Ryotaro Araki is a 22-year-old Japanese forward currently contracted to Kashima Antlers but spent the most recent J-League season on loan to F.C. Tokyo. He has been called up to the senior Japan national team but has yet to make his debut. He has played seven times for Japan at U-23 level. He has been linked with a move to Austrian side Rapid Wien.
Araki generally plays as a shadow striker, coming deep to get on the ball and playing off a bigger target man. He is a very small player listed at 5’5 (1.7M) with a very slight build. Araki mainly sits underneath a centre-forward and distributes the ball. He is very good at finding the seams in the opposition backline and playing opponents through on goal. He is a transition threat, both because he is very fast on the ball and because he makes great passing decisions. Where Araki falls a little bit short is getting shots for himself. He’s really good at running with the ball in space but he’s not the best 1v1 dribbler. He’s also not very strong. These things together mean there are a lot of times when he can’t create separation and is easily brushed off the ball or shepherded into a lower-danger area. Araki does have some decent off-the-ball movement and is good at arriving late in the box to get shots from the top of the box. But other than that his ability to get shots for himself is very limited. One possible solution would be to play him deeper, as an attacking #8. But that would limit his ability to receive the ball close to the striker and his lack of strength means he is not very secure on the ball. An interesting conundrum for Rapid, or any team that might look to sign him. His speed does allow him to win a lot of fouls.
Araki’s speed can help him somewhat defensively but his lack of strength means he does not win the ball back that often. He is quite good at drawing fouls when he gets stuck in his own half, thus denying the opposition the chance to transition.
Araki is a little bit difficult to parse. He has some great playmaking skills but isn’t putting up offensive numbers that blow you away. At 22, it’s possible he could take another step but his time to do so is running short. I’m sure could be fine in the Austrian Bundesliga but unless he starts getting more and better shots or is able to transition to a deeper midfield role it’s hard to see him being a standout at that level.
Target Scouting 