Despite spending his entire footballing career at Vissel Kobe (ignoring a bizarre season-long loan to the Palmeiras youth team), only over the past year has Daiju Sasaki cemented himself as a key player, attributing greatly to a side who are on their way to winning the league for the first time in the clubs history. The 24 year old attacker has enjoyed a breakout year in terms of production, contributing 8 goals and 3 assists over the course of the year.
Sasaki's heatmap for the 2023 season - sofascore.com
Positionally, Sasaki has been deployed all across the Kobe frontline, playing on either wing at times but mostly as a second striker behind J League top scorer Yuya Osako. He is given a fair amount of freedom to roam in possession, floating to the wings to create overloads and act as a wide target man, or making runs in behind and into the box from deep. Despite a lot of his actions taking place in wider areas, Sasaki profiles as someone who is best utilised more centrally with the freedom to arrive in the box and use his exceptional movement skills to unease the defence.
Physical Traits
Sasaki is around 5'11" to 6' tall with a slight frame and a relatively skinny upper body, meaning that he is not particularly physically imposing, though he does have desirable athleticism and long legs to make up for this. The acceleration is great, aiding him in creating separation from the defenders when running in behind as he can reach his top speed with haste. Despite having longer legs, his strides are pretty short and choppy - this allows for better stop-start ability at the expense of his ability to eat up ground over longer distances. He noticeably runs very upright and straight at all times and this has an observable effect on his agility; by increasing his centre of gravity, Sasaki struggles to move laterally and change direction effectively, often resulting in him losing balance when making sharper turns, hampering his dribbling ability.
His slight frame and lack of muscularity, especially in his upper body, does result in him not being the strongest footballer, though he makes up for this with his mentality towards physical duels. Sasaki shows great competitiveness and toughness, allowing him to hold defenders off to great effect. Unlike his upper body, his legs are powerful and well developed which, alongside his natural athleticism, gives him great spring when jumping or exploding into a run from a still position. Though he rarely plays the full 90, this, in my eyes, is not due to any stamina limitations - he covers a fair amount of ground when he is on the pitch and not once did I see him noticeably tired.
Goal Threat
The most important part of any central attacker's game is their ability to consistently create and finish shooting opportunities. It is very clear that this is something Sasaki has worked on greatly over the past couple of years, resulting in a bloom in production over the past year. According to the official J League stats database, Sasaki averages 2.4 shot per 90, which, although not an ideal volume, is completely fine and reasonable considering he is splitting opportunities with the aforementioned Yuya Osaka as well as the vastly experienced Yoshinori Muto. There is a fearlessness and confidence that permeates from Sasaki's shooting, he is willing and able to strike from distance with great venom and velocity, although the accuracy does still need more refinement.
Now obviously you'd prefer more composure in these situations, as he does tend to snatch at the ball in the examples given, but these shots are something I am willing to take more positives than negatives from. The confidence in his actions is admirable, there is no second thoughts, if he thinks he has the space to shoot then he shoots, no questions asked. While this may lead to missed opportunities and annoyance from his teammates and the fans alike, these shots give insight to the mentality of Sasaki - it is clear that he is someone who has full faith in his ability to threaten the goal from anywhere. It reminds me a lot of Julio Enciso at the start of the 2022/23 season where, in his limited minutes, he would shoot on sight to minimal effect, garnering criticism from a large portion of the Brighton fanbase - fast forward to the end of the season and Enciso wins goal of the season for a worldie against Man City and has another goal of the year contender away at Chelsea, in most part due to his confidence to keep unleashing shots when given even the slightest opportunity.
The ball striking on a whole is good, there is a variety of techniques at his disposal and he is able to generate power and movement using both his laces and his instep. This translates better when shooting from inside the box, a few of Sasaki's goals this season have been placed perfectly into the roof of the net, from further away these shots would hammer into the bar or fly over. Recently, against Kashima Antlers, Sasaki showed great confidence and ball striking technique in the box, as well as the ability to refine his technique over the course of the game, amending a near miss:
This narrow miss displays not only great positioning from Sasaki, but instinctual and assured striking, the only thing leading to this not being a great finish is a slight technical fault. As he strikes the ball he is forced to lean to his left to balance himself, meaning he cannot properly get over the ball and keep it down. This was necessary because, as shown in the frame below, Sasaki catches the underside of the ball, partially using the side of his foot as opposed to using just the laces, creating a back spin on the ball that will naturally carry it vertically, thus leading to it missing the target on this occasion.
Later in the very same game, Sasaki gets a very similar chance, attacking a bouncing ball at the back post from a corner. This time, however, Sasaki is able to perfect the technique he attempted earlier in the game, better maintaining his balance, resulting in a fantastic finish into the roof of the net, leaving the keeper with no chance despite the flight of the ball being directly over his head:
As we've come to expect from the current generation of Japanese footballers, Sasaki is adept on his weaker foot, thus making him a threat on both sides and harder for defenders to deal with. Even when under pressure and chasing a bouncing ball, he is able to centre himself and deliver a venomous strike on his left, as shown vs Cerezo Osaka:
While there can be issues with placement and composure at times, there is enough to suggest that Sasaki has taken a leap as a goal threat and that the production from this season is not only sustainable, but can be improved on if given a greater role, especially considering that he also poses an aerial threat to further round out his bag of tricks.
One thing that is very notable regarding Sasaki's game in the final third is his exceptional off-the-ball movement. As this cross is played in it gets deflected, altering the path of the ball more towards the penalty spot, something Sasaki reads and reacts to with sharp movement before the surrounding defenders, giving him space for a free header.
Sasaki sits down on his back leg as the ball arrives, using it as a spring to propel himself into the ball as his torques his body towards goal, directing the ball with power into the corner. Usually it is difficult to generate power from a header and you are often only using your head to direct the ball, relying on the pace of the cross to carry through. Here, as the cross is deflected and looping down the power is minimal, meaning Sasaki needs to generate power on his own, which he does exceptionally.
Despite a good effort from the Kashima keeper, the ball is so well placed by Sasaki with pace that he has no chance, resulting in the opening goal of what was a massive, season-defining game.
Movement and Runs
In my opinion, one of Sasaki's best traits is his ability to stretch the pitch vertically with his threatening runs in behind. Being naturally athletic with great acceleration and an innate ability for finding and understanding the pockets of space in the defensive shape of the opposition, Sasaki poses real threat without the ball at his feet, either creating space for himself or others. This instinct helps him arrive in space in the box, creating goal scoring opportunities for himself, but is also used to simply help Kobe progress the ball.
The second the ball is played out wide to Muto, Sasaki makes a run from out wide, across the face of the defender marking him, noticing the gigantic hole left behind by a centre back stepping up. Due to his ability to go 0 to 60 in a flash, he is able to arrive in the space before any of the Tokyo defenders are able to recover.
Unfortunately, on this occasion Muto is unable to put the ball into the box, which surely would've resulted in a Sasaki goal, but the point is that Sasaki's pace and instincts makes him a constant threat. If the ball is played as soon as Muto receives the ball, trusting that Sasaki would reach it (he definitely would), then it's the easiest goal scoring opportunity you could possibly ask for.
Later in the same game, a similar situation occurs. As soon as the ball is played out wide, Sasaki darts forward to make himself an option in the box. With lots of ground to cover and 4 defenders in his path, a lot of footballers would not even attempt this run as, even if they did understand that an opportunity was about to present itself, they do not have the acceleration to make up the necessary ground - this is not an issue for Sasaki.
Although this hypothetical ball (displayed through expert and precise artwork (white arrow)) is difficult to see and play, there is an argument to be made that a cross should be whipped in across the face of the defenders for Sasaki to run on to. What matters most, though, is that Sasaki understood the space and made a sharp run into it - he can't control if the ball comes his way or not, but by making these runs he is making the defence think and move, changing their shape and thus creating space for his teammates.
Passing
It is important to understand that Sasaki is barely involved with build up on the ground at all, his impact in possession comes from being an outlet or making runs in behind, and because of this his passing metrics are fairly poor. The number that stands out the most when sifting through his metrics is the 67.9% pass accuracy. While he is tasked with playing more crosses and final balls than most on his team, this is still poor and is definitely backed up by the eye test - Sasaki does not take great care of the ball and this shows up with the weighting of his passes in particular.
Where Sasaki is at his best is in more relationist style passing patterns, playing quick interchanges and one-twos with his teammates overloading the wing. There is a natural feel for these movements and patterns that you can feel through the screen, you can see this is where he is most comfortable in possession, though he still can be inconsistent with his passes here.
Overhitting simple passes is an issue that crops up again and again, needs to be cleaned up in order to achieve any sort of consistency in these intricate sequences or just simple one-twos. This is an issue that also appears when Sasaki looks to progress play vertically, be that in behind or between the lines. Much like these relationist passages on the touchline, it is clear that Sasaki has a natural feel and desire to play these passes but his body is just not keeping up with his mind - often he sees the correct pass but cannot quite place it where it needs to be.
Crossing
Sometimes the technique of the crosses Sasaki plays are quite strange and unorthodox, but it is hard to argue with the results. He possess a potent threat from either wing because of his ball striking - the crosses are always delivered with pace, whip, and, for the most part, accuracy, of course aided by the fact that he has two exceptional strikers to aim for in Osako and Muto whom both pose great threat in the air. Crossing is the main way in which Sasaki creates chances.
Despite the clear option here being to play the overlap given there is only 1 man in the box to aim for, Sasaki has remarkable confidence in his crossing ability, much like he does in his distance shooting, and pulls the trigger, whipping a ball to the back post. Maybe it is not a smart decision, but we like the bravado.
The ball arrives exactly as intended, creating a shooting opportunity for Muto in spite of the number disadvantage. While his crosses can often be too ambitions, particularly the occasions where he tries a knuckleball into the box for whatever reason, there is clearly the capacity for great chance creation from out wide.
Aerial Ability
With a 54.9% aerial win rate, the metrics suggest that Sasaki is great in the air and the eye test certainly backs this up, if not proves him to be even better than the numbers already show. He shows great bravery in the air, throwing himself at any and all balls that come his way, making life hell for defenders even if he doesn't win the ball outright. Again, Sasaki is a good athlete with great burst that shows up in his acceleration, and this shows up with how high he can leap in the air, allowing him to be a great target man from long balls or throw ins, flicking the ball on to runners in behind him. There is issues with the timing of jumps, I think that he can jump to early and end up floating through the air watching the ball fly over his head as he comes drifting down and will lead him to losing duels that he should win, but even despite this I find him to be fantastic in the air. Maybe he could do a better job placing headers but, in my eyes, this is not consistently an issue and winning the duels in general is what's important.
By offering himself as an outlet for progression through his ability and intrepidity in the air, Sasaki is able to make up for any shortcomings he has in his passing ability. I also found that his control over the ball and his first touch in particular were exceptional when under pressure and bringing down a high ball, once again reinforcing his ability as an outlet for the long ball. In the age of the aggressive man-to-man press teams are beginning to bypass this through the use of the long ball, making Sasaki a valuable asset in this regard.
Ball Carrying
While the official J League stat database has Sasaki completing 50% of his dribbles, which would be very good, I am not sure what constitutes a dribble to them, as the eye test most definitely does not back this metric up. When the ball is at his feet, Sasaki looks sloppy and almost not in complete control, often chasing his own touch it seems. He doesn't have the finesse, quick feet on the ball, or understanding of leverage and opposition body position to consistently beat his man 1-on-1 on the touchline.
He also doesn't often attempt to beat his man. When he receives the ball there is a lack of pausa, he wants to get vertical or whip the ball in the box almost always - only when he has multiple teammates in the vicinity does he slow down and link play, but even then he seldom looks to beat his man. One thing he is good at is holding defenders off, but that is not enough to make him a good carrier.
Even in transition, where he is in an advantageous situation and can carry past a stranded defender, as seen in this example vs Kashima Antlers, Sasaki is hesitant to run with the ball. He doesn't seem to have much confidence in his ability to beat his man and thus always looks for backup from his teammates.
From a 1-on-1 situation down the middle of the pitch, a scenario no defender ever wants to be caught in, Sasaki somehow slows play down and allows more defenders to get back goalside, struggling to get the ball out from under him and escape the man behind him.
Eventually, Sasaki is turned around and dispossessed - a complete waste of a chance in transition. He instinctively looks for a defender to make contact with when he has the ball at his feet, wanting to out muscle them as a means of beating them rather than beating them with a change of pace or tricky footwork. This would suggest that Sasaki is better at carrying the ball in a ball retention manner to ease pressure, much like a Jack Grealish, as opposed to using dribbling as a way to carve out chances. I think he is better with his back to goal bringing others into play, holding off defenders and using his aerial prowess - dribbling is not his strong suit.
Tackling and Out-of-Possession Ability
Being a forward, the most (and probably only) important part of his off the ball game is leading the press. That being said, the metrics suggest that Sasaki is an exceptional ball winner: 1.2 tackles per 90 with an 83.3% tackle success rate! While he is fairly sloppy in the tackle, this is something you'd have to expect from a forward and it is clearly working. His effort and workrate is admirable, never will he see defensive work as beneath him, he is always diligent and willing to contribute defensively. This does result in him conceding a fair amount of fouls and he does tend to lunge in, which you'd obviously wish to avoid, but the most important part is the mentality and willingness - the recklessness will (hopefully) lessen over time.
In the press, Sasaki is equally as willing and hardworking. While there is a lack of structure to his pressing and he is often left chasing the ball like a dog, this falls more on the structure of the team as a whole - there is no doubt in my mind that he can understand and execute a more advanced and organised pressing structure.
Summary
Daiju Sasaki is a versatile and dynamic forwards who, in my eyes, profiles best as a traditional 9 or second striker. He has fantastic movement, especially in the box, finding dangerous pockets of space consistently. This is enhanced by his great ball striking ability, making him a threat anywhere in the final third, although his shots do have a tendency to get more wild from outside the box. The confidence in his shooting ability is something I love, and leads me to project further increase in his goal production as his minutes as a striker become more consistent. Unfortunately, he does not have the same confidence in his dribbling ability and this, combined with a lack of acute control with the ball at his feet, means that he is not a particularly effective dribbler. There a glimpses of good progressive passing and playmaking, particularly from his crossing, but he is not a consistent passer, nor does he look to get on the ball in the first 2 phases often. Nearly all of his value in progression comes from his fantastic aerial ability, allowing him to be an outlet for the long ball, either controlling it himself or flicking it on to a teammate to chase, something Vissel Kobe utilise often. Off the ball, Sasaki is hardworking and diligent, both leading the press and in the tackle. There is a recklessness to his defensive work that you'd wish wasn't there, but overall this is a big positive. For my money, Sasaki is definitely good enough for the 2nd tier of European leagues (Belgium, The Netherlands, Portugal, etc.), something that I'm sure will be cemented once he's given a more important role during the 2024 season if it's not already apparent.