Albion Analytics: Kaoru Mitoma

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All the stats on our new Japanese signing.

Liam Tharme

Albion Analytics

2021-08-19T05:00:00Z

The winger played for his country at the Tokyo Olympics.

Brighton’s capture of Japan international Kaoru Mitoma earlier this month took their men’s team total to three signings this summer.

This summer alone, the Albion have recruited from clubs playing in Austria (RB Salzburg), the Netherlands (Ajax) and now Japan (Kawasaki Frontale), evidence to just how far and wide the club scouts.

Since Graham Potter arrived at the club, the average age of players brought permanently to the club is 24.6 years, pointing to a clear intention to invest in players they can develop. Mitoma is 24.

His attacking versatility is certainly impressive. In the 2020 J League season, Mitoma was averaging a goal involvement (goal or assist) every 64 minutes, making him the most efficient player in the league. Impressively, that was his first season in professional football, having graduated from Japan’s football famous Tsukuba University.

He then opted for a straight jump to the Kawasaki Frontale first team, having been part of the club’s academy since under-10 level.

A huge part of this was due to his sharp-shooting ability. The most accurate shooter in the league that season, Mitoma boasts a wide finishing library: in open-play, he typically operates on the left flank, cutting inside onto his stronger right foot to shoot in the left half-space.

Mitoma is more than prepared to dribble and slalom through defenders to change his shooting angle, particularly when in the penalty area, though he can score goals from tight angles and with defenders in his way. His finishes range from curling shots to the far post, toe pokes/chips past onrushing goalkeepers and powerful strikes into the near post.

While less common, Mitoma has also scored from indirect set-piece situations, positioning himself well to respond to rebounds, and he has created goal-scoring scenarios that he has then taken by robbing opposition defenders of possession and latching onto errors.

His runs in-behind make him an asset against set opposition defences, and he can certainly be devastating against a disorganised defence. Notably, Transfermarket data has it that 13 of his 32 career strikes have been match-winning goals.

He is perhaps strongest when attacking crosses/cutbacks from the right at the back post, or latching onto through balls played inside or outside the opposition full-back. He can, and does, finish with both feet as well as his head on occasion, which makes it no surprise that across the 2020 and 2021 J League seasons he scored around four more goals than an average finisher would, based on the xG quality of his shots taken.

In the 2021 season, his minutes per goal/assist average rose to 111, but this was still among the top eight players in the league. Over those two campaigns, StatsBomb’s data ranks him inside the top 5% of J League attacking midfielders and wingers for shots, xG, open-play shots created, successful dribbles and touches in the opposition box.

Part of Japan’s Olympic team, Mitoma appeared for 68 minutes across three appearances at the Games, netting Japan’s consolation goal in the final. Despite limited minutes, Mitoma did manage to record three chances created (1 big chance), four shots taken and nine dribbles attempted. At under-23 level, he has four goals in nine appearances, and he was part of the Japan side who were runners-up at the 2019 Toulon Tournament.

Interestingly, StatsBomb data identified Mitoma as a similar profile player to Tottenham's Son-Heung Min, which may provide contextual insight as to his output and play style.

Courtesy of New Order analytics, Wyscout data shows just how above average Mitoma’s output was in the J League, compared to his positional counterparts. For those interested, his output is expected to translate well into the Belgian top tier where he will spend the 2021/22 season on loan with Union SG, treading a similar loan path to Percy Tau.