Sota Nakamura is a 22-year-old forward who plays for Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the J-League. A recent graduate of Japan’s university system, Nakamura has racked up 6 goals and an assist in 521 professional minutes to start his career. However, it should be noted that a lot of these goals have been against weaker opponents in the AFC Champions League 2.
Nakamura is a diminutive player listed at 5’5″ (1.68 m) with a slight build. He makes up for this, to a certain extent, by being significantly faster than average. He is usually deployed on the wings, playing off a target man. Nakamura’s main strength is his off-the-ball movement. He is extremely effective at hitting the space between the centre-back and the fullback at the right time. Whether he is getting on the end of a cross, a cutback, or running in behind, Nakamura is always in that space. This leads to a lot of shots inside the penalty area about 10 yards out from goal but slightly off-centre. However, on the ball Nakamura is not nearly as strong. Nakamura is not a very strong dribbler. This is partly due to a lack of flair and partly due to his lack of physical strength. Nakamura is too easily muscled off the ball and does not have the guile to beat players consistently. You would expect Nakamura’s pace to allow him to at least push the ball past players into space, but honestly I did not observe him do this with any frequency. Nakamura is a decent playmaker from wide areas. He is very good at picking out players in the box with low crosses and cutbacks. But again, his lack of dribbling ability really hurts him because he can only pull these passes off when he has a lot of space. If he could consistently beat a fullback and then play a cutback he would be significantly more effective.
Nakamura’s speed helps him out significantly on the defensive side of things. He has a very high work rate and can close players down efficiently. Obviously, his lack of physical strength limits his ability to win the ball himself but he can force opponents into bad passes or clearances.
Ultimately, I think Nakamura’s lack of strength is too big of an impediment for him to reach a level that much higher than the J-League. If he could dribble, even a little bit, I would be a lot more confident in his long-term potential. But at 22, he has limited space to grow. Perhaps more professional experience will lead to improvements, but I will believe it when I see it. Still, he does have genuinely excellent off-the-ball movement, speed, and some playmaking ability. So, I could see a small step up, perhaps to a club like Sint-Truidense or Hearts, who have a recent history of signing Japanese players.
Target Scouting 