foot.
One of these goals was scored from midfield when she saw the goalkeeper out of her goal.
This also supports the fact that she is a creative and intelligent player.
She was also able to score different kinds of goals, and most of them were beautiful.
Even though she is not a player with great physical strength, as she is neither tall nor too muscled, she knows how to use her body in the best of ways to dribble well and shoot with precision while knowing how to coordinate her body perfectly.
In this example, for instance, she preferred not to go for power, but instead she chose to lob the ball with a shot “alla Totti” to score a magnificent goal that no goalkeeper could have expected or saved.
And on other occasions, Hasegawa did not hesitate to use her power when shooting.
Taking the right decisions when shooting is definitely a trait of this player, as she knows how to coordinate her body in just a few seconds and makes the right decision concerning the type, power, and direction of the shot.
In this picture, she shoots the ball with great power and precision at the same time while using the appropriate technique when shooting, and that’s how she was able to confuse the goalkeeper even though she shot from a long distance.
Having an excellent general vision of the pitch and knowing how to make the right decision at the right time is fundamental at this level as it is not something simple and not all players are capable of doing.
But Yui Hasegawa is one of those players who know how to deal with the ball impressively and do not lose it easily, which makes her a more valuable player who has all the chances to succeed in the WSL.
In this next example, you will see how she exactly knew how to dribble, when to stop dribbling, and when to shoot, as well as the angle to shoot towards, all in just a few seconds.
Her weaker foot precision also helps her in having no problems at all when dribbling and shooting, as she scores so often with both feet, like in this goal after confusing Brazil’s defenders and goalkeeper too.
Conclusion
Yui Hasegawa will certainly be an excellent addition to West Ham United, as she will likely help the team achieve better results than last season, especially if she succeeds in establishing the necessary chemistry with the team’s attacking players.
Then, if the 24-year-old Japanese will be able to attract the attention of bigger clubs, she would most probably be transferred soon to a team that plays in the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
