Hiroki Sekine is a 22-year-old Japanese right-back who plays for Kashiwa Reysol in the J-League. A graduate of Japan’s university system, Sekine has just completed his first professional season. However, he quickly established himself as a regular starter and earned a call-up to Japan’s senior national team (though he did not take to the field). He also played extensively for Japan’s U23/Olympic team.
Sekine is quite big for a right-back being listed at 6 ‘1 (1.87M). He’s also quick enough to get up and down the right-hand side of the pitch. Sekine is a solid 1v1 defender, rarely beaten if he is isolated 1v1 against a defender. Sekine is generally more of a covering defender but he does have a good sense of when to step out of his position to make a tackle. One potential criticism is that he can be a bit slow to get tight to wingers looking to cross the ball in, but staying narrow did seem to be a tactical choice that Reysol was making. His height, combined with the fact that he is usually competing against wingers for aerials means that he usually wins aerial duels. He was excellent at tracking runners in the games I saw.
Sekine did not record any assists this season but I think that was down to a combination of bad luck and Kashiwa being very limited going forward in general. Sekine did a good job of stretching opposing defences. His deliveries were generally dangerous and his choices about when and where to cross from were good. His dribbling is ok, but he’s a little bit clumsy trying to beat players 1v1. His weaker left foot is not very strong. Sekine’s biggest weakness is probably his passing. He isn’t very comfortable playing out of trouble in his own end and his attempts at longer-range passes tended to not be successful.
Sekine is a strong defender who I think has more to offer in the final 3rd than his topline stats would suggest. However, his limited on-ball ability means he probably isn’t well suited to a team that is looking to dominate possession. However, with an increasing number of top teams willing to cede possession and play in transition, Sekine might be able to transfer to a top team outside the top-5 leagues.
Target Scouting 