Kohei Okuno – Gamba Osaka’s midfield guard
Gamba Osaka are one of Japan’s best youth programmes as their U23 side play in the J3 League which gives their young talent the opportunity to be more prepared for the rigours for Japanese professional football. 21-year-old, Kohei Okuno is a player that has spent time with the U23 side before becoming a fully-fledged first-team potential as the young midfielder has immense potential while his game translates well to the intense-pressing nature of European football. Okuno, only made his debut with Gamba Osaka at the end of last year as he has continued to develop into a trusted member of the first-team, at the base of midfield.
Okuno is just under six-foot tall with a well-built physique as his game is about covering short spaces, especially pushing up to apply pressure on opposition deep-lying midfielders and defenders to regain possession and set his side on the counter-attack. However, he is also at his best when he is covering spaces in the defensive shape, taking up a stance where has his knees bent and his body orientated towards the ball, sliding across zones energetically to make key tackles as well as interceptions to regain possession and set his side on the break. He is an energetic young midfielder, tailor-made for high-pressing football as he would suit a Red Bull team or a manager that plays high-pressing football with an increased focus on turnovers as that is an essential facet of the 21-year-old’s game.
He made is J League debut against Vissel Kobe in November last year as he was extremely tough in the challenge while his ability to recognize pressing triggers was exceptional. Despite being quite lanky in stature, Okuno is very nimble and energetic, especially over shorter distances as if he realises that a player in his zone is about to receive possession then he will push forward and lunge to make a challenge to regain possession. When he pushes forward or covers a space in a zonal defensive block, the 21-year-old may not regain possession, but he will force a sideways pass which will allow his side a better opportunity at winning a turnover or allow him to shield his defence more effectively. In possession, Okuno tends to keep things simple as if his side are operating against a more attacking side, his sideways passes and back-passes allow his team to maintain possession but against a deep block with him playing at the base of midfield, his lack of penetrative passing could act as a deficiency.
In a 2-0 loss at home to Kawasaki Frontale, Okuno had a poor start to the game but he pushed up to regain possession to set his side on the break. The 21-year-old prefers to move the ball simply in possession but is capable of sending some raking passes in between the lines when the options are available to him. He received possession to play the ball out wide before pushing up to receive possession and threading a pass into the nine-space as he received possession again to work a switch ball to the weak side. He then received possession on the half-turn to play a lovely pass to a teammate in between the lines. One of the outstanding things about Okuno’s game is that as a young player with little experience, he is outstanding at taking up a defensively engaged body shape in a low to medium block with an open body shape facing the ball, allowing him to effectively shift from side to side across zones as well as push up when a marker receives possession to make a tackle or an interception.
In possession, he threaded another brilliant pass to the ten space as the 21-year-old does possess potential to be a highly effective two-way player. In the first-half, he misplaced a number of passes but began to settle into the game and looked better in possession. Okuno struggles with longer passes, he can send switch balls and lobbed passes in behind astray as he thrives in shorter one-touch pass and move situations where he can receive possession and move the ball quickly. Against Kawasaki Frontale, he showed his ability as a one-touch passer as if he is playing as an 8 and has the ability to receive possession in between the lines, he can work one-touch passing sequences out of tight spaces. He also has the physique to allow the ball to roll across his body and shield the ball to gain a better overview of the pitch and teammates when he is in a good area. In one situation, he used his one-touch passing ability to get out of a tight situation as he had the ball at the edge of his own box with a marker hounding him before playing a pass to his left-sided centre-back.
He can work backwards and sideways passes for the purpose of moving into a good situation to receive the ball and connect play or look for a better progressive passing situation. Okuno managed to amass 4 interceptions in a strong outing. Just a few days later at home to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, he would be deployed at right-back as he has been utilized in this position a few times this season. The 21-year-old was focused on overlapping and working passing sequences, as he strung together a move to play the ball to the six-space for a pass in behind as he also played a ball directly to the nine-space from the right-back position. He was not involved in the greater part of Gamba Osaka’s build-up patterns as he mainly looked for any opportunity to tuck inside with possession. He received possession on the right flank to thread a pass into the attacking line and receive a lay-off to work a pass to a midfielder to facilitate a switch ball.
Okuno struggled defensively as one of his biggest strengths as a midfielder did not translate to fullback as defensively, in midfield, his game is about setting his feet and body position to marshal his zone while playing at fullback is about adjusting the body shape to the situation as if a fullback sets his feet to quickly, a winger can always cut past him in a 1v1 situation. Okuno’s centre-back frequently had to cover for him while his winger had to shield him from being isolated by opposition attackers as he constantly set his feet to early while he was unsure about when to lunge in on opposition attackers. He would have brilliant moments as he played a wonderful cross into the box for a teammate to have an opportunity saved from point blank range as the ball was curled perfectly around a glut of unsuspecting defenders. He then made a brilliant goal-line block to keep the scores level as he was stronger at regaining possession in the air rather than on his feet.
He was also astute at defending the back-post as Okuno is a player that consistently manages to maintain his focus when he is out of possession. He had a last-ditch tackle while he also played a pass to Patric in the channels as he constantly looked to pass down the line if the central or vertical passing options were not available. He grew into the game, making an interception to burst forward with possession while in another situation he surged backwards to make a recovery challenge. These are the skills that make him exceptional at regaining possession in midfield with his exceptional reading of the game to make interceptions while showing immense focus in the defensive phase. He managed to make 5 interceptions from an unfamiliar right-back role in what was a strong showing but proved that he should be mainly utilized as a midfielder.
In a home match against Yokohama, he put one of his most effective performances in top level Japanese football. He began the game by receiving a deflection in his own box to thread a pass to a teammate to instigate a counter-attack. After his midfield partner lost possession in midfield, he slid across to make a perfectly timed sliding challenge to quell an attack and regain possession. As his team were defending in a 4-4-2 medium and deep block, he slid across to make an interception on a pass and work a forward pass to a teammate before regaining possession again when his teammate lost possession to send a raking pass to the nine-space for his striker to mis control. The 21-year-old would then receive possession in the six-space to take a touch to control the ball before spraying a pass to a teammate with two opposition players pressing him to calmly play the ball out of pressure and instigate an attacking move.
The defensive side of his game would continue to stand out, especially in a 4-4-2 defensive-block where he would normally have more than one responsibility in the defensive phase. The opposition played the ball to the flank as Okuno scanned to see the attacker behind him in order to cut out the passing lane as well as scanning to see an attacker ahead of him moving into the zone to receive possession as he stood with an open body shape. The opposition played a back-pass for Okuno to push up to mark the opposition player ahead of him more tightly while maintaining an awareness of the attacker behind as the opposition played a ball to another zone as Okuno was marking the opposition player ahead of him more tightly. The opposition centre-back saw an open passing lane to the nine-space as he played the ball into the area for Okuno to slide across and regain possession with an interception before playing a back-pass to the goalkeeper. In this situation, Okuno basically marked three players to force backwards and sideways passes before anticipating a pass brilliantly to make an interception.
He would regain possession again as an opposition centre-back drove past two of his centre-backs for the 21-year-old to be perfectly positioned to regain possession with timely challenge. He would receive possession in the six-space to hold possession and thread a pass in between the lines to former Arsenal youth player, Wellington Silva to start an attacking move. The 21-year-old would have another sequence of immense defensive aptitude pushing forward to make a tackle, but the opposition player played the ball before Okuno could get to him as Okuno immediately moved back into his position within the zone at the perfect time to make an interception and play the ball forward to a teammate. The Gamba Osaka midfielder knows the perfect time to leave his position to push up and apply pressure while being able to move into position to regain possession.
Okuno would receive possession in the six-space to play the ball back to his centre-back to turn and thread a pass through the lines to a teammate. With Gamba Osaka leading 2-0, they would switch to a 5-4-1 defensive shape as a pass was played in between him and his midfield teammate as he would recover to regain possession. The goalkeeper would play the ball to Okuno in the six-space as he had a poor first touch to lose possession before he would receive possession from his left-back to have a better first touch to turn away from a marker and play a pass into the next line. In the pressing phase, an opposition player would turn away from Okuno’s midfield partner for the 21-year-old to slide across to regain possession to drive the ball forward. He would receive possession in the deeper areas to play the ball in between the lines to receive possession and thread another ball into the next line.
The young Gamba Osaka midfielder also has the innate ability to regain possession from behind an opposition player as this allows him to be effective in forcing turnovers in pressing sequences as well as in deeper blocks. He would regain possession in the deeper block to lunge and regain possession to create a breaking situation for his side. As his side were protecting a lead, he continued to regain possession in the 5-4-1 defensive block as a ball was played to a midfield behind him for Okuno to slide across and regain possession. He then slid across to regain possession as an opposition player turned away from him for the 21-year-old to barge him off the ball as Okuno would scurry to regain possession on the right flank before winning a foul for a free-kick.
One of the impressive aspects of his game is his ability to shift across to fill empty spaces in the defensive block and make tackles or close passing lanes, forcing the opposition into back-passes or sideways passes as he has a unique ingenuity for making himself effective out of possession. Gamba Osaka would have a goal-kick which was headed forward by an opposition marker for Okuno to step ahead of him and make an interception before ending his game by making a run in behind to receive a pass and have a shot smothered by the opposition goalkeeper. The 21-year-old would also participate for Gamba Osaka in the Asian Champions League as against Jeonbuk Motors, he would receive possession in the six-space to take a touch on the half-turn and thread a pass in between the lines.
His game actually started by him regaining possession in the pressing phase as usual as he recognized a pressing trap to apply pressure on an opposition player to force him into a hasty pass which would lead to a Gamba Osaka turnover in the opposition half. Okuno can seem to coast in games, filling spaces in the defensive shape and receiving possession to move the ball backward and sideways but he continued to have impressive moments for his side. He would receive possession in the six-space to play a pass into the wide areas before moving into space to receive possession and drive the ball forward to thread a ball into the nine-space for the striker to lay-off a pass for a shooting opportunity. He would then regain possession as he normally does, sliding across in Gamba Osaka’s 5-4-1 defensive shape to make a well-timed tackle in front of his defence.
Against Chiangrai, he would have another quiet game with mostly sideward and backward passes but had a moment where he received the ball in the six-space to allow the ball to roll across his body to his left foot before turning back to his right to thread a pass through the lines for a teammate to have a crossing opportunity. He would receive possession as the deepest-lying midfielder to thread another pass into the half-space before receiving possession with his left foot to turn and play another pass in between the lines. Gamba Osaka’s final game against Jeonbuk Motors would be his most impressive game in terms of being involved in key situations for his side. The 21-year-old would begin his game by sliding across to make a tackle to regain possession when his midfield partner was caught out of position.
He would then receive possession in the six-space with his left to work a pass to a teammate in the next line with his right foot. He would then play another progressive pass on the half-turn to recycle an attack for his side before making a movement to receive possession in the six-space to lay-off to his centre-back as he received possession again to allow the ball to roll across his body before he worked a pass in between the lines. Okuno’s distribution was much better than his other two other Asian Champions League games as he dropped in between the centre-backs to receive possession and thread a line-breaking pass in between the lines. The 21-year-old would start another attacking move from deep when he dropped in between his centre-backs to receive possession, drive the ball forward and thread another pass through the lines. Okuno was more penetrating with his passing as he received a lay-off in the six-space to control the ball with his left foot to thread another pass in between the lines.
Okuno is already an excellent player defensively as he has the potential to grow into a high-level two-way midfielder as he is capable of distributing the ball effectively with his distribution or his ability to drive the ball. Defensively, he continuously scans and analyses situations to shape his body or adjust his body to be in the perfect situation to regain possession or cover for a teammate. The timing of his challenges and tackles are consistently immaculate as he manages to win possession cleanly in 50/50 challenges, shoulder to shoulder duels as well as making clever lunges to regain possession when a marker has his back turned to him. In one of his more ineffective games, he will usually play slideways passes while continuing to be effective in covering for his teammates in the defensive shape, winning possession in the pressing phase and regaining possession in the deep block.
He can play as a more defensive box-to-box midfielder or as the deepest-lying midfielder, marshalling his zone with discipline. As a box-to-box midfielder, he has the ability to receive possession in between the lines by allowing the ball to roll across his body to his weaker left foot and working one or two touch passing sequences as well as having the ability to thread passes in between the lines. As the deepest-lying midfielder, his distribution would be lacking in terms of the modern day demands of the position, but he will act as a destroyer at the base of midfield. He will need to improve his passing range, especially with longer switch balls while imposing himself on the game more in the possession phase, with more effective distribution as he is capable of playing line-breaking passes but there are games where he accumulates backward and sideways passes with little impact on the game.
Okuno was born to play in Red Bull team as he has a phenomenal defensive repertoire as his game is about winning possession and creating fast-breaking situations for his side. Teams like Vitesse Arnhem as well as most teams in the Austrian Bundesliga or 2. Bundesliga would be able to utilize his talents. He could also be effective in Barnsley’s system in the Championship as his appearances in the Asian Champions League could earn him a British work permit as he would also be a fascinating purchase for the clubs below Rangers and Celtic in Scotland. Oostende as well as most Belgian clubs as well as mid-table French Ligue 1 teams would be perfect for him to showcase his talents. Teams like Midtylland and most Danish Superliga clubs would also provide the perfect stepping stone to showcase his talents as most defend in a 4-4-2 shape and look to press high as he would be perfect for this style of football. His current contract expires in January 2022 as he would be a steal for a below €1 million price-point as he only turned 21 this year while his resale value would be immense.
